Can You See How it Smells? What Eye Tracking Can Tell us about the Shelf Management of Luxury Perfumes

The purpose of this paper is to advance the theory and contribute to the practice of luxury perfumes’ shelf management by decoding the relationship between attention on the shelf, purchase decision-making, and brand recall. It employs an eye-tracking experiment to analyze attention spans and fixations, which is combined with a questionnaire to uncover recall and purchase intent. The research identifies attention patterns and the influence of attention on recall and purchase intention. It further reveals the main factors that influence attention on the shelf in the luxury perfume industry. This is a milestone for further elaboration on the benefits of the fashion mainstream for luxury perfumes and the debate regarding whether luxury perfumes should be treated similar to mainstream fashion or similar to any other product in basic shelf management rules. This study enables shelf managers and marketers to place the perfumes both on the shelf and in consumer minds to maintain a top-of-the-mind brand position. Managerial implications are significant and address perfume industry packaging as well as shelf positioning.

Utilizing Radio Frequency Identification in Libraries

Nowadays, RFID technology is widely being used in libraries across the world. This study is in line with global literature pertaining to the implementation of RFID technology in libraries and intends to explore and examine the perceptions of employees from two libraries in Qatar. Data was collected from both staff and managers using two separate surveys. The perceptions of both sets of employees were analyzed and compared to highlight the differences in benefits, drawbacks, and issues concerning the implementation of RFID in contrast to barcode. ‘Shelf management of resources,' ‘perceived RFID contributions,' and ‘workplace efficiency' were the top 3 rated dimensions pertaining to the use of RFID. Additionally, ‘increased customer satisfaction' was rated the highest among the reasons as to why RFID is adopted in libraries and the fact that all negative decision determinants were moderately perceived when compared to the positive ones indicates the overall positive attitude of managers in these libraries towards RFID technology. Further conclusions and future work are proposed at the end of the study.

Category captain arrangements in grocery retail marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine shelf management practices of grocery retail chains and their category captains (CCs) in the marketing of consumer packaged goods. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative, exploratory study that is set in a duopoly retail environment in the Asia-Pacific region. The study employed 18 in-depth interviews with executives and managers of two umbrella retail organisations and their suppliers/manufacturers. The method of data analysis employed was content analysis. Findings – Despite CC input in merchandising decisions, it is the retail chains that have the final say on shelf matters. There is no risk of strategic loss of power in employing CCs to manage store product categories on behalf of, or in partnership with retailers provided the retail chains closely monitor the activities and decisions/recommendations of the captains. Research limitations/implications – The paper is developed from data obtained from the grocery retail industry of one economy. Future research would need to extend this study to other economies with similar as well as different conditions. Practical implications – The research offers reassurance to grocery retail practitioners who may be contemplating lessening the burden of managing all their store categories by themselves and switching to CC arrangements. The reassurance is that the reported risk associated with loss of power is manageable. Originality/value – The paper has created a typology termed the “category captain arrangement/grocery retail concentration matrix” and specific directions for further research.