Retail Healthcare Market in India

The main objective of this paper is to explore the motivations and willingness of Indian consumers to accept and consult retail clinics if they are made available in India. A total of 218 participants, including those seeking treatment (Patients/ consumers) and those providing treatment (Doctors/ providers) were randomly sampled in the age group 18- 72 years. They provided with same questionnaire by mail. Response rate was 69% (141 of 218 questionnaires were completed). RESULTS: Majority of the participants were unaware of retail clinics. The young adults in the age group 18-36 yrs were most interested in using retail clinics. 13% of the participants would never visit retail clinics. The chapter concludes that the future of retail clinics in India will most likely be determined by their service and cost-effectiveness.

A Study of Virtual Trial Room

In todays' Ecommerce websites, the user just picks up apparels and accessories that look good in the images. Once the goods are delivered, they might not be satisfied with the color, size and looks. This results in the return of the apparel. This chapter talks about Virtual trial room as a facility for the online users. This will help the customer to virtually try the apparels for the size. The customers' can also share their trailed clothes on the social media, so that they can get suggestions on it from family, friends, designers, and fashion experts. As the technology advances, the customer can also print out a small piece of the cloth to have a look and feel of the material.

Green Retailing

Sustainable development with ecological protection has gained global significance across society because of continuing environmental degradation. It causes green supply-chain management to be an area of interest among researchers and practitioners. Existing literature related to green supply chain indicates that most of the scholarly works have been limited to the manufacturing context and retailing has not been paid enough attention. It signifies that integrating green policies into retail sector is a new potential area of research from academicians' and practitioners' point of view. This chapter discusses about the drivers, barriers, different dimensions, issues, existing environmental practices and policies adopted by leading retailers, future research avenues, different green polices adopted by various organizations and government bodies in the area of retailing. Thus it facilitates researchers, industry practitioners, policy makers to find the existing works, new research opportunities as well as to improve practices and policies.

Supply Chain Management and Strategy Implementation for Perishable Goods

Supply chain management is the active management of supply chain activities to maximize customer value and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for a longer time. The supply chain firms put an extra effort to develop and run in the most effective & efficient ways possible. There are issues of concern that need attention, like huge losses in perishables (food) because of infrastructural deficiencies. The demand for food remains highly unfulfilled in most of the country and outside in spite of high production of food. This is because of highly ineffective, inadequate and very weak supply chains for food that require temperature controlled conditions to retain quality and safety of food and curb the decay process. An effective food retail supply chain thus becomes vital (Bourkakis and Weightman, 2004).Supply chains for perishable and time-sensitive products, pose specific and unique challenges. The temperature controlled supply chains or cold chains are a significant proportion of the retail food market which is still in the nascent stage.

A Customer Loyalty Model for Online Retail in India

Sustaining long term growth requires businesses to manage customer loyalty very judiciously. Empirical studies have been conducted in many countries to investigate the relation between e-loyalty and its antecedents in the online retail business. However empirical research on these lines is virtually non-existent in India. This chapter describes a theoretical model for investigating the influence of the antecedents: e-satisfaction, e-trust, e-service quality, and fulfilment on e-loyalty in the online retail context in India. The theoretical model is used as a basis to formulate hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested with data collected from a survey of online customers. The output from these tests show that e-satisfaction is the variable which affects e-loyalty to the maximum followed by e-service quality variables. E-trust directly affects e-loyalty and also indirectly through e-satisfaction. It is also established that e-service quality variables indirectly affect e-loyalty through e-satisfaction and e-trust. Fulfilment indirectly affects e-loyalty through e-satisfaction.

An Overview of Fruits and Vegetables' Retail Supply Chain Models in India

India is the second largest food producer in the world. Various high temperate Fruits and Vegetables (F&V) are widely grown in Himalayas and Terai region of India. They are important to the various retailers in the plain areas across all the seasons. It has gained its credibility for providing sustainable income, nutritional security and for providing employment opportunities by retailing, both in rural and urban areas. As the population is increasing, demand for fresh F&V are also increasing day by day, but at the same time various issues are hindering the growth of retail sector. This chapter presents an overview of F&V retail supply chain in India as it plays a very vital role in the growth of Indian economy, and is also directly related to the health and happiness of the customers. The different types of retail supply chain models which are currently followed by Indian F&V retail formats/retailers (traditional or unorganized retailers and modern or organized retailers) and various issues related to the retail supply chain of this sector are also discussed in this chapter.

Encouraging Supply Chain Networks and Customer Loyalty in Global Supply Chain

This chapter aims to encourage supply chain networks and customer loyalty in global supply chain, thus distinguishing the theoretical and practical concepts of supply chain management (SCM) and supply chain networks; the multifaceted applications of supply chain network design (SCND); the overview of customer loyalty in global supply chain concerning customer value, customer satisfaction, switching barriers, customer loyalty programs, and customer-company identification (CCID); and the linkage between customer loyalty and supply chain networks in the retail setting. Encouraging supply chain networks and customer loyalty is critical for modern organizations that seek to serve suppliers and customers, increase business performance, strengthen competitiveness, and achieve continuous success in global supply chain. The chapter argues that encouraging supply chain networks and customer loyalty has the potential to improve organizational performance and gain sustainable competitive advantage in global supply chain scenarios.

Retail Supply Chain Management Trends

Improving the organization's performance and securing competitive advantage over others greatly depends on the supply chain management as it is seen that the competition is no longer between the organizations, rather they are amongst supply chains. This study is based on collecting the information and data about the supply chain management from 60 retail organizations. This study will show the aspects of supply chain management in the retail domain highlighting the challenges, capabilities and the priorities for the next 2-3 years. As retailers choose to concentrate either on product leadership private-label or high touch customer intimacy or on cost leadership strategies, their supply chain priorities and investment decisions are tailored to the specific requirements. While retail is extremely diverse, but retailers across the globe share many priorities — balance the availability of the inventory; control the costs and customer service in order to maintain the retail strategy. Our effort has been to explore how retailers are managing these priorities and getting ready for future.

Intelligent Slotting for the Warehouse

In the current and future Supply Chain landscape, we need to ensure that we keep the warehouse ship sailing amidst the turbulent waters of dynamic business growth and rapid changes in technology. There are several challenges to be overcome, and many opportunities to be embraced on the path to achieving this. In this chapter, the authors detail one of the key problems facing the warehouse and that is Slotting. They look at the various business drivers, and technological drivers impacting Slotting. They propose a solution to tackle this problem by using Market Basket Analysis and Machine Learning.

Customer Service

Customer Experience Management is a strategy that focuses the operations and processes of a business around the needs of the customers. Retailing is a huge industry (45% of the U.S. economy and the largest employer) that has consistently been an incubator for new business concepts. The retailing business, in today's world is focussed on the customer's buying experience. Focus on customer experience and understanding their needs can solve many retailers' chronic problems such as stock outs and markdowns. This chapter focusses on following major themes: assortment and inventory planning, markdown and store execution of retailer and their strategies for next couple of years. In today's Omni-channel world it's important for retailer to enhance customer experience, be it in brick and motor store or online.