Abstract
Today the competition in the distribution sector is becoming increasingly more cut-throat and consumers have multiple channels to choose from for making their purchases, each with different characteristics and use methods. The objective of this chapter is to obtain information and identify the elements that allow for highlighting the ability of the grocery retailers who use the web and the social media to expand their own reference markets and establish lasting relationships with the consumers, establishing high loyalty rates of the same. The basic idea is that of verifying the importance for the enterprises operating in the grocery sector both in Italy and Belarus of setting up an e-commerce website, and of making the means and instruments available to the clientele to allow them to shop in different ways to the traditional one. The information will be acquired by means of interviews with customers of a retailer in Italy and a retailer in Belarus. The analyses of the results will provide useful indications concerning the marketing activities of the retailers in both countries.
TopBackground With Literature Review Of Large Grocery Retailer Characteristics: Their Marketing Activities And Digitalisation Strategies
In this section we examine contributions made by literature to the three different areas of interest:
- 1.
The first area examines contributions made by literature to the characteristics of large grocery retailers and their marketing activities;
- 2.
The second area concerns the internet development, new devices and the emergence of Digital Marketing;
- 3.
The third area addresses the role of the digital challenge and opportunities for retailers.
Grocery retailer firms play an important role in the economic system of countries in terms of turnover and workforce employed.
The characteristics of the large grocery retailers make it possible to adopt different market strategies which reveal the superiority of the service offered to the reference clientele. (Toma, 2014;Sbrana & Gandolfo, 2007; Elg,2007)
In retail sales, and especially in the grocery sector, the relationship that is formed between the two main actors - consumers and retailers is a key element (Yeh & Yeh,2016; Elg, 2007). Therefore, large retail firms are characterised by numerous factors including: a) a large and specialised workforce, the skills of which make it possible to implement advanced marketing and management techniques, and b) a high level of economic and financial resources that allow for substantial investment capabilities and elevated operational dimensions.
The large food retailers compete amongst themselves on the market by offering a diverse range of customer services through their own sales points. Stores are competitive instruments but it does not necessarily follow that if a store exists physically and is physically present on the market that the consumer will go there, unless it forms part of their “mind-set” of places they can purchase from. (Campbell & Fairhurst, 2016) For the stores that exist physically it is obvious that they must overcome this challenge if they want to survive. (Goodman & Remaud, 2015)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Internet Capability: The capacity to apply leverage on the various internet tools.
Service Reliability: The ability to keep the promises of the website supplying the service.
Word of Mouth: The characteristic of customers to share knowledge and discoveries regarding market offers by means of specific conversations about their impressions of the products.
Website Personality: The attributes of website in terms of personality perceived by customers.
Marketing Orientation: The capacity of firm to have a special attention to satisfy customer expectations.
Customer Satisfaction: The degree of satisfaction provided by the goods or services of a company.