Nordic Retail Research - Emerging diversity

Abstract

This volume seeks to give examples of the variety that characterises retail research in the Nordic countries, and to present a broad perspective of retail research. The chapters present studies with different perspectives, methods and approaches used to investigate a wide range of phenomena in retailing. This volume aims to illustrate the variety of retail research in the Nordic countries,but it cannot give a comprehensive picture of the research carried out, for several reasons. First, the book mirrors the conference, and the majority of chapters here are by Swedish authors, since the majority of participants in the conference were from Sweden. We hope that this initiative of publishing an anthology after the conference will be continued, and that it will further the ambition of making the scope of the conference even more Nordic. Second, much retail research is performed in economics, which is not reflected in this volume (for an overview of retail research in economics see Daunfeldt 2007). Further, many researchers in the Nordic countries carry out retail research as part of research in other disciplines. Such researchers may not intend to or contribute to retail studies or the field of retailing. Indeed – they may not be aware of the opportunity. However, with this said, we aim to provide an illustration of the diversity that characterises contemporary Nordic research in the field of retail. We are happy to present a collection of studies that shows this variety. The book presents retail research from the Nordic countries in 19 chapters that cover different aspects of retailing. The chapters explore a number of retail phenomena: consumer choice (Frostling-Henningsson, Hedbom & Thuresson), customer satisfaction (Söderlund & Berg), accessibility (Kohijoki), service encounters (Salomonson), employment conditions (Isaksson & Brav), logistics (Abrahamsson, Rehme, Sandberg & Olsson), service environments (Huukha, Laaksonen & Laaksonen), supply chains ( Jafari, Nyberg & Hertz), profitability performance (Hernant & Julander), innovations (Beckeman & Olsson; Cochoy), e-tailing (Stigzelius; Fredriksson), mobility (Normark; Bygvrå), corporate responsibility (Blombäck & Wigren-Kristoferson; Frostensson, Helin & Sandström), and internationalization (Ekdahl & Lagerström; Dawson). The chapters draw on a large variety of methods, including interviews (Beckeman & Olsson), in-depth interviews (Stigzelius), projective techniques (Frostling-Henningsson, Hedbom & Thuresson), questionnaires (Kohijohki; Isaksson & Brav); semi-structured interviews (Isaksson & Brav), document analysis (Frostensson, Helin & Sandström), ethnographic observations (Normark), literature review ( Jafari, Nyberg & Hertz), participant observations (Fredriksson), and telephone surveys (Blombäck & Wigren-Kristoferson). The volume describes a variety of retail sectors, such as grocery retailing (Hernant & Julander; Stigzelius), fashion stores (Ekdahl & Lagerström), clothing stores (Söderlund & Berg), petrol stations (Normark) and mass merchandisers (Salomonson). It includes a variety of retail organisations: purchasing groups (Abrahamsson, Rehme, Sandberg & Olsson), single‑store retailers (Salomonson) and e-commerce (Fredriksson; Stigzelius), and it compares independent retailers with store‑based chains (Blombäck & Wigren). Retailing – and retail research – in the Nordic countries is not an island, and this is reflected in this volume. Two of the chapters are written by researchers from outside the Nordic countries, both of whom know the Nordic context very well and were invited as keynote speakers to the NRWC. Both Professor John Dawson, University of Stirling, who analyses international retailing, and Professor Franck Cochoy, Université de Toulouse II: Le Mirail who analyses market devices, use fairy-tales and take a historical outlook to discuss these issues. Other international dimensions in this volume include cross-country comparisons (Kohijoki; Huukha, Laaksonen & Laaksonen), internationalization processes (Ekdahl & Lagerström), and cross-border shopping (Bygvrå).