• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.10 no.7
• /
• pp.5-11
• /
• 2012

The core objective of this research article is to investigate different challenges and opportunities in management as well as start-ups of small businesses in India. The prudence behind this research is to examine various problems in front of the small businesses and to offer vital support and cooperation to overcome those with the support of concerned institutions through consultancy and training programs. The researchers have an intention to make available the research results to the governmental agencies, concerned small business institutions and also to the educational institutions which are continually design plans, programs, policies and strategies to upgrade the managerial and technical dexterities of the small business Indian operators. After thorough revision of relevant literature on small businesses and its management, the researchers used a well structured questionnaire and in-depth personal interviews with 586small business operators selected from manufacturing, trading (retailing and wholesaling), finance, servicing/repair businesses which are located in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh in India. The researchers have used convenience sampling and collected data was analyzed with the support of Microsoft Excel and frequency distribution. Noticeably, majority of the small businessmen in India are facing myriad number of challenges both in management and at the time of establishment of their business operations. In particular, 72.47 percent of small businesses operators' have substantiated their strong opinion towards the challenges they are facing particularly finance, marketing and other problems while managing their businesses. The researchers also attempted to get the opinions on problems of the various categories of small businesses while starting their operations. A staggering 68percent of respondents identified the problems related to preparation of business plan, location selection, marketing and other problems like lack of proper credit facilities, skilled manpower, and other infra related problems while setting up of their businesses. On an average, 64.62 and 63.51 percent of small businesses are facing various kinds of problems both at the time of day-to-day management as well as start-up of their businesses respectively. The present research confined with the opinions of only four categories of small business operators particularly from the manufacturing, finance, trading (retailing and wholesaling), and servicing/repair which are continuing their business operations from the nine coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh in India. The present study emphatically provides concrete information required to the business community for identifying an assortment of challenges faced by different small business operators in managing and at the time of their inception. This research paper is first of its kind from this part of the world by offering extensive and credible information required for prospective entrepreneurs in facing the dynamic challenges in managing their business. Furthermore, this research presents invaluable inputs to the stakeholders like all types of governments, policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and educators' about the various impediments faced by the small business community in India.

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

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.51-58
• /
• 2016

Purpose - This study is to identify how the retail regulations influence customer shopping behaviours and furthermore, whether the Store Closing Act really protects independent retailers as well as traditional markets in Korea. Research design, data, and methodology - By adopting frequency analysis and factor analysis method, the research achieved research objectives. Before a field survey, the authors pre-tested the questionnaire developed, based on similar previous articles, and finalized. Amongst the 353 questionnaires distributed, 332 were returned. It means the response rate is 94.5%. Furthermore, available questionnaires are 330. Results - Rather than stimulating customers to more frequently visit public markets, the regulation has provoked new customer shopping behaviours. In other words, some consumers tend to shop in big box retailers before or after a store closing day, whereas others are likely to stop shopping. What is important is that customers do not patronise small retailers and conventional markets, thanks to the Store Closing Act. Conclusions - In order to keep retailers and public markets independent, the researchers suggest that the government should introduce new techniques without impeding the growth of a retailing sector.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.19 no.9
• /
• pp.79-90
• /
• 2021

Purpose: The covid-19 pandemic has led to the implementation of strict measure such as social distancing and lockdown around the globe and these measures has largely affected the retail industry. This study is to examine the negative impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on the acceleration of startups innovation in the retail industry. Research design, data and methodology: The current authors used the qualitative content approach and the data collection process in this procedure starts with a formulated and direct research question which means that rather than asking how a change in one variable leads to a change in the other, the research question seeks to understand the meanings and experiences derived from the piece of communication. Results: This section outlines how retail companies can overcome the adversely effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the acceleration of startup innovation in the retail industry. The solutions are mostly from peer-reviewed articles. All retailers should respond to the negative impacts of the covid-19 pandemic to ensure their continuity while accelerating startups innovations in the sector. Conclusion: This study implies that the retailing industry, alongside other sectors, should respond to the negative effects of the covid-19 pandemic by encouraging innovations and adaptations. The study has shown that flexibility is very crucial to adapt during the crisis

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.35-47
• /
• 2021

Purpose: Retailing is a very special sector because it demonstrates the effectiveness of combined products and services to create business values. In this study, the author wants to investigate particular areas in the distribution sciences of the purchasing process in Coopmart (Saigon Coop-Vietnam), which is about sauces and seasoning. Research design, data and methodology: The data were collected by experts of Saigon coop, which first went through the Delphi method to choose criteria and sub-criteria for the Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP). Results: After a long process of calculation based on AHP, the final supplier is chosen according to experts' interview; Masan is the most potential candidate to be the main supplier of sauces and seasoning to Coop mart. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the typical methods such as quantitative analysis of this process - AHP. With the aim of increasing the computational content of the evaluation process suppliers, especially the comparison of suppliers in the same industry as AHP has shown. This enables analyses of all the providers to be more scientific. Conclusions: Thus, this paper would help the facility managers ensure objectives to the reasonable decision, which can be based on AHP to get more information, implement plans and get strategic collaboration with suppliers.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study attemptsto investigate the moderating effects of environmental turbulence (ET) between learning orientation (LO) and SMEs' performance. Research design, data, and Methodology: To gain insights and provide implications for manufacturing SMEs in Pakistan, this study adopted simple random sampling to collect 379 valid responses. Data were collected through a self-administrative questionnaire from manufacturing SMEs owners/managers. Partial least squares of structural equation modeling have been used to test research hypotheses by using SmartPLS® 3.0 software. Results: The study's primary finding is that LO has a significantly positive effect on SMEs' performance and this relationship is strengthened under the moderating influence of environmental turbulence (ET). Conclusion: Environmental turbulence (ET) enables SMEs to focus on learning capability to get a more competitive advantage. Moreover, SMEs owner/managers ought to emphasize continuous learning that accentuates the capability to compete with environmental changes. Findings support notifying Pakistan's Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) in dealings with Manufacturing SMEs in terms of improving their internal capabilities. This research contributes to the literature as it provides a more detailed and in-depth explanation of distribution management-related issues faced by SMEs. This research carries a significant influence on literature and relevant Resource-based view and contingency theories.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.97-125
• /
• 2015

In this study, we tried to evaluate the relative importance and find out the differences in consumer perceptions regarding service recovery strategies and the service provider in the distribution industry by using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) analysis method. Therefore in this study, we tried to systematize various recovery strategies which were considered very important during service failure process in the distribution industry and analyze the relative importance for each recovery strategy. We set hierarchy composed of four items of monetary, action-oriented, psychological, and assured level as primary selection criteria and a total of 16 items(indemnity, refund, gift, gift certificate, prompt resolution, exchange, manager support, explanation, apology, empathy, acknowledge, kindness, assortment, after service, manage subcontractor, manage employee) as secondary selection criteria. We tried to take one step further from the service sector and study service recovery strategies specialized in distributor services. This study suggests various implications about service recovery strategies of distributors. First, this study can provide practical implications - e.g. service recovery efforts should be applied differently depending on service channels. There is a perceptual difference with respect to the importance of the types of service recovery strategies between service provider and final customer. Second, we can find theoretical implications in terms of identifying the priorities through hierarchy design of new recovery strategies and comparison of each element from the classifications of the current fractional recovery strategies. We hope to help service providers to build more efficient recovery strategy system based on the results of this study.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.523-528
• /
• 2008

Franchising is a business sector which can be enlarged to a large scale in retailing business. Franchising has expanded its realm of business into realestate business and education business, starting from hospitality business. In franchising, the management of customers is a critical issue, so many franchising companies actively implement the CRM system to improve customer relationship. Therefore, this research focuses on the intention of franchising companies about the implementation of the CRM system. The information system used for managing franchising business is defined as Franchising Information Systems(FIS). In this research, the impact of technological level, educational level and utilization strategy of FIS on the ability of FIS use were analyzed. In addition, the impact of the ability of FIS use on the intention of franchising companies about the implementation of the CRM system was analyzed. The results from the research reveal that the utilization strategy of FIS does not affect the ability of FIS use, but technological level and educational level have an effect on the ability of FIS use. The ability of FIS use has influence on the intention of franchising companies about the implementation of the CRM system.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.1-25
• /
• 2008

Ⅰ. Introduction Retailers in the 21st century are being told that future retailers are those who can execute seamless multi-channel access. The reason is that retailers should be where shoppers want them, when they want them anytime, anywhere and in multiple formats. Multi-channel access is considered one of the top 10 trends of all business in the next decade (Patricia T. Warrington, et al., 2007) And most firms use both direct and indirect channels in their markets. Given this trend, we need to evaluate a channel equity more systematically than before as this issue is expected to get more attention to consumers as well as to brand managers. Consumers are becoming very much confused concerning the choice of place where they shop for durable goods as there are at least 6-7 retail options. On the other hand, manufacturers have to deal with category killers, their dealers network, Internet shopping malls, and other avenue of distribution channels and they hope their retail channel behave like extensions of their own companies. They would like their products to be foremost in the retailer's mind-the first to be proposed and effectively communicated to potential customers. To enable this hope to come reality, they should know each channel's advantages and disadvantages from consumer perspectives. In addition, customer satisfaction is the key determinant of retail customer loyalty. However, there are only a few researches regarding the effects of shopping satisfaction and perceptions on consumers' channel choices and channels. The purpose of this study was to assess Korean consumers' channel choice and satisfaction towards channels they prefer to use in the case of electronic goods shopping. Korean electronic goods retail market is one of good example of multi-channel shopping environments. As the Korea retail market has been undergoing significant structural changes since it had opened to global retailers in 1996, new formats such as hypermarkets, Internet shopping malls and category killers have arrived for the last decade. Korean electronic goods shoppers have seven major channels : (1)category killers (2) hypermarket (3) manufacturer dealer shop (4) Internet shopping malls (5) department store (6) TV home-shopping (7) speciality shopping arcade. Korean retail sector has been modernized with amazing speed for the last decade. Overall summary of major retail channels is as follows: Hypermarket has been number 1 retailer type in sales volume from 2003 ; non-store retailing has been number 2 from 2007 ; department store is now number 3 ; small scale category killers are growing rapidly in the area of electronics and office products in particular. We try to evaluate each channel's equity using a consumer survey. The survey was done by telephone interview with 1000 housewife who lives nationwide. Sampling was done according to 2005 national census and average interview time was 10 to 15 minutes. Ⅱ. Research Summary We have found that seven major retail channels compete with each other within Korean consumers' minds in terms of price and service. Each channel seem to have its unique selling points. Department stores were perceived as the best electronic goods shopping destinations due to after service. Internet shopping malls were perceived as the convenient channel owing to price checking. Category killers and hypermarkets were more attractive in both price merits and location conveniences. On the other hand, manufacturers dealer networks were pulling customers mainly by location and after service. Category killers and hypermarkets were most beloved retail channel for Korean consumers. However category killers compete mainly with department stores and shopping arcades while hypermarkets tend to compete with Internet and TV home shopping channels. Regarding channel satisfaction, the top 3 channels were service-driven retailers: department stores (4.27); dealer shop (4.21); and Internet shopping malls (4.21). Speciality shopping arcade(3.98) were the least satisfied channels among Korean consumers. Ⅲ. Implications We try to identify the whole picture of multi-channel retail shopping environments and its implications in the context of Korean electronic goods. From manufacturers' perspectives, multi-channel may cause channel conflicts. Furthermore, inter-channel competition draws much more attention as hypermarkets and category killers have grown rapidly in recent years. At the same time, from consumers' perspectives, 'buy where' is becoming an important buying decision as it would decide the level of shopping satisfaction. We need to develop the concept of 'channel equity' to manage multi-channel distribution effectively. Firms should measure and monitor their prime channel equity in regular basis to maximize their channel potentials. Prototype channel equity positioning map has been developed as follows. We expect more studies to develop the concept of 'channel equity' in the future.