Electronic commerce (e-commerce) seems to be a powerful tool for retailers. In our paper we show, how leading Austrian retailers reply to the ‘electronic revolution’ by analysing their electronic channels (webpages). We refer in our paper to the e-commerce, to end-users and to the ecommerce efforts of stationary retailing companies. In a first step we have integrated e-commerce to the instituti...

We examined tobacco retailers' rates of compliance to the law forbidding the sale of tobacco products to persons under 18 years of age in Hong Kong. The overall compliance rate was only 18.9%. The low compliance rate may be attributed to poor enforcement of the youth access law. Overseas experiences show that regular checking is an effective way to evaluate the compliance of tobacco retailers t...

The world’s largest retailers—Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco, and Metro—all entered China after 1995. They established hundreds of stores as well as centers for procuring goods to be sold worldwide. Multinational retailers may affect Chinese exports through two channels. First, they could inform outlets in other countries where they operate about the products offered by local Chinese suppliers, ther...

In a wide range of industries alternative electronic distribution channels may permit disintermediation of wholesalers and of retailers. In some cases manufacturers or primary service deliverers may be able to deal directly with their customers, while in other industries existing intermediaries may be able to withstand attempts to bypass them. Two illustrative industries — consumer packaged goo...

We study an integrated supply chain design problem that determines the locations of retailers and the assignments of customers to retailers in order to minimize the expected costs of location, transportation, and inventory. The system is subject to random supply disruptions that may occur at either the supplier or the retailers. Analytical and numerical studies reveal the effects of these disru...

Internet shopbots are automated tools that allow customers to easily search for prices and product characteristics from online retailers. Some market observers have predicted that shopbots will benefit consumers at the expense of retailers. In this view, shopbots will radically reduce consumer search costs, reduce retailer opportunities to differentiate their products, and as a result will driv...

With the increasing innovation of new electronic devices continually entering the marketplace, manufacturers and retailers are seeking partnerships with third party logistics (3PL) providers that can decrease e-waste through reverse logistics for end-of-life devices. With the general public’s sentiment to preserve the environment for future generations, manufacturers and retailers as well as th...

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) characterizes food deserts as low-income neighborhoods that distinctly lack supermarkets and grocery stores (1). This definition elevates the importance of large food retailers where Americans spend most of their food dollars and deemphasizes the contributions of smaller food stores such as convenience and dollar stores for food choice decision making. Sm...

Despite the consumers' increasing demand of technology-based innovations for making stores more appealing and the huge availability of advanced technologies, there is still a lack of research on the retailers' and employees' points of views towards the introduction of these systems. In fact, an efficient innovation should take care of both the final users/consumers' and the retailers/employees'...