Store Choice, Store Location and Market Analysis.

Addressed in this paper is the lack of understanding of the extent to which the image of a store can affect store selection and of the extent to which this image varies across market segments. The subject of the analysis is the choice of supermarkets for major grocery shopping, and image is here measured by the chain to which a supermarket belongs. Evidence is presented through the use of descriptive statistics from a sample of consumers and through several store-choice model calibrations that chain image is an important determinant of store choice. In the particular data set employed, chain image is at least as important as store size and store competition. Evidence is presented on the effects of peoples' income and race on their store selection. Differences are found in chain image both across income groups and across racial groups. Differences are also reported in distance deterrence across income groups, although in the opposite direction to common belief. It appears that low-income consumers are willing to travel further for grocery shopping, ceteris paribus, probably to take advantage of lower prices. Higher income consumers may be unwilling to spend the extra time involved to shop at the stores with the lowest prices and therefore give up low prices for the sake of convenience. The general conclusion from the results presented here is that intrinsic differences in store-choice behavior exist across different groups of consumers and that analyzing store location accurately demands knowledge of such differences.

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Locational Attractiveness Modelling of Retail in Santa Maria, Brazil

Urban Science ◽

10.3390/urbansci2040105 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 105 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Eliziéle Paroli ◽

Clarice Maraschin

Keyword(s):

Consumer Choice ◽

Store Choice ◽

Point Of Sale ◽

Topographic Slope ◽

Retail Business ◽

Store Location ◽

Retail Location ◽

Gis Environment ◽

The City ◽

Santa Maria

A central topic in the retail analysis is store location, which is related to its attractiveness and even with its profitability. In order to determine the force of attraction of a given point of sale, methodologies based on gravitational models have been developed. More recently, classic models have been integrated with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This paper explores a methodology for retail spatial analysis in a GIS environment, and it aims to: (a) model the degree of influence of different store location attributes on the consumer choice among a collection of retail options, and (b) develop an empirical application for the clothing retail business sector in the city of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. The study selects three relevant location attributes of store choice: retail market clustering, local accessibility of the street network, and topographic slope of the terrain. These three location features were taken as inputs for the attractiveness evaluation of each store, using the Huff model. As a result, we were able to model the trading areas of each shop related to the selected attributes. The paper provides a methodology for modelling the performance of retail location attributes and building different scenarios of probabilities for consumer patronage, allowing a first measure of the influence of each selected store location attribute.

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