Browsing by Author "Weerasooriya, D.A."

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    A Study on Visual Merchandising and Consumer Store Choice Behaviour in Sri Lankan Supermarkets
    (Uva Wellassa University of Srilanka, 2011) Weerasooriya, D.A.; Sutha, J.
    Retailing industry is a highly competitive industry due to the difficulty in differentiating the products and services based on the marketing mix of product, price, place and promotion from one store to another. Self service retailing is typically used by sellers of convenience goods (such as supermarkets) and nationally branded fast ir ovins shopping goods ( Kotler and Ariaistrong, 2006). The trend of isiodern self service retailing rather the supermarket trend exists in Asia Pacific region where Sri Lanka is being one of the countries with tremendous rise of the trend. In accordance with the Nielsen company report on retail and shopper trends in Asia Pacific 2010 in Sri Lanka, the modem trade continued steadily to gain share in 2009. Further, the share of supermarkets has been expanded by l% compared to 2008.The share in 2009 is comprised with a 1 6% share. Supermarket is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments. It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional grocery store and it is smaller than a hypermarket or superstore (Matanials and Ramos, 2009). Millions of dollars are spent each year by retailers designing, building and refurbishing stores (Baker et.al. , 1992).Visual merchandising, or visual presentation, is the mean to communicate a store/company’s fashion value and quality image to prospective customers (Kim, 2003). Kim (2003 ) has expressed a similar concept in a different view that is “a way of presenting merchandise effectively to improve the desirability of a product and to influence a customer’s buying behavior” Number of elements have used in past literature to measure the level of visual merchandising In-stores. The classifications and i!l ustrations presented in past literature are different and vary in accordance with the past researches’ perspectives. Agnihotri and Oburai (I 997) have categorized visual merchandising elements in to two rñain elements namely, exterior visual merchandising elements (Marquees, Entryway and Store windows) and in-store visual merchandising elements (Store layout plan, Color, Lighting, In-store signage, Merchandise sequencing style and Fixtures and Hardware). Store choice is a decision that a shopper is fairly involved in. It is important for a store to understand this behaviour in order to develop marketing strategies to attract and keep its clientele. Shoppers choose the store based on many aspects that could be classified as primary and image based and also the importance of each of these aspects changes with the kind of store the shopper wants to visit (Sinha ct al., 2002). Ther efore, th is research aims to answer whether there is an impact of visual merchandising in favour of supermarkets as the trend is that more consumers are attracted towards supermarkets and in favour of the consumer store choice behavior in the curren t Sri Lankan Context. The objectives of this study were to identify the current practices of visual merchandising that exist in Sri Lankan super markets, to identify the impact of each interior and exterior visual merchandising element on consumer store choice behavior and to determine the relative contribution of each interior and exterior element towards store choice behavior.
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    Visual Merchandsing and Consumer Store Choice Behaviour in Sri Lankan Supermarkets
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2011) Weerasooriya, D.A.
    Due to increasing competition and the similarity of merchandise, retailers utilize visual merchandising as a marketing tool to differentiate their offerings from other stores as well as to offer a superior service. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between visual merchandising and consumer store choice behaviour in Sri Lankan supermarkets. Additionally the study concentrates on the impact and the contribution of each selected interior and exterior visual merchandising elements towards consumer store choice behaviour. The sample size was 250 consumers who purchase goods from supermarkets, selected from Colombo, Kandy and Galle districts. Primary data were administered using questionnaires. Different statistical analyses were employed such as uni-variant, bi-variant and multiple regression using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). The result of the present study proves that there is a considerable relationship between visual merchandising and store choice behaviour in Sri Lankan supermarkets. The correlation of all visual merchandising elements except for window display with consumer store choice behaviour were positive while majority of the consumers were almost agreed with the impact of visual merchandising elements towards store choice behaviour. Further, the results prove that ambient cues are the most influencing factor towards consumer store choice behaviour while store architecture being the second. Consequently this study provides recommendations to retailers especially including supermarkets.