Chapter 3: Why Do Superstores Fail in Africa? Market and Social Orientation Perspectives

Most superstores in Africa either fail or struggle to survive. One of the reasons for low performance is the replication of the Western model and the lack of social orientation. Superstores are designed to depend on high volume and low prices; the opposite is true in Africa, leading to superstore failure. Using the resource-based view and social exchange theories, we argue that superstores in Africa need to be equally market and social-oriented for superior performance. In this context, employing the literature review method, we identify four market orientation factors – consumer behaviour, distribution, location and merchandizing – that can lead to a superior superstore performance and four macro factors – inflation, interest rate, foreign exchange and security – that can moderate the relationship between the market orientation and superstore performance. We also argue for superstores to serve the low-income segment and engage in community development by supporting local schools, farmers and infrastructure development projects. Further, our findings indicate that customers in African superstores spend only 28 minutes per visit compared to 42 minutes in the West, suggesting unattractiveness of superstores. We offer a few managerial implications for superstores to be attractive to both customers and the community. We call the market- and social-oriented-based model – Bottom of the Pyramid Superstores (BOPS) – profitable, sustainable and relatable.