• Journal of architectural history
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.31-38
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• 2017

The retail store, which appears in various ways of the modern city, is the architectural result that the merchandise is finally delivered to consumers. The relationship between the commerce based on manufacturing and distribution and the retail store as urban architecture can be understood not only from the viewpoint of economics and business administration but also the problem of the formation of urban history and urban organization. The modern industrial development in Korea had been progressed by the state led, as the manufacturing and distribution developed in turn. This social and economic situation influenced the formation of the retail store of the city. This is different from the West, which the development has been conducted together. The cosmetics sales space, which is the subject of this study, has changed in various forms from the 1960s to the 1990s. Cosmetics brand retail shop is a corporate brand-based space, but paradoxically, it has a historical characteristic of urban architecture in that it is branding city street. This specificity of Seoul is unexplained by the development process of the Western and does not exist as a physically huge or special construction sometimes. However, it operates as a urban architecture in Seoul where the complicated.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.45-53
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• 2018

Purpose - The purpose of the study was to investigate operation system of current convenience store and competing retail store and to find out development of unattended convenience store. Operators can save labor cost and solve labor seeking when opening shop under suitable environment and commerce area, and assure of employee's safety. Customers are allowed to select commodity comfortably without disclosure of face and to shorten standby time at simple store opening, buying and paying and to produce convenient living environment by financing, delivery and goods control. This study examined effect and problems of operation of existing and unattended convenience store from point of view of visual merchandising to find out model of unattended convenience store and to strengthen competitiveness of convenience store business. Research design, data, and methodology - Research procedure of accomplishment of goal of the study was: The study investigated state of distribution business, and role and definition of VMD. First, VMD played an important role of promotion and competitiveness of unattended convenience stores. Second, the author investigated research and cases of unattended convenience stores 14 months, that is to say, from August 15, 2017 to October 15, 2018. Third, the author investigated on-the-spot three of common convenience stores, three of unattended convenience stores and three of retailers one month, that is to say, June 1, 2018 to July 1, 2018. The subject was convenience stores and retailers selling similar type of products at Seoul and metropolitan area. Results - Layout, selling place, brand identity, goods assortment, authentication system, product information cognition and control, buying and payment system, security system, salesmen, promotion and other services should be improved from point of view of merchandising. Structure, furniture, lighting, voice, façade, VP, PP, IP and POP should be developed. Conclusions - Unattended convenience stores saved operating cost and lessened labor and gave visitors convenience and comfortable shopping and made use of resources effectively. Further studies with quantitative analysis shall find out strategic conditions for promotion of unattended convenience stores.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.71-77
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• 2012

Purpose - This study examined marketing communication in traditional markets by assessing consumers demonstrating brand loyalty through repeat purchases despite active marketing by competing brands hence, showing that the brand did not lose customers owing to communication. Specifically, this study examined the effects of marketing communication factors in traditional markets upon consumers' store loyalty and to determine consumers' practical and hedonic values, as moderating variables. Moreover, this study determined that both experienced and inexperienced consumers in traditional markets could similarly assess the market and examined the outcome of traditional market development as well as future strategies. Research design, data, methodology - To verify the relationship between marketing communication and store loyalty, and the moderating effects of shopping value, data were collected from 230 consumers in the Gyeonggi Province to test the theoretical model and its hypotheses. Although the field of distribution management typically uses two research methodologies, this study was conducted using empirical methodology. Specifically, analysis of variance and hierarchical regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses. Results - Consumers who had experienced the traditional market placed a greater emphasis on the physical environment or word-of-mouth marketing. Moreover, other factors apart from advertising had a significantly positive influence upon marketing communication sub-factors and store loyalty. Word-of-mouth marketing was found to be more important than other factors, therefore affirmative word-of-mouth marketing was considered important from various viewpoints. The study investigated the moderating effects of hedonic value and practical use value in the relationship between marketing communication sub-factors and store loyalty: The negative influence of publicity, physical environment, and word-of-mouth marketing was considered to be statistically significant. Conclusions - Consumers who made use of the traditional market did not think of the physical environment in an affirmative way, and consumers who did not make use of the traditional market perceived it as having a poor physical environment. However, consumers who engaged in word-of-mouth marketing experienced the traditional market in an affirmative way. Consumers who made use of the traditional market had significantly high hedonic value and/or practical use value, therefore future strategies should encourage consumers to make more use of the traditional market. Consumers who had experienced the traditional market demonstrated strong market loyalty. For consumers who did not make use of the traditional market, marketing communication was likely to influence store loyalty in a different manner from a practical perspective. In other words, marketing communication was needed to develop the traditional market, and consumers who did not make use of the traditional market should be given the opportunity to do so. Consumers having low hedonic values experienced high publicity to have high store loyalty, and consumers who experienced good facilities of the traditional market had high store loyalty (Nam & Jun, 2011). Consumers with low hedonic values as well as those with high hedonic values on the traditional market could have high store loyalty through affirmative word-of-mouth marketing.Therefore, various types of events and strategies were needed to enable consumers to experience the traditional market in an affirmative way.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.15-27
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• 2018

Purpose - The purpose of the study is to examine the relationships among the following retail operations variables: retail store operations (i.e., store management, sales personnel, promotion of merchandise), success of assortment planning, firm performance (i.e., market share, overall competitive position, profitability, product quality, consumer satisfaction), and retail buyer's demographics and firm's characteristics. Research design, data, and methodology - After conducting a pilot test, the survey was conducted in Seoul, South Korea. With using the listwise deletion method, 378 usable data sets were analyzed. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) methods were employed. Results - As evidenced from the path diagram, the relationship between retail store operations and the success of assortment planning is strong and significant. Retail store operations affect firm performance, though at a weaker significance than it affects the success of assortment planning. The relationship between the success of assortment planning and firm performance, is the strongest relationship observed by this research. Conclusions - The findings of this empirical study contribute to the retail/fashion buying/management field by confirming (a) the importance of assortment planning for retail firm performance and (b) the role of store operations for successful assortment planning and firm performance for fashion retailers.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.127-131
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• 2019

Purpose - This study focuses on clues that can clearly amplify the effects of background music. Review which store environments have a direct and positive impact on consumer responses, such as purchases. Research design, data, and methodology - This study focuses on clues that can clearly amplify the effects of background music. The purpose of this study is to examine what kind of store environment, combined with background music, has a direct and positive effect on consumer reactions such as purchase, and suggest future research directions. Results - The manager decides to use background music in the store because it is relatively inexpensive and easy to identify the emotional response of the consumer. In addition, appropriate background music lowers the psychological purchasing barriers of consumers. Previous studies have often not conducted a basic review of whether consumers perceive background music when it is used in retail stores. For example, it is necessary to make sure that the volume of the background music is loud enough and that the noise is properly excluded despite the congestion of the store so that the pure influence of the background music on the consumer can be measured. A way for store managers to clarify and differentiate their identity is to create a unique and satisfying store atmosphere for their customers. In order to help customers focus on their purchases, store managers must use marketing elements to integrate the five senses. And they should plan background music aiming at synergy effect of these five senses. In other words, in order to make the store atmosphere positive, it is not enough to have a suitable visual design interior or background music in the store, and consumers should have the opportunity to smell, taste and touch it directly. Conclusions - In conclusion, we hope that the following issues will be studied by several scholars in the future. It should be clarified that the impact of background music on customers varies depending on the customer's movement in the store, the selection of the background music genre order, and the timing (interval) of background music exposure to the customer.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.99-124
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• 2006

The purposes of the study are two-folds. First, it analyzes how factors other than price(e.g. delivery service, saving point policies, free gifts) impact total price for various products and different types of stores. Second, it analyzes how to increase market efficiencies through price level, price differences, and the frequency of price changes for different shops, various products and different types of transactions. By analyzing the price level within different types of stores, there found that prices at on-line store were lower than off-line shops. It also found price differences between pure on-line, hybrid, and off-line store. Comparing prices by product size, there found that pure on-line shops have a lower price compared to others. The results showed that on-line store had lower price variation compared to off-line shops. When comparing pure on-line store to hybrid store, hybrid store had lower price variation. In terms of the frequency of price changes, hybrid stores had higher price fluctuations. In terms of total price differences for delivery distances, pure on-line store had great price fluctuation, excluding cosmetic goods. In conclusion, if we consider price level and price fluctuations, on-line store had more efficiencies and was superior in terms of price effectiveness. Hybrid shops, on the other hand, had greater advantages for seasonal goods and dominant products. Therefore, market entry strategies should differ based on order quantity, type of store(pure on-line, hybrid, off-line), product characteristics(seasonality, product life), etc.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.101-108
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• 2015

Purpose - The convenience store business sector in South Korea has contributed to economic growth and job creation, and the growth potential of this market segment remains very high. In addition, service value is a more important factor than price in determining purchase intention. Research in the convenience store market is relatively very low compared to other retail sectors. In particular, research on service quality for the convenience of retailers who examine and analyze customer behavior and service quality factors used in the convenience store side of the situation is very inadequate. We have investigated the relationship of store service quality, service satisfaction, and store loyalty. In addition, we have examined the way service value moderates the relationship among these variables. Research design, data, and methodology - The questionnaire was developed using modified and supplementary questions based on the KD-SQS and RSQS models. The study suggested a theoretical model composed of 15 hypotheses on the relations between theoretic variables, and surveys conducted with consumers in discount stores in the Seoul and Gyunggi Metropolitan area in order to verify the hypotheses. We used the SPSS/PC statistical packages to analyze the results. The number of surveys used was 227. Moreover, a structural equating model was also used to analyze the reliability and validity of the composing elements and to verify the suggested hypotheses. Results - The overall results of this study are as follows. First, all service quality elements have a significant effect on service satisfaction. Second, all service quality elements have a significant effect on store loyalty. Third, service satisfaction has a significant effect on store loyalty. Finally, when the participants were divided into high and low service value the results of the multiple regression analyses showed that only the relationship between policy of service quality and satisfaction, and human interaction and policy of service quality and loyalty were significant. The implications are discussed based on the findings of the study. Conclusions - First, through direct hypotheses testing, we confirmed that the convenience service quality positively impacts the service satisfaction and loyalty of buyers. In particular, the reliability, origin benefit, and promotion were found to have more influence on satisfaction and loyalty of consumers of a convenience store. Further, for the service quality of the convenience for the consumer loyalty, greater human interaction was a high-value and statistically significantly higher than the degree of improvement in consumer loyalty. This underscores the importance of education and human services management of employees working in a convenience store. In particular, frequent changes in personnel generate results that negatively impact loyalty with customers. These results may lead to a serious problem in the economics of the store. Therefore, it should enhance the value of services through the establishment of training and compensation for employees. In addition, a certain educational level is required as well as a basis for compensation and retention.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.117-125
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• 2016

Purpose - As consumers' needs for purchasing fresh and safe food have been bigger in Korea, their interest in local food is also growing recently. So, the number of local food stores has been increased from 3 in 2012 to 103 in 2015. Local food stores should operate a business responding consumers' needs in order that local food stores are not to be a one-time fad. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of consumers who use a local food store and provide helpful implications to design a strategy for sustainable growth of local food store. Research design, data, and methodology - In this study, Probit model was used for empirical analysis in order to examine the effect of purchase choice attributes of agricultural products, consumer's satisfaction, and their demographic factors upon the intention to use a local food store. After estimating coefficients of the probit model, marginal effects were calculated as a standard normal, and cumulative distribution is differentiated with respect to explanatory variables. To collect the data, questionnaire survey was carried out with the consumers using the local food store (Youngjin Nonghyup near to Jeonju city located in Jeollabuk-do). Result - The data analysis found that the more consumers are satisfied with local food store, the higher intention they have to use the local food store. In addition, it was known that the factors related to quality of agricultural products and shopping convenience among the purchase choice attributes have a considerable impact on the purchase intention of a local food store. In demographic factors, income was turned out to be an important factor affecting purchase intention of local food. Such a result supports the hypothesis that high income consumers are likely to purchase local food, which is based on the inference that consumers who have a high income tend to pursue wellbeing life. Futhermore, information delivery, through a reputable media source among general factors, was known to play an important role in forming an intention to purchase local food. According to the analysis of marginal effects, probability of purchase intention of a local food store is increased by 11.4%, if a monthly average income of a household is above 4.5 million Won(Korean currency). If purchasing satisfaction with local food stores is high, the probability of purchase intention would be increased by 24.1%. Likewise, such a probability goes up by 8.7%, 5.8%, respectively as an increasing one unit of quality of agricultural products and shopping convenience of local food stores, respectively. Conclusion - For attaining sustainable growth in a local food store, it is considered necessarily to establish a proper store operation system to meet consumers' needs, especially for quality and shopping convenience of local food. Moreover, as it was found that appropriate communication through media source has a positive effect on the intention to use local food store, PR activity seems to be necessary to expand the consumers' demands for local foods.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.7-26
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• 2012

The success story of E-mart fascinated many academics and practitioners alike. Though E-mart began as a nameless discount store in Chang-dong, Seoul in 1993, it has transformed itself into a leading distribution company and one of the most powerful brands in Korea. Surprisingly, it achieved the great success against the two crises it met: the national economic crisis and the invasion of the global giant Walmart. The main objective of this case study is to formally examine how E-mart overcame the two crises. More specifically, this case study highlights the ways with which E-mart turned those difficulties into opportunities for growth. In our examination of the E-mart case, we could clearly see E-mart's competence and spirit that allowed it to turn crises into advantageous opportunities. E-mart attracted the customers who wanted value-oriented consumption by its positioning as the "Lowest price discount store", when consumer sentiment was frozen under the economic crisis. Furthermore, when a large-scale foreign discount store like Walmart entered the Korea market, E-mart built its core competencies as the 'Korean style discount store'. These ingenious positioning and efforts resulted in E-mart taking over their archrival, Walmart, and forced the global Goliath to exit the Korean market. The case of E-mart's effective crisis management teaches many important lessons and a few core lessons that apply to many companies. One such lesson is the importance of positioning which enabled E-mart to turn crises into opportunities. Granted, the strategy of positioning as the 'Korean style discount store', or 'Lowest price discount store' was possible due to overall support with cost reduction, development and management of their own system, an apprentice educate system, etc. based on an excellent selection of location of the store and efficient distribution systems. Still, the positioning strategy of E-mart was truly ground breaking in distancing itself from its competitors. The lessons from E-mart will help those companies currently in a stagnant situation or a crisis to turn their obstacles into great success.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.79-102
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• 2007

Consumers evaluate stores by comparing stores that we, in their minds, similar and are competitive with one another; and in this way, the term "consideration set of stores" is defined as those store alternatives the consumer is aware of and evaluates positively. The purpose of this study is to aid in understanding the consideration set of stores in store choice processes in apparel product purchases. More specifically, this study aims to clarify the relation between consideration set of stores and importance of store image. As a result, the respondents of quantitative study were classified into seven groups by the number of stores and store types they considered: 1) "small-road shop sets group" ; 2) "small-market sets group" ; 3) "small- department store sets group" ; 4) "small-department store/outlet sets group" ; 5) "large-department store/market sets group" ; 6) "large-department store/road shop sets group" ; and 7) "large-department store sets group". Further, significant differences among the groups in the importance of store image were observed. For example, low prices were an important factor in both the small-market considering group and large-department store/market considering group when choosing a retail store, there were also differences in the considering groups in that for the small-department store considering group, store mileage-discount cards were important whereas ample space for relaxation around the stores were important retail store selection factors for the large-department store/road shop considering group. This study may provide a useful direction to retailers in finding out who the target customers and competitive stores are and allow retailers to make proper marketing strategies.