• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.25-33
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• 2019

Purpose - The purpose of the study was to seek to find out what factors having differences between paid membership customers (Costco membership) and general customers in retail industry. Since Costco operates differently from other conventional retailers, which is expected to have a substantial impact on consumers' preference of retail stores. Research design, data, and methodology - The survey conducted covered 1,000 adults in their 30s~50s living in Goyang and Gwangmyeong where Costco runs stores to determine the effects of Costco's local market-entry from consumer perspectives. 500 respondents were surveyed in each region and those working in the retail sector were excluded to ensure the objectivity of the answers. Results - Costco members in Goyang considered the price, bulk purchasing, and membership benefits as important criteria when choosing their retail store. On the other hand, as for Gwangmyeong, the non-member group's prominent characteristic was that they considered accessibility including travel distance and location and in-store amenities including food court services as important criteria for decision-making. Conclusion - Unique business model of Costco shows a statistically significant difference in terms of consumer awareness. the feature of Costco served as an critical criteria for consumers in their purchasing decision. Moreover, Bulk packaging purchases at Costco results in a strong supplementary relationship with neighborhood supermarkets.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.7-16
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• 2018

Purpose - This research addresses the question of how an international retailer like Costco can succeed in a foreign mature market and satisfy the local consumers. Our study aims to promote our understanding of how foreign retailers influence local consumers in a mature market with differentiated business models. Research design, data, and methodology - Our study uses company publications, secondary sources of information and the results of a questionnaire survey consisting of 106 participants. Consumer responses were solicited through a questionnaire survey conducted in the city of Kobe in December of 2013. Results - Product differentiation from local retailers in a mature market like Japan gave Costco a competitive edge. Compared with local supermarkets, Costco was preferred by Japanese consumers for its variety of goods that it carries, as well as in-store promotion large package of selling units, in-store amenities, and customer services. Conclusions - First, a theoretical framework is proposed in this study that can aid in developing localization strategies in a mature market such as Japan. Second, it reveals that an international retailer can succeed in a foreign market by stimulating local consumers to change their purchasing behavior, without having to alter the prevailing format of operation.

• Distribution Business Review
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• no.2
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• pp.93-104
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• 2002

Wal-Mart, Carrfour, Makro, Tesco, Costco... 언뜻 보기에는 세계적 유통업체의 순위를 나열한 것 같지만, 실은 국내 영업을 통해 이미 친숙해진 브랜드들이다. 국제화가 기업의 시장확장 전략의 하나라고는 하지만, 5-6년 새에 국내 유통 시장이 이러한 세계적 업체들의 각축장이 되었다는 사실은 여러 가지를 의미한다. 논의의 포커스는 먼저 이들 업체들이 진입하기 위한 충분 조건 즉, 국내 시장의 매력도에 맞춰질 수도 있고, 또 다른 시각에서는 왜 이러한 업체들이 시장확장을 해야만 했는가의 관점, 즉 필요조건에 포인트를 둘 수도 있다. 실제로 지금까지 진행된 소매 기업의 국제화 전개에 대한 논의는 대부분이 이와 같은 범주에서 양자를 모두 다루는 형태로 이루어졌다. 그러나, 국내 소매시장이 어떻게 국제화의 길을 걷게 되었는가를 살펴보는 본고는 후자인 필요조건 쪽 논의에 초점을 맞추고자한다.(중략)

• Distribution Business Review
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• no.2
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• pp.105-116
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• 2002

유통업도 이제는 제조업과 마찬가지로 국경의 개념이 허물어지고 있다. 무역자유화와 더불어 해외투자가 자유화되면서 유통기업들도 해외에 진출하여 영업 반경을 넓히고 있다. 우리나라에서도 지난 1996년 유통업에 대한 외국인 투자가 자유화됨에 따라 까르푸(Carrefour), 월마트(Wal-Mart), 테스코(Tesco), 코스트코 홀세일(Costco Wholesale)과 같은 굴지의 다국적 유통기업들이 국내에서 영업하고 있다. 전통적으로 유통업은 내수 위주의 산업으로 지역 소비자와 밀접한 관계를 유지해야 하기 때문에 해외 진출에 소극적이었으나 최근 유럽 및 미국 업체들을 중심으로 동남아 및 남미에 대한 진출을 확대하고 있다.(중략)

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.3 no.3_4
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• pp.222-227
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• 2000

Fabrea salina living at salt pond is an interesting ciliate in the research of photobiology and live food for aquaculture. This study was carried out to understand the natural habitat of F. salina at salt pond, which would be a basic biological knowledge for the indoor mass culture of this ciliate. In this research, the water quality as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll-a was examined with the population density of the ciliate at salt pond. The highest population density of F. salina occurred at 109 ppt and $31^{\circ}C$with 2,390 inds./L in August, and the distribution of the ciliate was positively correlated with salinity, temperature, and chlorophyll­a. Even though F. salina is a very euryharine ciliate, it did not occur at the salinity below 47 ppt in this study. Its reason is able to be explained with the occurrence of many predators as small fish and food competitors as zooplankton living at low salinity of salt pont. While F. salina occurred with Anemia at the same habitat using the same food source, the optimum salinity for the ciliate was a little higher than that of Anemia, and the optimum temperature for the former was a little lower than that of the later. This should be a reason for that these two species have different ecological nich at the same habitat using the same food source.

• East Asian Journal of Business Economics (EAJBE)
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.13-24
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• 2018

Purpose - This study investigates the moderation effect of internal factor, a firms size, on the external knowledge sourcing strategy and its effectiveness in generating radical innovation. We incorporate concepts of breadth and depth as two measures to gauge the degree of openness in firms external search Research design and methodology - The dependent variable in the regression model is the percentage of innovative sales and therefore, Tobit regression is employed for estimating significant factors affecting on the ratio of first-to-market by breadth and depth in external knowledge, internationalization, and size. Results - The results show that the external knowledge, in terms of both breadth and depth, has a positive relationship with radical innovation. However internationalization as external knowledge resources is not statistically accepted. Firm size has moderating effect on innovation negatively only in case of using external knowledge resources to a high degree. Conclusions - Firms obtain external information mostly from customers, competitors, and suppliers etc. empirical knowledge in terms of scope and intensity is an important contributor to innovation. And intensity use of external knowledge and information resources can work in favor of smaller firms rather than larger ones. Internationalization seems to have little effect on innovation but it requires further researches with clear criteria and more data.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1-14
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• 2011

This study is to analyze the image similarity and the preference for clothing stores in the 6 giant discount chains in Daejeon. The survey for this study was based on the questionnaires accomplished by 257 people through the multidimensional scaling. The results are as follows First, 6 clothing stores had 4 image groups located in 4 coordinates. CW(Costco Wholesale), NH(Nonghyup Hanaro-Mart), and SZ(Save Zone) had a similar distinct image, while HP(Home Plus) and EM(E-Mart), and LM(Lotte-Malt) also had similar differentiated images. Second, according to the preference analysis in terms of demographic characteristic, NH had the lowest preference from the people of all the different ages, while SZ had the highest. HP, EM, CW, and LM had their own preference in the following order: in the thirties, forties, and over fifties. Meanwhile, relatively, SZ is preferred by the people in their twenties and people over age fifty liked CW more. Third, according to the analysis of the preference for clothing stores in the giant discount chains in terms of educational background, clothing consumers who had high school degrees preferred NH and LM, people with 2 year college degrees liked HP and EM more, while 4-year college graduates and people with higher education had preference for SZ. Finally, according to the preference analysis in terms of income level, higher income groups preferred SZ and CW and lower income groups liked LH and LM more, while HP and EM had high preference from all kinds of income groups.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.91-101
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• 2018

Purpose - This study compares the management efficiency of retailers in China, Korea and other global countries. China's retail industry is experiencing a recession. In order to strengthen the competitiveness of retailers, it is necessary to manage the efficiency. Therefore, we analyzed the management efficiency of Chinese retailers as well as Korea and global retailers who are competing with Chinese retailers. Research design, data, and methodology - The DEA(Data Envelopment Analysis) carried out for evaluating the relative efficiency of multiple DMUs (decision making units) with homogeneity. Data were collected from the American Retail Trade Association (2017). In those distributors' data, 5 of China and 5 of Korea and 10 of other global countries' analyzed. CCR and BCC analysis were performed to determine the cause of the inefficiency of DMUs by measuring the technical efficiency, pure technology efficiency and scale efficiency. Result - Among the 20 retail distributors, Costco, Kroger (Global), Eland World, BGF(Korea) are operating efficiently. Chinese retailers are operating inefficiently. Retailers' CRS status means the growth rate of input is equal to the growth rate of output. In the case of DRS status, the ratio of output to input variable is much smaller. In order to improve inefficiency, reducing input variables can be a solution. For the firms in IRS status, the rate of increase in output is relative greater than the input. That means efficiency is good condition. The analysis result shows that most retailers are showing DRS status especially Chinese retailers. Scale efficiency is a major cause of inefficiency rather than pure technology efficiency. It is recommended for ineffective retailers to reduce inputs to become efficient retailers. Otherwise, retrain existing employees or introducing advanced technologies to increase the output. Conclusions - Most of Chinese retailers are operating inefficiently which caused by the excessive investment in the inputs. On the other hand, Other global retailers are analyzed to be efficient by DEA. In this study, benchmarking targets of some retailers' suggested to improve the management efficiency especially in inputs.