Abstract

The aim of this research is to develop and test a measure of integrated retailer brand equity (IRBE) based on frontline fashion retail employees’ internal (i.e., as employee) and external (i.e., as consumer) perceptions of the retailer’s brand. Comparisons are made between two types of frontline employees, patronizing and non-patronizing. Using advanced PLS-SEM techniques, this research introduces a third order reflective-formative hierarchical component model (HCM) into the retailer brand equity domain. The research validates an IRBE model with four consumer dimensions and seven employee dimensions. Both types of employees value all four consumer dimensions; however, they value different employee dimensions. The IRBE model, when operationalized, can encourage closer integration of human resources and marketing functions, and enable practitioners to enhance their brand offerings and build a more cohesive retailer brand.

Introduction

Retailers have evolved from organizations that merely sell products, to multi-sensory brands (Ailawadi and Keller, 2004) that offer customers unique shopping experiences (Liu-Thompkins et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2023). Indeed, retailers have their own multi-dimensional brand equity (Anselmsson et al., 2017) as evidenced by their larger than ever presence on brand ranking lists (Interbrand, 2022) that now includes 38 brands that rely on retail operations to deliver their brand promise (i.e., Amazon, IKEA, Toyota, Apple) of which 14 are fashion, apparel and/or beauty retailer brands (i.e., Zara, Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Nike). Retailing is a complex and highly competitive industry, and building a strong retail brand requires an understanding of a variety of stakeholders. However, retailers struggle to find new ways to competitively differentiate and understand what drives value for different stakeholders (Deloitte, 2019). Retailer brands are not only influenced by external (i.e., consumers) perspectives (Biedenbach and Manzhynski, 2016; Swoboda et al., 2016), but also internal (i.e., employees) stakeholders which together represent key drivers of a retailer’s business success (Veloutsou and Guzmán, 2017). Retailers build and invest in their external brand equity to persuade consumers (Gil-Saura et al., 2016), yet they must also invest in their internal brand equity to attract the best employees (Sivertzen et al., 2013).

Frontline workers are said to be the backbone of an organization (McKinsey and Company, 2023). Retailers, in particular, understand the importance of not only creating better customer experiences, but also employee experiences, in order to be relevant and successful. Frontline employees play a crucial role to a retailer’s competitive advantage (King and Grace, 2009). A recent study suggests a strong connection between employee satisfaction (via online reviews on Glassdoor) and customer satisfaction (via the American Customer Satisfaction Index), whereby a 1-star improvement in an employer’s rating (out of 5) was associated with a 1.3-point increase in customer satisfaction (out of 100) (Zhao and Chamberlain, 2019). However, the lines between customers and employees are becoming increasingly blurred. Gelb and Rangarajan (2014) describe frontline retail employees as integral elements of the retailer brand, as well as ambassadors of the brand. In today’s highly competitive environment, retailers are acknowledging the importance and growing empowerment of frontline employees (Gill-Simmen et al., 2018; Li, 2022). Indeed, a recent study found 43% of shoppers are more likely to make a purchase if they have interacted with a frontline employee, and these shoppers were 12% more likely to visit the store again if the interaction was a positive one (Petro, 2019). Frontline employees are no longer merely ‘cashiers’ or ‘sales associates’; they are ‘shopper concierges’ (Petro, 2019). This trend of employee empowerment is particularly relevant in the fashion industry, where employees perform not only traditional retail duties of selling product and delivering customer service, but they are also product experts, and responsible for educating and inspiring their customers and delivering personalized service. In other instances, employees also comfortable expressing their views on the retailer where they work. For example, while customers use social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to review products and services, employees also use online platforms such as glassdoor.com and indeed.com to review their experiences on the job. Furthermore, there is scholarly evidence of consumers who desire to be frontline employees of their preferred retailer (Wang et al., 2017; DeMotta and Sen, 2017). An employee review exemplar on indeed.com demonstrates the dual role of frontline employees as both workers and customers: “If you like fashion and clothing, it is a cool environment to be in and handle all the clothes, learn about them, how they’re made and be able to get first dibs on new products that come in” (Employee review of H&M, Indeed.com, 2023).

Conclusion

6.1. Discussion of the findings
The results confirm each of the eleven (four consumer-based and seven employee-based) dimensions examined in this model influence frontline employees’ perceptions of RBE. By integrating frontline employees dual brand perceptions as both consumers and employees, our study begins to address Boukis and Christodoulides (2020) call for future research to move beyond the unidimensional EBBE construct and develop integrated models that combine different stakeholder perspectives. Our study also suggests retailer trust partially mediates the relationship between IRBE and retailer loyalty, suggesting IRBE is a four-step process whereby CB-RBE and EB-RBE lead to IRBE, which leads to retailer trust and retailer loyalty. This aligns with Anselmsson et al.’s (2017) four-stage RBE model; however, their model starts with awareness, then leads to brand associations and consumer responses, and then leads to trust, and finally loyalty. A recent study found brand trust to be a mediator, however, it mediated the relationship between multichannel integration service quality and retailer brand equity (Qi et al., 2020). Earlier studies show RBE as simplified parallel structures (i.e., one stage process) (Aaker, 1991; Arnett et al., 2003; Pappu and Quester, 2006a) or two-stage models (Jinfeng and Zhilong, 2009). More recent studies illustrate RBE as a three-stage process (Troiville et al., 2019) whereby retailer specific dimensions lead to RBE, which lead to attitude, loyalty and word of mouth.

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of online marketplaces has induced many suppliers to sell directly on them, which causes potential threats to small- and medium-sized e-tailers. Considering e-tailers’ broader question of how best to counteract these marketplaces, we consider three of online sales modes, namely, the traditional, consignment, and in-marketplace selling modes. In particular, we investigate the interaction between a supplier’s strategy for introducing a marketplace channel and an e-tailer’s choice of selling mode. Our analysis reveals that the e-tailer’s selling mode choice depends not only on the performance of both the supplier and the marketplace but also channel competition. In general, the e-tailer prefers the in-marketplace selling mode with a higher marketplace service level and the consignment mode with higher supplier selling efficiency. If a marketplace channel exists, traditional reselling is a better choice when both the marketplace service level and the supplier selling efficiency are restricted to the middle range. The underlying mechanism is that traditional reselling is less negatively affected by the competition effect. Finally, we find that the supplier wants to eschew the marketplace channel and strategically induce the e-tailer to sell through it even though the marketplace service level is relatively high. This research provides guidance not only for the supplier’s channel choice but also for the small- and medium-sized e-tailers’ choice of selling mode when encountering the online marketplace.

Introduction

Online retailing has grown rapidly in recent decades, and online marketplaces (marketplaces, hereafter) play a critical role. As of June 2022, Amazon accounted for 37.8 percent of the U.S. e-commerce market, making it by far the leading online retailer in the country1. A survey in China shows that in the second quarter of 2022, Tmall and JD.com, two online marketplaces in China, accounted for 94.1% of total online retail sales. However, the market shares of other small- and medium-sized e-tailers amount to only 5.9%2. The increasing prevalence of marketplaces benefits in-marketplace shops in two ways. First, due to the large market share of marketplaces, shops in these marketplaces can take advantage of their consumer base. For example, GOME, a home appliance e-tailer in China, has greatly expanded its potential online consumer base since entering Amazon3 and Tmall, which we refer to as the market expansion effect. In addition, with the rapid development of marketplaces, more high-quality services are being provided for in-marketplace shops. These services include but are not limited to promotion (Yang et al., 2006), return services (Yan et al., 2018), and logistics (Qin et al., 2021). For example, the safe return policies and fast delivery of Amazon have helped it effectively attract consumers and charge higher sales prices. JD.com has built its own logistics system and offers high-quality logistics services, such as “211-limited-time delivery”, which makes it possible for the shops to demand a price premium on the goods sold via its system. In this paper, we refer to the price premium due to the marketplace’s superior service as the service premium effect.

The advantages of the market expansion and service premium effects have led many suppliers to enthusiastically embrace the marketplace channel. In 2022, some suppliers of international high-end brands, such as Porsche, LVMH and Gucci, launched flagship shops on Tmall to directly reach their consumers. However, some suppliers, such as book and record suppliers, have not introduced the marketplace channel. A survey shows that 100% of the surveyed manufacturing firms expressed a willingness to embrace the marketplace, but only 37.05% of them had introduced a marketplace channel4. The reason for this can be attributed to suppliers’ distance from the end market and lack of experience in collecting market information, marketing planning, and aftersales management. Even so, many consumers prefer to purchase from suppliers’ online stores over e-tailers. The reason can be attributed to their concerns about product freshness and genuine security, which can be guaranteed in factory-direct sales if the supplier is expert in direct selling. As a result, sales efficiency has become a key factor for suppliers to consider when entering online marketplaces.

Analysis of overall system equilibrium

We now come to the very first stage, which involves whether the supplier should introduce the marketplace channel and how this decision influences the e-tailer’s selling mode choice. We derive the answer directly by comparing the supplier’s profits in two cases where she introduces (does not introduce) the marketplace channel when the e-tailer can (cannot) gain a higher payoff if she joins in the marketplace. The following result provides the equilibrium strategies of the two channel members.

Abstract

Purpose

     This study offers an understanding of vulnerable populations’ experiences of actual use of mobile banking and their expectations of mobile banking (MB).

Design/methodology/approach

     Data were generated from MB customers and bankers using online reviews, focus groups and semi-structured interviews, as a mix of methods and sources can provide rich and in-depth understanding.

Findings

    The affordance of MB for vulnerable populations is explained in four concepts: meaning, material, competency and usability. Recommendations that could further engage and improve the service quality of MB apps for vulnerable populations include customization and personalization of services, access to the digital health data of members of vulnerable populations, audio-based option selection and touchscreen options, and enhancement of service and performance standards.

Research limitations/implications

     It is suggested that retail bankers should improve the service quality and performance of their MB apps by considering the recommendations drawn from vulnerable people’s experiences. This study discusses implications for retailers.

Originality/value

     This study applied social practice theory and affordance of technology theory to understand how those in vulnerable populations experienced MB apps; the results could be used to improve the accessibility, performance and service quality of MB apps.

Introduction

     Mobile banking (MB) has become the most attractive channel for retail bankers, especially in developing countries where accessibility to banking services is low compared to developed countries (Thusi and Maduku, 2020). However, although retail mobile banking has many benefits, customers’ acceptance and use of retail mobile banking are limited, especially in developing countries (Mukerjee, 2020; Thusi and Maduku, 2020). In Pakistan, 75% of the population use mobile phones (Kemp, 2020) and smartphone use is expected to increase to 51% by the end of 2020 (Statista, 2016). Although 19 different retail banks offer banking services in Pakistan, in 2019 only 3.1 million (1.5%) of the total population of 204.6 million were registered mobile banking users (Rahi et al., 2019). There is evidence that social distancing, lockdowns, government financial help and the environment of fear engendered by COVID-19 (ReliefWeb, 2020) have increased the use of mobile banking in Pakistan (Hassan, 2020). In addition, retail bankers are keen to know how they can reduce their operational costs, as well as develop a positive banking experience for customers (Mew and Millan, 2021; Thusi and Maduku, 2020; Wiese and Humbani, 2020), which mobile banking may help to deliver.

Findings

     Figure 2 provides an overview of how the keywords, code and major themes were extracted from the findings, and how these concepts helped to develop the final framework. Table 1 provides the definitions and descriptions of major codes which are discussed in findings section.

Highlights

Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

2. Conceptual framework and hypothesis

3. Methods

4. Results

5. Discussion

6. Conclusion

Funding

CRediT authorship contribution statement

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Declaration of Competing Interest

Acknowledgments

Appendix. Supplementary materials

References

Vitae

Abstract

Traditional commerce does not have a great variety of products: it has a more leisurely sale and does not develop impulse buying. The most important factor is the direct relationship established between the seller and the customer, facilitating advice and creating a relationship of trust between the two. Traditional retailers nowadays need digitization, without which they cannot compete technologically with large companies, whereas they can compete in quality, authenticity, proximity, and service. For all these reasons, it seems appropriate to investigate the antecedents that may influence consumers’ attitudes towards online shopping in traditional retailers. To achieve this objective, a research plan was developed based on a cross-sectional descriptive study using primary data from a questionnaire answered by 4,063 individuals who live in Spain. The result shows that store loyalty and word of mouth (WOM) communications are the main drivers of attitudes to online shopping. As intermediaries, the mediating variables of the quality and image of the store are established. Small stores should focus on authenticity; this is built on the dimensions established by theory: heritage, legitimacy, nostalgia, originality, and social commitment. Authenticity allows these stores to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

1. Introduction

Over recent decades, the concept of the experiential economy has been defined and used, not only in the consumer goods environment and shops but also in other areas such as tourism, architecture, and even urban planning. Studies began in the 1980s to give importance to the symbolic, emotional, and emotional part of consumer behavior. In the same decade theories were developed that aimed to increase the attention devoted to consumers’ experiences and the development of authenticity as a product differentiation strategy. This authenticity sought by consumers is related to the variables that determine the marketing management of the retailers and to attitudes to shopping.

There is a consumer tendency to “back to basics,” which has been strengthened by the Covid 19 crisis: the search for the authentic, the true, confidence in the origins of all the products. And greater importance is being attached to the value of experience, slow life, and slow food, concepts that prioritize experience over speed. So, despite the trend towards greater globalization in consumption, counter-trends are emphasizing the original characteristics of products and stores, the predominance of small businesses, local traders near their customers, the authenticity of products and services (Amin and Robins, 1992); Gilmore and Pine, 2007; (Jun Song et al., 2015); García-Henche et al., 2020).

Abstract

     The objective of this study is to ascertain the effects of omni-channel retailing on the promotional strategy of retail organisations in order to better understand how to alter the promotional strategy in accordance with the ever-changing needs of customers and ultimately provide the customer with a seamless experience. This research is based on a critical systematic literature review of articles related to the topics of ‘omni-channel retailing’ and ‘promotional strategy’. The analysis made evident that most literature is focused on developing an understanding of omni-channel retailing; uncovering consumer behaviours in omni-channel retailing; and ways to adapt promotional strategies related to merchandising, sales promotion, selling, and word of mouth. Past research is quite fractured and does not represent a holistic picture of the implications of omni-channel retailing for promotional strategy. The analysis provided in this paper provides a general guideline for researchers and practitioners concerning promotional strategies that can be adopted in omni-channel retailing.

Introduction

     The retailing environment is getting increasingly complicated. The rise of technological advances has multiplied customer touchpoints and therefore caused the customer journey to become more complex [1]. Whereas customer journeys in the past could be seen as linear, in the omni-channel environment, those journeys are now highly complex [2]. In addition to this, the amount of retailing channels has rapidly grown; whereas in the past, you were only able to buy a product in a physical store, nowadays, this can also be done online by making use of your phone, tablet, laptop, and even your voice assistant (multiple channels). Furthermore, according to Oracle [3] (p. 3), “more than three-quarters of consumers use two or more channels to browse for, research, and purchase products”. This new omni-channel environment is fading the borders between online and offline retailing [4]. Brynjolfsson, Jeffrey, and Rahman [5] (p. 24) highlight this by stating that omni-channel retailing is “turning the world into a showroom without walls”. As the online and offline worlds are becoming more intertwined, consumers require a seamless experience across channels [4,6]. A way to facilitate this is to integrate promotions across all existing channels [7]. One of the Marketing Science Institute’s [8] five major research priorities for 2020–2022 concerns the rise of the omni-channel environment; specifically, they propose research on the implications of omni-channel retailing for promotional strategies.

Conclusions

     The customer is getting more empowered, and omni-channel retailing is a phenomenon that almost every company nowadays must deal with. It is therefore important to understand how a promotional strategy can be designed in such a way that takes into consideration the needs and preferences of those empowered customers in the omni-channel environment. The main need of the customer is the provision of a seamless customer experience, meaning integration of all channels they use during their shopping journey. However, this is not limited to channel integration only, as it also encompasses brand consistency and promotional alignment. One way of accomplishing this would be to provide personalisation for customers across all channels.

     Furthermore, it is important to understand the types of behaviours that take place in the omni-channel retailing environment. Two phenomena are frequently mentioned in the literature, namely showrooming behaviour and its counterpart, webrooming behaviour. The former states that customers search for information about/to touch a product in store and consequently buy the product online (potentially from a competitor). The rise of mobile phone usage has mainly facilitated showrooming behaviour, and research has shown that customers spend higher amounts when purchasing products via their mobile phones. However, ‘competitive showrooming’ is undesirable behaviour and can be diminished by adapting promotional strategy accordingly. The latter states customers search for information online and consequently buy the product in store. This type of behaviour takes place because customers like to be in control and therefore search for extensive information and confirmation of their judgements online before buying the product in store, where they can touch and see it.

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Evaluation Method of Human Resource Management Efficiency of Chain Retail Enterprises Based on Distributed Database

3. Experiment

4. Conclusion

Data Availability

Conflicts of Interest

Acknowledgments

References

Abstract

     The calculation of human resource management efficiency evaluation method is large, which affects the technical efficiency and scale efficiency of evaluation results. Based on distributed database, an evaluation method of human resource management efficiency of chain retail enterprises is proposed. Genetic algorithm is applied to the design of distributed database to realize the best data allocation scheme. The distributed database is used to store the human resource information of chain retail enterprises to ensure the data consistency and information availability. Select the input and output elements that can best reflect the human resource management status of chain retail enterprises in the distributed database, design the management efficiency evaluation index system, and construct the DEA evaluation model. After testing, the technical efficiency and scale efficiency of the design method in this paper are higher than the evaluation methods of human resource management efficiency of chain retail enterprises based on principal component analysis and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, which is conducive to management decision-making.

Introduction

     Human resources were limited in the twenty-first century. Simultaneously, as a new capital, it has garnered increasing attention from society. Human resources may infuse organizations with life and help them compete more effectively. It is a term that refers to the efficient and rational deployment of this finite resource via materialization in order to optimize resource usage and economic advantages. Within an organization, good management enables the subjective initiative to flourish, operational costs to be reduced, and core competitiveness to be enhanced [1]. Level and efficiency have a direct impact on short-term progress and are critical in achieving long-term strategic goals. As a result, all sectors of society should manage their internal human resources scientifically and prudently in order to optimize revenues and foster long-term company growth [2]. However, as a result of the effect of factors such as inadequate professional quality and corporate culture on the managers of the majority of Chinese firms, the human resource management situation is often overlooked. For a long period of time, human resource management has been inefficient, and the realization of human resource value is not assured, which is very detrimental to long-term growth [3]. As a consequence, there is a pressing need to study management effectiveness.

     A chain operation is a modern business idea that comprises of several stores selling similar goods and services. The transportation and service sectors are the most affected. Despite the fact that it has not developed in China for a long time, this new business model has changed the way traditional single-store operations are performed, accelerated product circulation, and simplified people’s lives. It has steadily evolved into the primary organizational structure for China’s commercial operations, demonstrating a high level of vitality and growth potential. At the moment, chain operation is prevalent in all retail formats for store sales in China and has evolved into the primary growth method employed by retail firms. The share of merchants engaging in chain operations is likewise expanding in the retail business. By and large, China’s chain retailing business began late. Its management idea, technology application, human resource management level, and capital application are significantly inferior to those of worldwide chain organizations.

Conclusion

     In terms of investment, the evaluation indicators are selected from two aspects: human resource scale and human resource structure. In terms of output, indicators are selected from three aspects: profitability, business growth ability, and development innovation ability to form an innovative evaluation index system. The construction of the index system has laid a solid foundation for the follow-up research of this paper. This study is a new perspective on the efficiency of chain retail enterprises and provides a theoretical reference for the allocation. However, this paper has not been perfectly presented in the process of text description or empirical analysis, which needs to be improved by the latecomers. In order to fully understand the efficiency, it is necessary to establish an index system covering enterprise strategy, performance management, salary management, organizational structure, and so on, so as to minimize the subjectivity of index selection. There is a time difference between the input and output of any resource, and there is still no answer to the determination of the lag period of the output of human resource allocation. This paper does not consider the lag problem in the research, which is another deficiency of this paper. Future research should pay attention to the determination of lag length to make the research closer to reality.

Abstract

     The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted business operations in every industry and sector around the world. Scholars, practitioners and policymakers continue to engage in understanding the effects of lockdowns, social distancing measures and other restrictions on trade; the impact of government stimulus and support measures, and how businesses have adapted their operations. The dynamic nature of the virus, and the changing socio-political and economic landscape, provide the opportunity for empirical scholarly research examining how retail and service firms have responded to the challenges and potential opportunities presented by the pandemic, and how owner/managers have pivoted in an (often) uncertain trading environment. This paper presents the findings of an applied study involving business owners (N = 268) of SME retail and service firms in the island state of Tasmania, in Australia, during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Findings show: (1) despite over 65 per cent of respondents reporting a downturn in revenue during 2020, almost 80 per cent indicated they had confidence in business survival heading into 2021; (2) whilst on average, businesses did not rate the level of environmental hostility as being particularly high, there was a significant correlation between perceived environmental hostility and assessment of business performance and with the level of confidence of business survival; (3) Australian federal government support and other stimulus measures were deemed crucial for business survival during 2020 with three quarters of businesses accessing the ‘JobKeeper’ scheme, and (4) businesses adapted their operations during the pandemic in terms of new products and services, increased marketing, pivoting their use of technology and promoting ‘localness’.

Introduction

     In order to ensure a future where businesses not only survive, but thrive, it is critical to anticipate what a post-pandemic world will look like, and then to transform to better match this new reality (Goldberg, 2020, n.p.).

     Many small businesses are physical, not virtual. They aren’t designed for lockdown. They don’t have access to global capital. They are rooted in the communities they serve (Foroohar, 2020, n.p.).

     The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted business operations in every industry around the world and scholars, practitioners and policymakers currently seek to understand the effect of lockdowns, social distancing measures and other restrictions on trade and consumer behaviour (Beckers et al., 2021; Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020; Eger et al., 2021; Pantano et al., 2020; Verma and Gustafsson, 2020). The effect of government stimulus and support measures on business survival and prosperity are also topical and important. Despite the dynamic nature of the virus, and the consequential changes to socio-political and economic landscapes, there is still relatively little empirical scholarly research examining how small to medium enterprises (SME) have responded to the immense challenges presented by the coronavirus, and how they can adapt to a ‘new normal’ in a post-pandemic world. This study provides an important contribution to the scholarly literature on retail and service firm operations during the pandemic, and in addition, the study’s findings are valuable for business owners, policymakers and retail place managers and marketers by presenting ‘lessons learned’ from the first wave of the pandemic.

Results

5.1. Business operations and staffing

     Respondents were asked to indicate any changes they had made to staffing and business operations as a result of the pandemic (see Table 3). Almost 40 per cent of respondents indicated they had reduced some or all staff hours; approximately 20 per cent had let staff go and did not expect to re-hire them; one third (32.46%) made no changes, and almost one quarter (21.64%) hired new staff.

Abstract

     At present, intelligent computing applications are widely used in different domains, including retail stores. The analysis of customer behaviour has become crucial for the benefit of both customers and retailers. In this regard, the concept of remote gaze estimation using deep learning has shown promising results in analyzing customer behaviour in retail due to its scalability, robustness, low cost, and uninterrupted nature. This study presents a three-stage, three-attention-based deep convolutional neural network for remote gaze estimation in retail using image data. In the first stage, we design a mechanism to estimate the 3D gaze of the subject using image data and monocular depth estimation. The second stage presents a novel three-attention mechanism to estimate the gaze in the wild from field-of-view, depth range, and object channel attentions. The third stage generates the gaze saliency heatmap from the output attention map of the second stage. We train and evaluate the proposed model using benchmark GOO-Real dataset and compare results with baseline models. Further, we adapt our model to real-retail environments by introducing a novel Retail Gaze dataset. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our approach significantly improves remote gaze target estimation performance on GOO-Real and Retail Gaze datasets.

Introduction

     In today’s world, retail stores are becoming smarter with the availability of numerous data and the power to analyze them autonomously. Even with the rise of online shopping, most of the physical retail stores use smart applications for the purchasing process [1]. Several techniques and devices have been introduced to automate the shopping process and analyze shoppers’ behaviour inside stores. At the same time, the shopping experience is a key consideration towards the success of a retail business, which affects the performance of customer satisfaction, customer purchase probability, and customer loyalty [2]–[3][4].

     In order to improve the shopping experience and maximize business profits, it is essential to capture and and analyze the customer’s behaviours without interfering their natural shopping journey [5], [6]. Various solutions have introduced for customer behaviour analyzis in retail using developments in computer vision technology. For instance, counting the number of people and detecting the hot spots in retail [6] and public [7], and tracking shoppers’ emotion [5] are such applications. However, the existing solutions only capture coarse touch-points of a shopper’s journey and vulnerable to unconstrained environment settings. With the adaptation of computer vision technologies in gaze estimation, there has been eye tracking-based solutions for customer behaviour analysis in retail as well [1], [8]. Moreover, there are solutions based on virtual reality devices and head-mounted displays, wearable eye tracker based solutions [9], and non-intrusive 3D eye tracking solutions [10]. However, these solutions do not completely satisfy the retailers due to high cost of 3D eye tracking solutions, unscalability of wearable, and head-mounted display-based solutions, and manual calibration of eye tracking systems.

Conclusion

     Remote gaze saliency estimation in retail is a novel concept that has a significant potential towards building innovative retail stores. In this study, we researched the application of remote gaze saliency estimation for non-interruptive, low-cost, and scalable customer behaviour analysis in retail. We proposed a Depth-based Dual Attention model, a three-stage, three-attention-based deep CNN for gaze saliency estimation from back-head images in the wild. We developed four design solutions to comprehensively represent the parameters of gaze saliency estimation problem in retail and introduced the novel object channel and depth-rebasing components as hand-designed features, designed in our two preceding model architectures and then combined in the final model.

     Extensive quantitative and qualitative analysis on the benchmark GOO-Real dataset demonstrates the superiority of the proposed models and the importance of our introduced hand-designed components. Our proposed solution improved 33% for angular error compared to the current best work in the literature. Furthermore, we introduced Retail Gaze, a real-world retail gaze saliency estimation dataset, to ensure the validity and applicability of our proposed solution in real retail environments. The proposed solution achieved an angular error of 15.3° on the Retail Gaze dataset, which demonstrates that it performs favourably in real retail environments.

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Data

3. Results

4. Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Disclosure statement

Funding

References

Abstract

     While a large number of studies have investigated seafood consumption in various markets, surprisingly little is known about the types of seafood sold in retail outlets or their product forms in the USA. This is particularly true for fresh seafood, which is generally regarded as the most valuable product form of seafood. In this article, a unique dataset on retail in-store seafood sales that includes information about three main product forms (fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable products) was analyzed. Fresh seafood is important, as it makes up 43% of sales revenue. Moreover, some species are almost exclusively sold fresh, with trout and lobster as prime examples. Fresh also includes the greatest diversity of species and, as such, is the most likely product form for new producers to succeed. National sales are dominated by a few species, with salmon and shrimp accounting for a large portion of the fresh (27%) and frozen categories (43%), respectively, and tuna dominating the shelf-stable category (75%). There are also a large number of species with mostly small market shares. There are few differences in regional sales patterns for the main species, with notable exceptions such as whitefish in New England and crawfish in Louisiana and Texas. The degree of urbanization and income level appears as the important drivers for seafood sales.

Introduction

     Seafood consumption in the USA has gradually increased for decades and includes a mixture of wild-caught and aquacultured species, from both domestic and imported sources (Shamshak et  al. 2019; Love et  al. 2020). As US fish stocks are generally well-managed at or near maximum sustainable yield and aquaculture production in the USA is limited, most of the increase in consumption originates from imports (Gephart et  al. 2019; Shamshak et  al. 2019). Readily available data on domestic landings, some aquaculture production, and trade enable estimates of availability (Shamshak et  al. 2019; Kroetz et  al. 2020); however, information on where seafood is consumed –in terms of both food sourcing and sub-national data, and in which product categories – is highly limited, particularly at the species level. Love et  al. (2020) recently found that about two-thirds of expenditures on seafood occurs away from home, primarily at restaurants, while seafood purchased for at home consumption makes up a much larger share by weight (56% at home vs 31% at restaurants and 13% at other outlets) (Love et  al. 2020). Moreover, these shares vary significantly by species and region. For instance, 52% of shrimp consumption occurs at home compared with 70% of salmon and 77% of tilapia consumption (Love et  al. 2020), and per capita consumption in Atlantic coastal regions is twice than that of the Midwest (Love et  al. 2020). The origin and product forms of purchased seafood are important to understand the growth in opportunities for the seafood industry – in particular in the specific market segments where domestic landings compete with typically lower priced imports – and how different parts of the seafood market respond to shocks or other sources of instability and natural variation.

Conclusions

     The US retail sector has a wide diversity of seafood species, product categories, brands, and regional sales, which makes it both complex and interesting to study. Purchases are highly focused on a handful of commodity products sold through mainstream supply chains with national distribution. Despite the diversity in seafood, which is a function of natural diversity in aquatic life (Metian et  al. 2020), the retail sector is fairly homogeneous and does not reflect the full diversity of species caught and farmed in US waters. Sales for fresh seafood vary by region, as well as by household income and urban population percentage. This suggests that better logistics and infrastructure in urban areas support fresh seafood distribution, and higher incomes allow consumers to purchase fresh products that are often at higher price points than frozen products. The opposite was true for frozen seafood, which was associated with lower household income and lower share of urban population. Shelf-stable seafood had no association with region, income, or urbanization. The Nielsen dataset does not provide insights into other food sources such as food service or self-caught seafood; however, other studies have done so (Love et  al. 2020).

Abstract

Introduction

Literature review and developing hypotheses

Theoretical framework

Methodology

Descriptive analysis

Findings and discussion

Conclusion

Disclosure statement

Notes on contributor

References

Abstract

     This study investigates the relationship between the level of sustainability reporting and retail sectors’ performance (operational, financial and market). Using data culled from 4065 observations from 38 different countries for ten years (2008–2017), an ‎independent variable derived from ESG score are regressed against dependent manufacture performance indicator variables [Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Tobin’s Q (TQ)]. Two types of control variables complete the regression analysis in this study: firm-specific and macroeconomic. The findings elicited from the empirical results demonstrate that there is a significant relationship between ESG and operational performance (ROA), financial performance (ROE) and market performance (TQ). The model in this study presents a valuable analytical framework for exploring sustainability reporting as a driver of performance in retail sectors’ economies. In addition, the results of this study has significant implications for retailers, as it allows the current retailers to consider the possible sustainable activities for better outcomes, and encourages newcomers to find different sustainability approaches to attempt to offer better returns.

Introduction

     The retail sector is an international economic powerhouse that is expected to increase to US$28 trillion by 2019 (Businesswire 2016). Despite that retail sector represents 31% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), which means that the retail sector has fundamental economic power and substantial environmental impacts. These include impacts from retailing operations (Brancoli, Rousta, and Bolton 2017; Bradley 2016; Zaatari, Novoselac, and Siegel 2016) and from the production of retailed goods (Cimini and Moresi 2018).

     As the retail sector plays an important international economic sector, it must play a leading role in identifying and implementing sustainable solutions (Buallay et al. 2020a). In contrast to the anti-industry, anti-profit and anti-growth orientation of much of the early environmentalist movement, it has become increasingly clear that the business sector must play a central role in achieving the goals of sustainable development strategies (Buallay 2019a)). Retailers adopt different corporate sustainability actions and strategies to decrease the internal and external impacts of their operations (Naidoo and Gasparatos 2018). Understanding the motivations of retailers for adopting sustainability is necessary for determining the possible financial benefits (Al Hawaj and Buallay 2021).

Conclusion

     This study investigates the relationship between the level of sustainability reporting and retail sectors ’operational, financial and market Performance. Using data culled from 3311 observations in 50 different countries for ten years (2008–2017), an independent variable derived from ESG score are regressed against dependent manufacture performance indicator variables [Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Tobin’s Q (TQ)]. Two types of control variables complete the regression analysis in this study: bank-specific and macroeconomic. The findings elicited from the empirical results demonstrate that there is a significant relationship between ESG and operational performance (ROA),f inancial performance (ROE) and market performance (TQ).

     There is a huge debate in the literature about whether sustainability is superior when it comes to generating returns. These studies have been conducted in different geographic locations in both developed and undeveloped markets. The new idea of this paper is that we provided a study on retail sector, which as to the extent of our knowledge, has not been done before. The results of this study has significant implications for retailers, regulators, investors. The study has significant implication on the mentioned parties as it allows them to consider the possible sustainable activities of current retailers, and therefore should encourage newcomers to find different sustainability approaches to attempt to offer better returns.

Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

Case Review of Retail Sector in UAE

Conclusion

References

Abstract

     Despite research on big data analytics being conducted in past, there are no studies focused on the opportunities i.e., growth prospects and its associated challenges in specific industries in UAE. In this study, big data analytics were used in SMEs retail sector in UAE region to assess the use of these technologies. Companies can use these to gain new understandings from their customers and suppliers perspective utilizing big data analytics techniques to take informative decisions on pricing, inventory management, payment solutions and marketing decisions. Big data can be used to help SMEs foresee the needs and preferences of their target audiences. The focus of this study is on SMEs since these are the pillar of every economy and can make quick adjustments to productivity changes. It aims to analyze and identify major chances and threats of Big Data and propose the best ways for SMEs to utilize it for improving their efficiency and business practices.

Introduction

     The COVID-19 viral pandemic has had a significant impact on corporate growth across several industries. Small and midsized enterprises (SMEs) are among the most economically disadvantaged, a fact that has prompted governments of all views to enact unprecedented measures to help small businesses – such as tax holidays, soft loans, and implementation of digital technology to increase operational efficiency and ultimately revenue generation. On a regional level, several regulators and authorities have taken proactive measures to mitigate the impact on small enterprises. The ability of a small business to pivot and adapt to a new reality reflects its financial vulnerability, and it has been seen that businesses are innovating in the face of adversity – whether it’s changing existing services, catering to the requirements of newly housebound consumers, or adjusting product offerings to support government efforts to combat the coronavirus [1]. Most bigger firms are undergoing much-needed digital transformations on a small or large scale in order to stay competitive and be very customer-centric. Economic growth is bolstered by a growing SME sector, which decreases unemployment and poverty as well as encourages entrepreneurial activity and thus making it important for any country [1]. The Emirate is working to transition from an oil and gas dependent GDP to a free – market economy focused on trade, services, and manufacturing [2]. The contemporary market economy, on the other hand, relies heavily on SMEs, which account for over 40% of Dubai’s GDP [3].

Conclusion

     There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of data generated by both real and virtual worlds in the last few decades. Companies of allsizes use big data toolsto manage vast amounts of data and obtain comprehensive information that advances their business intelligence and allows them to make smart decisions. The retail business is one of the most diverse businesses, and some retailers are among the UAE’s top corporations. Simultaneously, the retail industry has many tiny “mom-and-pop” establishments, making it vital to many families’ livelihoods. Big Data Analytics has the potential to help these people. By analyzing data and creating correlations between diverse things, Big Data Analytics can enable these stores to discover new changes in their units. Finally, Big Data Analytics must be recognized as a crucial aspect in making the SMEs retail sector’s business a success story, considering all the facts, figures, and prospects covered in the article. If SMEs want to take advantage of Big Data’s capabilities, they must first undergo a cultural transformation. This necessitates them investigating data-handling tools and procedures outside of their smaller organizations, as well as being prepared to actively use Big Data in their decision-making processes. They must be prepared to dive in and explore the ever-expanding ocean of data that awaits them out there. Sayings alone, however, will not be enough to get SMEs on the path to data analytics. All shareholders, including domestic and worldwide regulators, the IT diaspora, the industry group, and the digital transformation community, face a difficult dilemma as a result of the previously identified issues. Further investigation and research can be done by doing empirical study and collecting raw data from various SMEs in retail sector in U.A.E. And then meaningful information can be extracted for further analysis to demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of the model mentioned in the paper

Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

2. Theoretical framework

3. Methodology

4. Results

5. Discussion

APPENDIX A. MEASURES

References

Abstract

COVID-19 primarily spreads through close contact between humans and has affected retailing industries extremely hard. To manage the situation retailers have turned to service innovation to change their operations to make consumers feel safe while shopping. This research focuses on the role of service innovativeness in retailing firms during the COVID-19 pandemic through an empirical study of almost 6000 consumers of 28 retailing firms. The results suggested that retailers with high service innovativeness performed COVID-19 imposed innovations better to improve their relative attractiveness. For retailers with physical stores, changes to the servicescape and the offering were found to be the key antecedents of service innovativeness. The findings on COVID-19 imposed service innovations demonstrate the importance of service innovativeness in successfully changing retailing services to adjust to the restrictions from governments and safety needs of customers.

1. Introduction

Retailing is one of the industries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (Wang et al., 2020; Beckers et al., 2021). At various times retail customers were not allowed to go to physical stores, not allowed to shop with their spouse or children, required to wear face masks, and not allowed to leave their homes except for specific errands. This obviously has affected retail firms, which serve customers’ recurring needs and often rely on a physical store for service provision. Early during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, the turnover of grocery firms was unaffected, whereas apparel and footwear firms lost up to 80% of their turnover. Retail firms have been forced to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing and introducing service innovations directed towards improving customer safety (Roggeveen and Sethuraman, 2020). Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic elevated service innovation to a critical strategic issue, as many retail firms had to innovate to survive and stay in business (Heinonen and Strandvik, 2020). However, the question of how exactly retail firms innovate to make customers feel safe and attract them to their stores during the COVID-19 pandemic remains to be answered.

Service innovation is a key factor for differentiation and improving the relative attractiveness of retail firms (Lee et al., 2022). Bolton et al. (2014) suggested that continuous small changes are key for service innovation and can make a big difference for retail firms trying to differentiate the customer experience and improve their relative attractiveness. By studying innovations introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Heinonen and Strandvik (2020) identified 11 categories of imposed service innovations, including innovations in service delivery, physical distancing, and remote presence. They further argued that firms have used their innovativeness to overcome the circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and simultaneously improved their relative attractiveness. Service innovations are of different types and can be analyzed in various dimensions and categories (Snyder et al., 2016). This suggests that certain dimensions of service innovation might create more value for customers and thus decisively influence their perceptions of retailers’ innovativeness. Prior research does not provide conclusive evidence on the dimensions of service innovation that retail customers appreciate the most.

Abstract

     Drawing on brand equity literature and transaction cost economics, this study investigates the impact of member-retailers’ strategic behaviors on the retail buying group’s brand equity and how such behaviors are associated with their financial performance in the context of horizontal strategic alliances. The hypotheses were tested using survey data collected from 241 small- and medium-sized supermarket retailers joining retail buying groups in Japan. The study offers evidence that relationship-specific investment directly improves the buying group’s brand equity as well as strengthens the brand equity’s positive effect on financial performance. Additionally, while contract-based passive opportunism weakens the positive effect of the buying group’s brand equity, response-based passive opportunism directly depreciates such brand equity. Our results generate implications for headquarter managers to design and govern retail buying groups.

Introduction

     Brand equity, widely defined as added value for the brand, is a success factor for business-to-business (B2B) marketing (Aaker, 1991; Davis & Mentzer, 2008; Dwivedi et al., 2020; Lindgreen, Beverland, & Farrelly, 2010; Oh, Keller, Neslin, Reibstein, & Lehmann, 2020). Firms tend to stick to trading parties with high brand equity and recommend them to other firms (Davis & Mentzer, 2008; Oh et al., 2020); therefore, a strong brand equity is considered a key to their growth and profitability (Baldauf, Cravens, & Binder, 2003; Grashuis, 2018). However, managing brand equity in inter-firm relationships is demanding (Marquardt, 2013), which often embarrasses firm managers who wish to benefit from strong brand equity. Therefore, early investigators have paid considerable attention to investigating the antecedent factors influencing a firm’s brand equity in the various B2B marketing contexts: organizational capabilities (Zhang, Jiang, Shabbir, & Du, 2015), B2B marketing efforts (Kim & Hyun, 2011), relational engagement (Dwivedi et al., 2020), brand relationship quality (Nyadzayo, Matanda, & Ewing, 2016), and human capital (Biedenbach, Hult´en, & Tarnovskaya, 2019).

     However, insights into brand equity are scarce for horizontal strategic alliances by small- and medium-sized retailers (SMRs). These alliances are understood as cooperative network or organizations where small, independent retailers with divergent and distinct goals are loosely and horizontally connected to improve each firm’s competitive standing in the context of a firm’s long-term plan (Ghisi, da Silveira, Kristensen, Hingley, & Lindgreen, 2008): for example, cross-border alliances (Cho & Jin, 2015), retail network via shop-in-shop (Picot-Coupey, Viviani, & Amadieu, 2018), or retail buying groups (Kennedy, 2016).

Discussion and implications

     In today’s competitive and dynamic retail market situations, improving the buying group’s brand equity is a success factor for ensuring better performance of member retailers, but indicates a real challenge in retail buying groups. Headquarter managers intending to maximize the benefits of such brand equity need to find out how to better manage their member-retailers’ strategic behaviors. To address this knowledge gap, this study examines how relationship-specific investment and passive opportunism are linked to the buying group’s brand equity and financial performance. Our study’s findings generate important implications for headquarter managers to design and govern retail buying groups.