This book looks at the recent emergence of "new ordinary consumption," in urban China and defines new ordinary consumption as a consumer practice in which people routinely integrate products and items, traditionally reserved for special occasions, into their daily lives, to accentuate their own well-being. The book, through the case study on the adoption of cut flowers and upscaling non-floral goods, provides insights on how deal proneness and high price sensitivity pose challenges to many market retailers. It also proposes how to go about resolving these challenging issues in retail through the alteration of perceived reasons to consume. The author also examined social media marketing narrative that two direct-to-consumer floral goods sellers used, to guide consumers away from the social and cultural baggage of consumption, thereby giving more consideration to products reshaping consumers' motivation, and driving the purchase. Heeding the findings of floral startups that awakened consumers' aspirations to redefine their everyday personal lives, and making such aspirations a profitable business, this interesting case study suggests that it is time to revisit the appeal of conspicuous consumption in the present-day Chinese markets. Anyone interested to learn more about the Chinese consumers and their novel consumption habits would find the book a useful reference.

In this intriguing blend of branding how-to and business memoir, an industry pioneer presents the thought process and tools to create a successful Ecommerce business by developing a distinct emotional attraction to a brand, beyond individual product offerings. Leveraging her 26 years of experience in online marketing and branding, Joan Abraham reveals the thought process behind successfully addressing today's marketing challenge: clearly defining the business's brand essence using its owned social media channels to personalize the full character of the brand. Creating Brand Cool addresses the importance of developing a unique state of being that personally resonates with today's consumer. Abraham energizes the creative and strategic thinking for attracting and maintaining brand loyalty when the competition is a click away. Appealing to branding and social media marketing professionals, as well as students in these fields, this book is a primer for building an online community and distinguishing a brand from the competition. It is relevant to all types of business, from small businesses to globally recognized brands.

This fully updated new edition of a respected text retains the original's comprehensive and practical approach to food supply chain management, and introduces a global perspective and a wide range of new material. More than ever, this is the food supply chain management textbook. With an introduction that speaks to academic and non-academic audiences alike, the second edition of Food Supply Chain Management covers all-new topics such as cold chain management, "last mile" logistics, blockchain and traceability in the food supply chain, and the implications of global trade and climate change. Case studies examine the farm-to-table movement, sustainable co-ops, and more, with "quick facts" and mini-cases that are engaging and thought-provoking. This textbook is appropriate for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students of agricultural business, natural resources, and food science, as well as supply chain management students. Supporting online materials include lecture slides, test banks, and instructor manuals.

New consumer trends, the over-supply of brands, products and services, digital acceleration, market fragmentation, new disruptive businesses/models, and the growth of large e-commerce platforms - these have all combined to cause a paradigm shift in commercial distribution. Distribution channels like multi-brand stores, chain stores, shopping centres and department stores will remain relevant with consumers but if they are to survive, they will have to undergo a complete reset. In this book, two leading figures from retail explain how the structural changes taking place today will affect each retail channel. They explore strategies to promote the rebirth of the retail sector and the companies that operate within it. This reset is based on enhancing the emotional connections with consumers (through memorable content and experiences) so that stores will surprise again. Moreover, it rests on integrating the physical and digital so that shopping, whether online or offline, becomes a connected and singular experience. Ultimately, physical stores remain important for the future of retail and distribution because they offer a live experience and the kind of person-to-person experience that cannot be matched online. However, consumer expectations and behaviour have changed, and the stores of the future will have to transform to keep attracting their attention.

Despite the publication of several studies examining European retailing in relation to the USA, there is still a dearth of recent research, in English, that explores the development of retailing in specific European countries (with the obvious exception of Britain), over the twentieth century. Even for the UK, more research is needed to challenge claims such as the alleged "backwardness" of British retailing relative to North America, or the presence of formidable "environmental" barriers to the "industrialisation" of retailing in Britain. New Perspectives on 20th Century European Retailing showcases new research on various aspects of twentieth century European retailing, that challenges the traditional view that Europe was a "follower" of America in retail innovation. It brings together work by several - mainly early career - scholars, who are doing innovative, archival-based, research on various aspects of European retail history. Following a general review of European retailing by the editors (discussing key debates and new approaches) seven thematic chapters present work that either sheds new light on old debates and/or explores hitherto neglected topics. Collectively, they show that whereas retailers are often regarded as 'intermediaries', in fact they are actors in their own right and they challenge the traditional view that Europe was a "follower" of America in retail innovation. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Business History journal.

Gender After Gender in Consumer Culture provides an updated discussion of how gender cuts across consumer culture, in light of increasing gender fragmentation and integration with other identity positions. Sex, the biological distinction male/female, and gender, which refers to a person's sense of being male, female, or any other combinations of these, inform issues as varied as personal identity, social interactions, and market behaviours. First, contributions account for the increasing fluidity and/or fragmentation of gender positions, which reshape the interplay between consumers and marketers. Second, they provide a timely illustration of how consumption and markets concur in contrasting gender inequalities, taken both individually and jointly (e.g., at the intersection of ethnicity or positions of market marginalisation). Third, chapters question the role of gender in granting personal and societal well-being, as they reflect on the collective capacity of constantly undoing gender stereotypes. Focusing on gender, this book allows the reader to trace the links among cultural categories (e.g. masculinity, femininity, gender identity), social phenomena, and market (dis)functioning. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in the journal Consumption Markets & Culture.

Summarizing the extant research on marketing communications, social media and word of mouth, this book clarifies terms often incorrectly and interchangeably used by scholars and marketers and provides principles of effective marketing communications in social media for different brand types and in different geographic markets. Conversations among consumers on social media now have an unprecedented ability to shape attitudes toward people, products, services, brands and to influence buying decisions. Consequently, the digital era brings to the fore the importance of interpersonal relations and the power of personal recommendations. This book is the first to empirically investigate how the form and appeal of marketing communications in social networks influence electronic word of mouth, including an examination of brand type and geographic market. The author focuses on motivations and reveals why people exchange opinions about brands, products and services in the digital environment. The book summarizes the existing research on marketing communications, social media and word of mouth, provides a cutting-edge knowledge based on the analysis of the actual behavior of consumers and rules of effective marketing communications in social media. This research-based book is written for scholars and researchers within the fields of marketing and communication. It may also be of interest to a wider audience interested in understanding how to use social media to influence electronic word of mouth.

This book examines real estate markets and urban development in Central America, Mexico and The Caribbean (CAMEC). It considers both residential and commercial real estate with a focus on industrial and hospitality sectors, infrastructure and logistics. The CAMEC region is besieged by complexity. Prone to natural disasters, and with the Mexico/US border constituting the largest human migration corridor on Earth, the region is also a vital trading hub for goods, linking commerce between the world's two largest oceans and the Americas. The real estate markets in this area are dynamic, rapidly developing and under researched. This book analyses the particularities of these markets and the context in which investors and developers operate. The authors present case studies and contributions from key players in major cities in the region. The book exposes the regional risks and opportunities connected to urban development including market transparency, urban equity and development regulation. The research presented in this volume gives the reader a comprehensive picture of each country under study, detailing their individual commercial, residential, industrial, leisure and infrastructure sectors. This is essential reading for international investors, real estate students, researchers, and professionals with an interest in the region.

This book examines real estate markets and urban development in Central America, Mexico and The Caribbean (CAMEC). It considers both residential and commercial real estate with a focus on industrial and hospitality sectors, infrastructure and logistics. The CAMEC region is besieged by complexity. Prone to natural disasters, and with the Mexico/US border constituting the largest human migration corridor on Earth, the region is also a vital trading hub for goods, linking commerce between the world's two largest oceans and the Americas. The real estate markets in this area are dynamic, rapidly developing and under researched. This book analyses the particularities of these markets and the context in which investors and developers operate. The authors present case studies and contributions from key players in major cities in the region. The book exposes the regional risks and opportunities connected to urban development including market transparency, urban equity and development regulation. The research presented in this volume gives the reader a comprehensive picture of each country under study, detailing their individual commercial, residential, industrial, leisure and infrastructure sectors. This is essential reading for international investors, real estate students, researchers, and professionals with an interest in the region.

The Routledge Companion to Strategic Marketing offers the latest insights into marketing strategy. Bodo Schlegelmilch and Russ Winer present 29 specially commissioned chapters, which include up-to-date thinking on a diverse range of marketing strategy topics. Readers benefit from the latest strategic insights of leading experts from universities around the world. Contributing authors are from, among others, the U.S. (Berkeley, Cornell, MIT, New York University, Texas A&M), Europe (the Hanken School of Economics, INSEAD, the University of Oxford, the University of Groningen, WU Vienna) and Asia (the Indian School of Business, Tongji University). The topics addressed include economic foundations of marketing strategy, competition in digital marketing strategy (e.g. mobile payment systems and social media strategy), marketing strategy, and corporate social responsibility, as well as perspectives on capturing the impact of marketing strategy. Collectively, this authoritative guide is an accessible tool for researchers, students, and practitioners.

Traditional shops are facing challenging and unprecedented times. Future-Ready Retail explains how changing consumer needs, the impact of digital and the issues around health, wellness and distancing have transformed retail and provides compelling solutions to help reimagine the high street and out-of-town malls. Conventional high streets, shopping arcades and retail malls throughout the world no longer attract the crowds needed to sustain them as successful commercial spaces. Suffering from the effects of online shopping, changing consumer attitudes and expectations, and the legacy impact of social distancing, there's a sense of urgency and the need to address the decline in physical retail. Future-Ready Retail provides in-depth analysis of how consumers, health, data and new technologies will continue irreversibly to shake up physical shops and permanently shape the future of traditional retail. Arguing that to be future-ready, retail needs to be driven by people and places, not solely real estate, the book explains how brands can develop strategies to create shops whose main purpose is to recruit, retain and delight customers. Featuring case studies from successful global brand, retail futurist and designer Ibrahim Ibrahim identifies key retail-cultural trends, shows why it's important to make retail space physically smarter and how to use touch points such as social, website and apps alongside the physical space, to achieve a seamless, enjoyable and profitable retail experience.

Retail history is a rich, cross-disciplinary field that demonstrates the centrality of retailing to many aspects of human experience, from the provisioning of everyday goods to the shaping of urban environments; from earning a living to the construction of identity. Over the last few decades, interest in the history of retail has increased greatly, spanning centuries, extending to all areas of the globe, and drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives. By offering an up-to-date, comprehensive thematic, spatial and chronological coverage of the history of retailing, this Companion goes beyond traditional narratives that are too simplistic and Euro-centric and offers a vibrant survey of this field. It is divided into four broad sections: 1) Contexts, 2) Spaces and places, 3) People, processes and practices and 4) Geographical variations. Chapters are written in an analytical and synthetic manner, accessible to the general reader as well as challenging for specialists, and with an international perspective. This volume is an important resource to a wide range of readers, including marketing and management specialists, historians, geographers, economists, sociologists and urban planners.

The retail sector is an integral part of a national economy. From the political economy perspective, all consumer goods have surplus values locked up in them; the surplus values are not realized until the consumer goods are purchased by consumers through various distribution channels. As such, retailing is the essential link between production and consumption. The success of a retail business depends on two general factors: the location of the retail outlet, and management of the business. Both factors are equally important. If the business is located in the wrong place with the wrong customer base, it will not generate expected sales. Similarly, if the business is poorly managed and operated, it will not perform well even if the location is right. Influenced by both traditional and new location theories, Retail Geography is conceptualized and organized using the retail planning process as the framework. The technical and methodological chapters help guide the reader with detailed descriptions of the techniques and are supported with practical examples to reflect the latest software development. Retail Geography provides a state-of-the-art summary and will act as a core textbook for undergraduate and graduate students of economic geography interested in specializing in retail and business geography. The practical examples also make it a valuable handbook for practitioners in the field, as well as students of retail management and commercial real estate management.

The retail sector is an integral part of a national economy. From the political economy perspective, all consumer goods have surplus values locked up in them; the surplus values are not realized until the consumer goods are purchased by consumers through various distribution channels. As such, retailing is the essential link between production and consumption. The success of a retail business depends on two general factors: the location of the retail outlet, and management of the business. Both factors are equally important. If the business is located in the wrong place with the wrong customer base, it will not generate expected sales. Similarly, if the business is poorly managed and operated, it will not perform well even if the location is right. Influenced by both traditional and new location theories, Retail Geography is conceptualized and organized using the retail planning process as the framework. The technical and methodological chapters help guide the reader with detailed descriptions of the techniques and are supported with practical examples to reflect the latest software development. Retail Geography provides a state-of-the-art summary and will act as a core textbook for undergraduate and graduate students of economic geography interested in specializing in retail and business geography. The practical examples also make it a valuable handbook for practitioners in the field, as well as students of retail management and commercial real estate management.

Published in 1999, this book presents the results of an ethnographic study of the emergence of co-operative production networks among hog farm workers in Iowa. In it the author assesses both the internal organizational requirements for the successful network formation and the potential for networks to give farmers a competitive edge in the swine industry. Departing from the traditional emphasis on individual decision making in agricultural economies and economic anthropology, this book emphasizes instead the institutional setting in which such networks are formed. The author argues that networks succeed when they are closely tied to and reflective of local social structure. Those networks that attempt to employ a master plan designed by experts often fail. Although many succesful networks exist, networking has yet to achieve the economic clout enjoyed by large scale corporate swine producers. The author describes the availability of credit for new swine production ventures in Iowa and shows the extent to which large scale producers have developed network-like connections with banks, packers, and contract producers.

Originally published in 1990, Urban Markets looks at how the informal sector of the economy should be encouraged to assist in the alleviation of problems of poverty and unemployment. Despite this rhetoric, few concrete, implementable ways have been developed. This book is concerned with one such potential strategy which the authors consider to be particularly effective: the creation of both built and open markets for very small retailers and wholesalers. Based on experience of observing such markets in several continents, the authors combine a discussion of the theoretical issues surrounding the creation of urban markets with practical hints of how to establish and run them.

Contemporary consumer society is increasingly saturated by digital technology, and the devices that deliver this are increasingly transforming consumption patterns. Social media, smartphones, mobile apps and digital retailing merge with traditional consumption spheres, supported by digital devices which further encourage consumers to communicate and influence other consumers to consume. Through a wide range of empirical studies which analyse the impact of digital devices, this volume explores the digitization of consumption and shows how consumer culture and consumption practices are fundamentally intertwined and mediated by digital devices. Exploring the development of new consumer cultures, leading international scholars from sociology, marketing and ethnology examine the effects on practices of consumption and marketing, through topics including big data, digital traces, streaming services, wearables, and social media's impact on ethical consumption. Digitalizing Consumption makes an important contribution to practice-based approaches to consumption, particularly the use of market devices in consumers' everyday consumer life, and will be of interest to scholars of marketing, cultural studies, consumer research, organization and management.

Anticipating that marketing will experience a strategic change in the new normal post COVID-19, this book sets out to capture interesting insights from researchers and practitioners through in-depth research on the myriad aspects of industrial transformation. It discusses the facets in which markets can be reached sustainably delivering value to people, planet and create prosperity. Sustainable Marketing and Customer Value establishes an overview and framework for major ideas that connect marketing, consumption and sustainability. It addresses dominant areas of research of sustainability from the marketing perspective, the origin of interest in sustainability, as well as the practice of deprioritising sustainability ideas in pursuit of short-term business goals. Research scholars and business students will find this book of primary relevance, but it is also written for marketing academics and professionals, especially those in large corporations.

It explains why we have more than a hundred more record shops than we had in 2009, and how others have gained the reward from their hard work. Budget turntables, manufactures, supermarkets, chain stores, clothes shops, pressing plants and even the government are amongst the many who have benefited from their efforts. Graham Jones has spent 32 years travelling the UK selling to independent record shops and visited more record shops than any other human. This book guides you around the record shops of the UK who sell new vinyl. He has gathered some fascinating and funny anecdotes told him by our much-loved record shop staff so that when you visit you will feel like you already know the characters behind the counters. It is perfect for vinyl fans to keep with them on their travels around the country.

This book offers a unique analysis of how our definitions of luxury have changed over the ages, and with that the role and actions of both suppliers and buyers of luxury products. It traces the way luxury was seen as avarice and emblematic of morally corrosive behavior in past societies, to being viewed in more virtuous terms as the inevitable outcome of structural changes that legitimize the acquisition and display of wealth. It examines the origins of the shift from criticism to acceptance, and traces these changes to fundamentally different notions of what constitutes the basis for social order. Whereas pre-industrial hierarchies cloaked inequality in various secular and sacred guises to mitigate its presence, capitalism justified and reified inequality as a measure of individual success and initiative through interdependent market behavior. The result of this transformation is that status markers have become aspirational tools as hierarchies became porous and self-identity less ascriptive. Correspondingly, as demand for luxury became legitimized, the supply side underwent dramatic changes. Such changes are explored fully in the sectors of fashion, art and wine. As demand for high priced and scarce goods in each of these sectors has increased, in each case key actors have manipulated markets to purposefully either consolidate their pre-eminence or manufacture the requisite scarcity that affords them canonical status. The demand for and supply of luxury goods is now global; consumers seeking validation and affirmation of their status whilst producers engineer scarcity. Luxury is seen not only as good; it is virtuous, its demand possibly insatiable and extremely profitable.

HOW TO: design an enjoyable and/or eff­icient shopper experience. adapt your retail format to new societal trends while keeping the retail brand differentiating. energise supplier-retailer relationships and face the challenges ahead in an open and a collaborative way. Retail is going through tremendous change as a result of new types of competitors and ever higher consumer expectations. An abundance of products, media and data has become available. Digitisation and the demand for an inclusive and a sustainable society call for new ways of defining the future together. Everyone needs to be mobilised, and the category level holds the right meeting point for suppliers and retailers. The Retail Innovation Toolkit offers practical tools and case studies on the way forward, so that professionals on both retail and supplier sides can start addressing category challenges immediately. The 42 tools help professionals to analyse, grow, innovate and even reinvent categories in a fun and a quick manner. The Category Management concept is refreshed by integrating tools from Experience Design and Product Innovation to create a new set of innovation skills and mobilise collaboration within and among retailer and supplier organisations. This is an excellent toolkit with practical approaches to growing the category and reinventing the retail game.

An award-winning journalist's investigation into Amazon's true impact on inequality. The market value of Amazon.com has exceeded one trillion dollars. In 2020, its annual revenue increased by over 100 billion dollars. As the company insinuates itself ever further into our lives, Alec MacGillis investigates how it is reshaping society. With empathy and breadth, he tells the stories of those who've thrived and struggled in this rapidly changing environment, and shows how Amazon has even become a force in Washington, DC. The result is an intimate account of contemporary capitalism: its drive to innovate, its dark, pitiless magic, and its remaking of our world with every click.

Sell on Amazon and Make Them Do the Heavy Lifting Selling on Amazon has become one of the most popular ways to earn income online. In fact, there are over 2 million people selling on Amazon worldwide. Amazon allows any business, no matter how small, to get their products in front of millions of customers and take advantage of the largest fulfillment network in the world. It also allows businesses to leverage their first-class customer service and storage capabilities. Selling on Amazon For Dummies walks owners through the process of building a business on Amazon--a business that can be built almost anywhere in the world, as long as you have access to a computer and the internet. The basics of selling on Amazon Using FBA Getting started Deciding what to sell Conducting product research Finding your way around Seller Central Product sourcing, shipping and returns, Amazon subscription, fees, sales tax, and more How to earn ROIs (Returns on Your Investments) Selling on Amazon For Dummies provides the strategies, tools, and education you need, including turnkey solutions focused on sales, marketing, branding, and marketplace development to analyze and maximize opportunities.

Markets are at the origin of urban life as places for social, cultural and economic encounter evolving over centuries. Today, they have a particular value as mostly independent, non-corporate and often informal work spaces serving millions of the most vulnerable communities across the world. At the same time, markets have become fashionable destinations for 'foodies' and middle class consumers and tourists looking for authenticity and heritage. The confluence of these potentially contradictory actors and their interests turns markets into "contested spaces". Contested Markets, Contested Cities provides an analytical and multidisciplinary framework within which specific markets from Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Quito, Sofia, Madrid, London and Leeds (UK) are explored. This pioneering and highly original work examines public markets from a perspective of contestation looking at their role in processes of gentrification but also in political mobilisation and urban justice.

Featured in The New York Times, Bloomberg, and Vox, The Shopping Revolution is "a brisk and thought-provoking anatomy of shopping in the 21st century" (Kirkus Reviews). The retail industry was already in the midst of unparalleled disruption. Then came COVID-19. In a fully updated and expanded edition of The Shopping Revolution: How Retailers Succeed in an Era of Endless Disruption Accelerated by COVID-19, Wharton professor Barbara E. Kahn, a foremost retail expert, examines the companies that have been most successful during a tsunami of change in the industry. She offers fresh insights into what we can learn from these companies' ascendance and continued transformation in the face of unprecedented challenges. Kahn, also the author of Global Brand Power: Leveraging Branding for Long-Term Growth, examines:In a brand-new chapter, how companies in China, like Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo have changed the game;How Amazon became the retailer of choice for a large portion of the US population, and how other companies have chosen to work with them or have to compete against them; How Walmart beat out other grocers in the late 1990s to become the leader in food retailing, and how they must pivot to hold their leadership position today; How Warby Parker dared to compete against Luxottica in the lucrative eyewear business, and what that can tell start-ups about how to carve out a niche against a Goliath; How Sephora drew away customers from once-dominant department stores to become the go-to retailers for beauty products. Kahn argues we are just witnessing the start of the radical changes in retail that have been hastened by the pandemic and will revolutionize shopping in every way. Building on these insights, Kahn offers a framework that any company can use to create a competitive strategy to survive and thrive in today's-and tomorrow's-retail environment.