Consumer spatial behavior approach to retail location an empirical study

Abstract

Location is often the over-riding factor governing the success of a retail store. As the retail environment is becoming increasingly competitive and the risks of opening a new store is increasing, there is a need of retailers to develop a more elaborate location strategy in order to help them minimize these risks and be successful in the market place. In order to ensure that a store will be a profitable development, the retailers must be aware of the potential which exists for each of their candidate locations. Location evaluation is complex, there is no simple magic formula, nor is there any substitute for informed judgment. Informed judgment on matters of location requires factual information not only about the type of location, cost of occupancy, type of like and unlike stores in the surroundings, population density and compositionetc., but also about consumer location drivers or motivations underlying their choice of shopping destination. Consumer spatial behavior is important to retail marketing in so far as it allows a better understanding of consumers shopping destination choice. Paradoxically, the study of consumer spatial behavior has been the object of a relatively small number of publications in scientific marketing and retailing reviews. It is this gap which forms the basis of this study. The unsolved question here is what are the factors that drive consumers to a particular shopping destination ? Given the recent changes in the retail landscape and the growing awareness that consumer-subjective factors are important in location decisions, the continued study is a worthwhile pursuit. newline