Store format and store image in post crisis era: a consumer perspective.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand which are the levers that retailers should manage in order to differentiate themselves to competitors, achieve a sustainable competitive advantage and consolidate their position in the market, in a new competition scenario characterized by an increasing similarity between store formats. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a two-stage approach to collect the data. Firstly, we carried out an empirical research based on the focus group discussion aimed to investigate the role of store formats in purchase decisions. Secondly, we conducted a consumer survey based on a structured questionnaire, which was administered to 50 consumers of the 20 major retail chains on the Italian grocery market (total 1000 customers), aimed to construct an indicator of differentiation for each retailers. The survey data were analyzed using SPSS. Findings – Our research shows that consumers do not perceive big differences neither among store formats, nor among retailers. Even if they recognize structural differences among store formats, they perceive a growing similarity between them in terms of meeting shopping needs. With reference to retailers, only few retailers show a “differentiation index” over 50%. Among those who are perceived as highly differentiated, there are some which concentrate on only few retail levers. Finally, not all retail levers give the same contribution to differentiation: only price and range are perceived as “fairly / completely” different between one retailer and another, while the others (technology, communications, in-store marketing and services) are perceived as not differentiated. Research limitations/implications - The questionnaire-based research took place in only one city (Milan). Practical implications – Our research suggests retailers to invest more in store banner differentiation rather than in store format differentiation, managing all the retail mix levers. Originality/value – In literature, store image has been studied as an important antecedent of store preference, consumer satisfaction, the frequency of store visits, shopping trips, shopping expenditure and store loyalty. In our study, we focus on store image as driver of differentiation strategies, as the store’s image is an important means of managing store positioning, especially in a context of convergence. Differentiation strategies have been studied mostly in the field of industrial firms, while our paper explores this topic in the field of retailer firms. Keywords: Store Formats, Store Image, Differentiation, Consumer Perspective, Grocery Retailing Article Classification: Research Paper