Store flyers: managing spatial distribution under budget constraints

Purpose: The study develops a decision support system for the spatial distribution of store flyers, identifying a number of factors related to the demand and the competition influencing the complexities of their allocation to the target population. Design/methodology/approach: The model was developed incorporating the insights found in existing marketing literature and bypassing the limitations of the managerial practices. To this end, an in-depth discussion with a panel of retailers was held. The model was tested in collaboration with a retail chain. Findings: The proposed system is flexible and provides an almost endless array of solutions in accordance with the retailer's strategic approach to the market. It captures the key trade-offs that need to be made during the decision-making process of a retailer with limited marketing resources. Practical implications: The traditional managerial approach, based on a set of operational steps, is overtaken by a model that systematically considers the interrelationships between the decision-making factors involved. Originality/value: This is the first attempt to analyse spatial distribution of store flyers, a topic that has yet to be explored in retail marketing research. The paper conceptualises the key variables which affect the optimisation problem and reviews the different streams of extant research to obtain the appropriate insights.