Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Volume 40, Issue 7
This issue has an interesting variety of contributions with submissions investigating the retail automotive sales environment, the issue of individual opposition to the organized retailing system in an emerging country, the role store brands can play in retail branding and franchisee perception of company-owned outlets within their network.
The first contribution by Taylor-West and Saker reports on research into the introduction of Computer Assisted Sales Processes (CASP) to a retail automotive sales environment. This research specifically examined the effectiveness and implications for automotive dealers, their staff and customers. Primary research was carried out at three automotive dealer groups, including semi-structured interviews with dealer managers and sales people; postal questionnaires and focus groups with existing customers. The study found customer perceptions of the buying experience improved when CASP was used effectively in the sales process. To achieve this it is critical to evaluate the sales force’s technology readiness and orientation so that training requirements can be identified; this research found the training needs of the salespeople were seriously underestimated. The use of CASP and other Sales Force Automation systems is unlikely to lose pace, therefore organisations need to audit their salespeople’s skills and use of their systems. Otherwise, the huge investments involved will not provide benefits to the organisation, the sales person or the customers.
The second paper by Amine and Hendaoui Ben Tanfous explores the issue of individual opposition to the organized retailing system in an emerging country. It aims to identify the motivations for rejecting such retail outlets as well as how the resistance that is generated expresses itself and to point out the amazing precocity of the emergence of this resistance in these developing countries. In-depth interviews, using the critical incident technique, were conducted to explore the reasons for consumers’ partial or total defection from mass retailing. The results highlight non-organized individual initiatives of avoidance and defection from hypermarkets in the emerging country under study as opposed to the structured protest movements in developed countries. In addition, our findings show a two-fold orientation of this resistance: on the one hand towards the hypermarket format as a whole and on the other towards foreign (as opposed to local) retailers, indicating an incongruence between some western values associated with the foreign retailers, or even linked to globalization, and the values of the Arab-Muslim local culture. The paper extends and enriches knowledge on consumer resistance by showing that even in an immature retail market, consumers are able to reject and oppose to the introduction of retail formats that are deemed not to be congruent with local cultural values.
The third article by Kremer and Viot aims to highlight the role store brands can play in retail branding and considers how an image transfer takes place between store brands and the retailer brand. They examine the dimensions of image transfer from the store brand to the retailer brand through a qualitative study of 138 consumers on the attributes of store brand image and retailer brand image. Results indicate that store brands have a positive impact on the retailer image. The price image of the store brand is positively related to the retailer price image. The values that customers associated with store brands improve the retailer brand image in terms of its values. Retailers can find a rationale for investing in their store brand range in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Managers should ensure that their store brands’ image is seen as congruent with their own retailer brand image. They suggest that more attention should be paid to the values reflected by the store brands and the store brands’ price image. The results indicate that store brands not only benefit from the strength of the retailer brand but they also contribute, in a reciprocal way, to the improvement of the retailer image.
The purpose of the final contribution by Perrigot and Herrbach examines franchisee perception of company-owned outlets within their network. They use a qualitative approach based on 38 interviews of franchisees belonging to plural form networks from various industries.The interviews show that franchisees generally perceive the advantages of the plural form in terms of network development and management, but they also perceive some limitations, mainly in terms of network culture and cohesion, as well as potential conflicts and costs. While they should keep on emphasising the benefits of the plural form,franchisors also have to reduce the perception of its limitations. They have to reinforce network culture and minimise internal conflicts.
Neil Towers
