• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.5-14
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aims to clarify the behavioral extraction and ability of venture merchants, who actively challenge commerce in the face of harsh living environments. Research design, data and methodology: Adopting the concept of retail functions and retail skills, this study examines how venture merchants perform retail functions, and identifies the required retail skills. This study analyzed primary data obtained through an interview with a bookstore called Lunuganga. Results: The venture merchant purchases products based on his self-assertion and creates an original "store identification." Moreover, he draws a changing "own-store customers image" and acquires "own-store customers," that is, customers acquired by him by building an original store identity. He sells products to "own-store customers" who identify with the store. The retail skills identified as required by venture merchants to carry out such retail functions were "skill to draw a store identification" and "skill to draw own-store customer image." Conclusions: Venture merchants' unique retail functions and retail skills suggest a new basis for the existence of small and medium-sized retailers. It is necessary to build a generalized theoretical hypothesis model by refining the concept presented in this paper by repeating research targeting venture merchants in the same industry and different industries.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2013

According to the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) published by A.T. Kearney (2012), India is the $5^{th}$ most attractive retail destination in the world. The retail industry in India has been largely fragmented with small businesses dominating the retail landscape, with very few large players having multiple retail outlets. However, in the last few years, the industry has witnessed a significant growth in the number of large retailers having a chain of outlets across the country. This growth in the organised retail sector has driven primarily by large Indian retail organisations and conglomerates. With the government reducing the restrictions on foreign participation in Indian retail business by increasing the FDI cap on both single and multi-brand retail outlets, the industry is likely to see an explosive growth in the organised retail sector which accounts for only 8 percent of the total industry. With more foreign retailers poised to enter into the country, one of the key issues that the industry may face is finding the right quality of manpower. Literature suggests that in an industry which is characterised by players offering similar kinds of product assortments at similar price levels, success would be governed by the quality of service, which entails employees having the right skills and attitudes for offering quality service. Therefore, the two key issues that may be of importance for retailers are levels of skills and the motivation of the employees. However, according to the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC, 2009), a significant skill gap exists in the industry, which may widen further in the years ahead, leading to greater challenges for organisations. This paper highlights some of the challenges and issues which characterise the industry in India, and suggests how companies could look at these challenges and seek ways to overcome these challenges.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.317-326
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• 2021

This study examines factors influencing the corporate identity (CI) of pharmacy retail stores (PRSs) in Thailand as a means to construct a unique corporate identity to represent their strengths and image abroad. An exploratory sequential design was applied. A pilot study involving interviews with four pharmacists was conducted to obtain the variables, and then a questionnaire was designed and administered to 392 respondents. The collected data was analyzed to examine correlations via descriptive analysis, Pearson's correlation, and multiple linear regression (MLR). The results show that wisdom and pharmaceutical care explain 44% of the variance in defining Thai PRSs identity. There is a 61% chance that Thai PRSs should consider wisdom as the most important factor. These findings provide useful insights for pharmacists, pharmaceutical entrepreneurs, and owners of PRSs to enhance competitiveness by devising strategies to create their corporate identity. For the qualitative analysis, Thai PRSs should encourage pharmacists to gain real working experience to develop their wisdom, experience, and skills. Besides, PRSs that build identities as knowledgeable, sincere, and compassionate health providers can successfully expand their operations to other ASEAN countries, as end-consumers will be confident in the reliability of their services.

• International Journal of Costume and Fashion
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2007

The Italian fashion industry has achieved a remarkable success in the global market with the distinctive features of its industry structure and product quality, and such a system has been subject to many researches. Especially, the retail structure centered on small speciality retail stores rather than the industry structure of medium and small sized companies and department stores is thought to be the most noticeable distinctive feature that differentiates the Italian fashion industry from other countries. This system is thought to be a driving force behind the continuous development and innovation closely associated with the market. In result, As medium and small size companies are the center of the Italian fashion industry, advantages of small companies based on region, that is, flexibility and innovation of medium and small size companies, close cooperation between companies are utilized and it has been progressing closely with the Italian traditional culture and being modernized based on traditional technological skills.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.35-49
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• 1985

The Purpose of the study is to identify some factors affecting the consumer behavior of the Oriental students in the United States and provide some basic information for desirable consumer skills. The ninety subjects ere collected form the Oriental groups who were studying in Denton, Texas, U.S.A. Data were analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, X2-test. The results are as follows: 1) There are significant similarities in the consumer behavior of the Oriental students regarding the information source, the preferred type of clothing, the factors affecting the choice of retail store, and the satisfaction after the clothing purchase. 2) There are some differences in the consumer behavior among three groups regarding expenditures of the purchase of clothing and the preferred choice of retail store. This study concludes that the Oriental students tend to: 1) adjust their life style to new situation ; 2) avoid their conflicts dur to the language barrier; 3) have a limited income to stay in the USA; and 4) have their own social acceptability based on their nationality.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.5-21
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• 2018

Purpose - This case study reviews the development history of Lotte Shopping, which has played a key role in modernizing Korea's retail industry. Research design, data, and methodology - Lotte Shopping's expansion to various channel types has been reviewed from the perspective of the resource-based view of strategy. The opening of Lotte Department Store in 1979 signaled the beginning of the modernized distribution system in Korea. Lotte Shopping expanded its business domains to various types of retail channels, such as discount stores, online shopping malls, TV home shopping, convenience stores, supermarkets, home appliances specialty stores and health & beauty stores. Results - Lotte Shopping has been able to maintain high level of customer satisfaction with leading merchandising skills. It has developed mutually beneficial relationship with the partner firms. It has also been a leading firm in implementing corporate social responsibility activities and environment-friendly management. Lotte Shopping has applied advanced information and communication technology to provide customized goods/services. Conclusions - This study summarizes the business environment and new challenges Lotte Shopping faces currently. Lotte Shopping is trying to reinforce the omni-channel strategy, which can create synergy among various distribution channels based on its core competences.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.865-880
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to examine job competencies for sales training program development to maximize profits in fashion retailing. An empirical online survey was conducted from September to December 2019, and data was collected from 200 salespeople and store managers working in fashion stores. Results were analyzed using frequency analysis, factor analysis, variance analysis, and regression analysis with SPSS 25.0. The major findings of this study were as follows. First, the most important job competencies identified by fashion store managers were: sales sense know-how, customer service skills, and sales person's fashion style sense, product knowledge, fashion marketing and customer management. The job competency factors for sales training programs included empathy with the customer, product knowledge, communications and networking, basic job requirement, and sales skills. These five factors positively influenced the employment intentions and expectations of work performance of graduates. These factors also had a positive influence on the need of sales training program and intention to participate in retraining. Store managers in fashion retail thought the most appropriate period for on-the-job training was either 2-4 days or more than 1 week. The results of this study can be used as a base to develop training programs for job efficiency for salespeople in fashion retailing.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.1-13
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• 2015

The purpose of this research is to do exploratory analysis on the relationships between demographic characteristics of entrepreneurial candidates and their developmental level of entrepreneurial traits as well as the choice of business field. We analyzed gender, age, and educational level of the entrepreneurial candidates and their developmental level of entrepreneurial traits such as achievement tendencies, degree of awareness, planning skills, sincerity, interpersonal relationship, and problem-solving skills. Industry fields were classified into 4 types: restaurants, retail, services, internet business. Descriptive statistical analyses, logistic regressions, and variance analyses were performed about the sample data gathered from 1,441 persons since the year 2002 to 2014. Males and highly educated above university preferred service industry than restaurant, retail, and internet business. Females preferred internet business, retail, and restaurants than service industry field. The young persons under 20 showed higher probability to choose internet business. The college level and high school graduates preferred retail and restaurants than service industry. The developmental level of entrepreneurial traits were higher in male and highly educated. By this study, we could find the divide between groups with high and low probabilities of failure: restaurants and retail field showed higher failure probability than service industry in the business fields of self-employed. Furthermore, we could identify that entrepreneurial traits also had been developed differently depending on the groups. It is necessary to refrain from entering into the fields with high failure probabilities as well as to provide supporting policies to build the systems and environment to reduce the cases to begin new business without special knowledges and know-hows. The competency development training should be provided in the early stage of start-ups considering their entrepreneurial traits and aptitudes. Not only the assessment of the entrepreneurial traits but also professional counseling from initial stage are necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.38
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• pp.193-211
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• 1998

Without a solid marketing system in placed, the fashion industry cannot flourish on out-standing design or technology alone. Even though the significance of collecting and analyzing information, merchandising, and retail distribution is recognized, these functions are not firmly rooted or prevalent in our industry. In contrast, Italy which possesses similar demographic traits such as the lack of natural resources and other physical factors has succeed-ed in globalizing its fashion market by responding swiftly and exercising flexiblity to its constantly changing consumer demand. This in turn has earned Italy the competitive edge in the global fashion arena. Italy's unique management skills and operation know-how, along with successful market strategies come into play in bringing competitiveness to Italy's fashion market. Firstly, smaller companies with ability to adopt swiftly to the ever changing market. Secondly, fashion friendly social environment. Thirdly, niche marketing through highly specialized system and differentiation. Fourthly, timeless innovation through intense corporate competition. Lastly, establishment of foundations to support the industry through diverse networking. The alone building blocks have formed a basis for erecting an unparalleled market with a reputation for excellence in design and quality in the global fashion world. This study has examined how Italy's fashion industry has evolved from an underdeveloped textile business into a cutting edge fashion in-dustry. Italy's unique business processes and practices were studied to come up with a collection and merchandising ideas in a niche market. By selecting this venue we are able to continuously grow and develop in a market with diverse consumer needs. To analyze the Italian fashion market, data from 3 institutions were utilized, namely, CIT-ER which has provided consumer trends and sales analysis, SITA,a data service provided statistics from the textile and apparel businesses, and NBI has also furnished valuable data. Italian consumer preference, buying behavior, consumer profile, retail channels and other related data from the above institutions has formed a backbone for market segmentation and target markets, and as a result, we were able to zero in on the type of consumer, produce, pricing and retail channels for our womenswear. Going forward the direction is to elevate product image and pretige, and create syn-ergy between related industries, and at the same note, in order to develop internationally recognized brands such as Max Mara and Benetton. Certain elements such as the specialization of the fashion industry, alon-g with fashion-related data base and systems support, and most importantly experts with acute fashion sense and capacity to analyze pertinent data are in need. I firmly believe that we can achieve Italy's level in the fashion market with support from the government and unrelenting effort within the industry itself, and hope that this report can prove to be useful.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.5-24
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• 2009

In the retail management, store location has an important influence like business skills. The reason for failure to selecting location is that the market analysis model is not popular in business field. It gets worse in supermarket industry. Currently, store developers are relying on simple statistics and the sixth sense as market analysis techniques. lt proves that the market analysis model is not distributed well in the field. This market analysis model can apply to medium and small business market using an existing market analysis model, broad market model. And its study outcome can be theorized as a result. Converse's new retail model can be used as to analyze junction market. Pareto_Huff model can also be used to compute shopping probability. To do so, this study can be divided into walking distance market and driving distance market as a model market. Also it examines industry type such as SM and SSM. By taking consumer survey, condition of consumers to select store will be counted in shopping probability so that it improves the objectivity and reliability. Through this process, derived study outcome can be a new estimated revenue model for practical application of selecting store location in large and medium-sized supermarket.