Fulfilment time performance of online retailers – an empirical analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 493-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingran Zhang ◽  
Sevilay Onal ◽  
Rohit Das ◽  
Amanda Helminsky ◽  
Sanchoy Das
Keyword(s):  
Product Category ◽  
Performance Measure ◽  
Time Difference ◽  
Online Retail ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Time Performance ◽  
Online Retailers ◽  
Order Fulfilment ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Difference

Purpose Fast fulfilment is a key performance measure in online retail, and some retailers have achieved faster times by adopting new designs in their order fulfilment infrastructure. This research empirically confirms and quantifies the fulfilment time advantage that Amazon has achieved, relative to other online retailers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate three research questions: what is the overall mean fulfilment time difference between the new logistics designs of Amazon and the alternative designs of other retailers? For each order what is the distribution of the fulfilment time difference? What is the difference in fulfilment time by product category, price and size? Design/methodology/approach This research uses an empirical method to evaluate the fulfilment time performance of consumer orders made through the Amazon website and one or more competing online retailers. For 1,000 different products two fulfilment times, one at Amazon and another at a competing omnichannel retailer, are recorded. The analysis is then focused on the comparison between this paired data. Findings The research confirms that the new logistics methods, including physical facilities, distribution networks and intelligent order processing methods, have resulted in faster order fulfilment times. The performance, though, is not universally dominant and for 33 per cent of orders, the difference is 1 day or less. The fulfilment time difference varied by product, category, price or size. Practical implications The ongoing transformation of fulfilment and logistics operations at online retailers has generated several new research questions. This includes the need to confirm the fulfilment efficiency of the new designs and specify time targets. This paper identifies the fulfilment time gap between new and traditional operations. The results suggest that store-based or distribution centre-based fulfilment strategies may not match the new designs. Originality/value The study provides a quantitative analysis of the fulfilment time differentials in online retailing. The critical role of fulfilment logistics in the rapidly growing online retail industry can now be better modelled and studied. The survey method representing a single buyer allows for order pair equivalency and eliminates order bias. The results suggest that new warehousing and logistics designs can lead to significantly faster fulfilment times.

Lower alcohol wines in the UK market: some baseline consumer behaviour metrics

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (7) ◽  
pp. 1143-1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Bruwer ◽  
Vladimir Jiranek ◽  
Lulie Halstead ◽  
Anthony Saliba
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Consumer Behaviour ◽  
Product Category ◽  
Research Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lower Alcohol ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Profile Characteristics ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide clearer insights into and identify the key consumer behaviour metrics of the lower alcohol category (<11 per cent ABV) in the UK wine market. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected via an online survey from a sample size of 598 regular UK wine drinkers. To operationalise the study, five research questions were formulated. A highly structured quantitatively directed questionnaire was designed to find the answers to the research questions. Findings – Barriers to a larger uptake of the product category included non-availability of the products, lower quality perceptions, taste issues, lack of awareness, lack of alcohol's “feel effect” and absence of a lower alcohol drinking occasion. Many UK consumers are not yet convinced how/if lower alcohol wine fits into their wine drinking occasions. The lower ABV wine buyer's main profile characteristics are weighted towards females, Millennial and Baby Boomer age generations, mostly mid to low income, who drink mainly white and rosé wines. Lower alcohol on its own is not seen as a big benefit, thus lower ABV wines should be more creatively communicated to sell the benefits. Originality/value – This study contributes to the knowledge base in that it is the first to investigate consumer behaviour metrics as regards lower ABV wine in one of the world's leading markets, in the process providing some important baseline research information on this category. As such it is of value to academic researchers and practitioners alike.

Geographical indications in the wine industry: does it matter for South Africa?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moses Herbert Lubinga ◽  
Simphiwe Ngqangweni ◽  
Stephanie Van der Walt ◽  
Yolanda Potelwa ◽  
Bonani Nyhodo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Performance Measure ◽  
Wine Industry ◽  
Geographical Indications ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trade Performance ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to assess the impact of protected geographical indications (GIs) on the trade performance of South Africa’s wine industry within the European Union (EU). This is critical in enhancing informed policy decisions towards securing more GIs for wines and other products. The unearthed evidence may provide a basis for more government interventions in support of the initiative while protecting the good reputation in communities where production occurs. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses the gravity flow model framework. The Rand value of wine exports was used as a trade performance measure whereas GIs data was extracted from the E-Bacchus database, and three proxies are used to capture the GIs variable. Findings GIs foster South Africa’s wine exports into the EU. When GIs were proxied as a dummy variable, results suggest that GIs led to about 170% increase in wine exports. However, when the actual number of GIs was used, the estimate also indicates 0.7% rise in exports, whereas using the difference between South Africa’s and the EU’s number of GIs, results suggest that GIs are associated with 87% increase in wine exports. Research limitations/implications This paper did not take into consideration protected designation of origins (PDOs) on the side of the Europe given that South Africa has no registered PDOs. Further research at industry level should be undertaken to ascertain whether some of South Africa’s wine meets the specifications required to register as a PDO. Originality/value This paper adds empirical evidence to the existing literature on the competitiveness of South Africa’s wine industry. The role of GIs in international markets remains a silent feature in the literature yet the industry exhibits an outstanding footprint in GIs. This paper, in part, responds to Biénabe and Marie-Vivien’s (2017) recognition for the need for interdisciplinary empirical analyses to better understand the GI concept. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to analyse the impact of GIs on the industry’s trade performance.

Do bondholders receive benefits from bank interventions?

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-197
Author(s):  
Yili Lian
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bond Performance ◽  
Bond Returns ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Covenant Violations

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of bank interventions on bond performance in relation to loan covenant violations. Design/methodology/approach This paper tests the following questions: do bondholders receive benefits from bank interventions? Is bond performance related to the probability of bank interventions? Is the turnover of a chief executive officer (CEO) associated with bank interventions and bond performance? Abnormal bond returns, the difference between bond returns and matched bond index returns are used to measure bond performance. An estimated outstanding loan balance is used to measure the probability of bank interventions. CEO turnover is identified from proxy statements and categorized into forced and voluntary CEO turnovers. Event studies and regression analysis were used to answer the above research questions. Findings This paper finds that both short-term and long-term bond returns increase after covenant violations, bond performance is positively related to the probability of bank interventions, forced CEO turnovers are positively associated with the probability of bank interventions and firms with forced CEO turnovers tend to have superior bond performance. Originality/value This paper is the first to explore the relation between bank interventions and bond performance.

Customized logistics service and online shoppers’ satisfaction: an empirical study

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 484-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingyao Hu ◽  
Fang Huang ◽  
Hanping Hou ◽  
Yong Chen ◽  
Larissa Bulysheva
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Product Type ◽  
Retail Market ◽  
Satisfaction Level ◽  
Online Retail ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Online Retailers ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – Fast-growing online retail market provides convenience for customers. But it makes competition among online retailers fiercer as well. Online retailers need to improve online shoppers’ satisfaction level for the purpose of keeping their loyalty. As an important component in online retail market, logistics service affects online shoppers’ satisfaction level. By applying expectation confirmation theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore how customized logistics services (CLS) influences online shoppers’ satisfaction level and whether the relationship between them is moderated by product type. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from Tmall.com, the biggest online retail market in China. Exploratory factor analysis and two-way ANOVA were conducted to analyze the data. Findings – The results indicate that CLS positively impacts online shoppers’ satisfaction level. But product type does not have moderate effect on the relationship between CLS and online shoppers’ satisfaction level. Practical implications – Online retail market grows fast. As the number of retailers keeps increasing, competition in this market becomes fiercer. In order to attract new shoppers and increase shoppers’ loyalty, online retailers must make shopper satisfied with their purchase. CLS positively impacts online shoppers’ satisfaction level, online retailers should offer shoppers CLS. Originality/value – This study examines how customized logistics influences customer satisfaction, and extends literatures related to online customer satisfaction by integrating the factor CLS and opens the way for other studies related to logistics service customization. Furthermore, this study discusses how IoT will improve online retailers’ abilities in providing CLS.

scholarly journals Gamification and the online retail experience

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 340-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Insley ◽  
Daniel Nunan
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Online Retailing ◽  
Online Retail ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Retailers ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
Game Elements ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose – As online retailing grows in importance there is increasing interest in the online customer experience. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of gamification, the use of game mechanics, in enabling consumer engagement with online retailers. Design/methodology/approach – The research adopts a qualitative methodology carrying out 19 in-depth interviews with individuals who are frequent online shoppers. Findings – Findings support the importance of including game elements to enhance the retail experience. However, data also suggests that without appropriate management customers can subvert gamification strategies to create their own “games” which increases competitive pressure between retailers. Practical implications – The paper suggests ways in which retailers might more successfully “gamify” their online retail stores and reduce incidences of undesirable customer behaviour. Originality/value – This paper provides empirical support to the current paucity of research into the role of gamification in the context of the online retail experience.

Early entrants attract better customer evaluations: evidence from the digital camera industry

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Kirjavainen ◽  
Saku J. Mäkinen ◽  
Ozgur Dedehayir
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Product Category ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Customer Evaluations ◽  
The Difference

PurposeIn addition to pioneering, empirical work on entry order increasingly addresses fast followers and laggards and the potential advantages they are able to capture. There is also a growing consensus in the academia, that current measures of firm performance used in the entry order literature to study these advantages are inadequate. This study analyzes the relationship between entry order and customer evaluations, which, depicting the performance of the firm's products in the market, are used as a proxy for firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe study is set in the digital camera industry, analyzing entries into each new technology level, in terms of the sensor resolution of compact and bridge cameras. The complete dataset consisted of 1,816 digital camera models introduced between January 1996 and December 2017. The data are analyzed using hierarchical multiple linear regression.FindingsThe study finds evidence of early-mover advantage for the compact product category. In the compact camera consumer market, both first-movers and fast followers outperform late movers. Furthermore, the difference in performance in comparison to laggards is greater for first-movers than for fast followers. However, in the bridge category which consists of a more heterogeneous set of products, no significant entry-order effects are detected.Originality/valueThe results clearly indicate that there exists an early mover advantage. Furthermore, the results are not consistent across different product categories within an industry; hence, caution needs to be exercised when analyzing industry dynamics and entry order effects. Finally, our novel conceptualization of firm performance measured as online customer evaluation add new opportunities to investigate firm success

Corporate social responsibility and bankruptcy

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Cooper ◽  
Hatice Uzun
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Matched Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Failure ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
A Company

Purpose This paper aims to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate bankruptcy. Specifically, the authors ask the following research questions: Does CSR play a role in determining the likelihood of bankruptcy? Does CSR explain the difference in the probability of that firm eventually reorganizing and emerging from bankruptcy? Design/methodology/approach The authors address these questions by testing three CSR theories using a sample of 78 firms that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy during the period 2007 to 2014 along with a matched sample of firms that did not. Findings Overall, the findings indicate that stronger CSR firms are less likely to become bankrupt relative to weaker CSR firms, all else being equal. This result is in line with the stakeholder theory of CSR. However, results do not support the conjecture that CSR matters when it comes to bankruptcy emergence. While CSR seems to influence whether a company experiences bankruptcy in the first place, having strong CSR does not seem to help a firm once it has filed for Chapter 11. Research limitations/implications This paper extends the existing CSR literature but looks at CSR not from the angel of financial “success” but rather from financial “failure”. Practical implications The results could potentially help academics and practitioners alike in seeking understanding and reason behind CSR involvement and bankruptcy avoidance and success. Originality/value This is the first paper to test whether CSR plays a role in bankruptcy. The authors use a recent sample of firms with CSR scores that experienced a bankruptcy and a matched sample of CSR-scored firms that did not experience bankruptcy.

The role of customer engagement in the involvement-loyalty link

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prateeksha Parihar ◽  
Jagrook Dawra ◽  
Vinita Sahay
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Product Category ◽  
Customer Engagement ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Online Retail ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the different dimensions of involvement and customer engagement (CE) and analyze the influence of CE on loyalty in an online retail context. The study also tests the mediation of CE between the facets of involvement and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a survey for data collection from online retail website users and analyzed the data with partial least squares – structural equation modeling. Findings The results reveal that the dimensions of involvement drive engagement differently. The risk importance and risk probability do not influence CE whereas the sign, interest, and pleasure are positively associated with CE. Furthermore, CE mediates the link between sign, interest, and pleasure dimensions of involvement and loyalty. Practical implications This study provides insights for the managers that the perception of value from a brand starts at its product category level and values like sign, interest, and pleasure can be provided to the customers by not only brand consumption but also by engaging them with the brand. Originality/value This is among the first studies to have empirically tested the effect of dimensions of involvement on CE and explain the role of engagement as a means for the customers to achieve expected values. It also contributes to the extant CE literature by testing its mediating role between involvement dimensions and loyalty, thus augmenting the studies, which have explored the antecedents and consequences of CE.

Impact of company level information on auditor conservatism

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naman Desai
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Auditing Standards ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Transaction Level ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Auditor Conservatism

Purpose Auditors tend to focus more on income-increasing items compared to income-decreasing items because they are trained to be conservative and also because the risk of litigation is significantly higher for failing to detect material income-increasing items compared to material income-decreasing items. Auditors’ consideration of transaction-level items is also affected by their evaluation of company-level information. Therefore, this study aims to examine how the interaction between company-level information and sign of the material items affects auditors’ evaluation of income-increasing and income-decreasing items. Design/methodology/approach A three-treatment between-subjects experiment was conducted to investigate the research questions. Findings The results indicate that in the absence of company-level information, auditors intuitively associate a higher risk and audit effort to income-increasing items. When the company-level information indicates that management is under pressure to inflate earnings, auditors’ conservatism associated with income-increasing items gets amplified. This leads to an increase in the difference in assessed risk and audit effort between income-increasing and income-decreasing items. However, when the company-level information indicates that management is not under pressure to inflate earnings, there are no significant differences in assessed risk and audit effort between income-increasing and income-decreasing items. These results indicate that auditor conservatism is affected by company-level information. Originality/value The findings indicate how an analysis of company-level information (as prescribed by auditing standards) and inherent auditor conservatism could potentially affect audit procedures and have important implications for the audit profession.

A Maximum Entropy Estimator for the Average Survival Time Differences between Two Groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-112
Author(s):  
Marian Manciu ◽  
Sorour Hosseini ◽  
Joscelyne Guzman-Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Survival Time ◽  
Maximum Entropy ◽  
Time Difference ◽  
Reliable Estimate ◽  
Average Survival Time ◽  
Sample Number ◽  
Time To Event Data ◽  
Entropy Estimator ◽  
Average Survival ◽  
The Difference

Background: Statistical methods commonly used in survival analysis typically provide the probability that the difference between groups is due to chance, but do not offer a reliable estimate of the average survival time difference between groups (the difference between median survival time is usually reported). Objective: We suggest a Maximum-Entropy estimator for the average Survival Time Difference (MESTD) between groups. Methods: The estimator is based on the extra survival time, which should be added to each member of the group, to produce the maximum entropy of the result (resulting in the groups becoming most similar). The estimator is calculated only from time to event data, does not necessarily assume hazard proportionality and provides the magnitude of the clinical differences between the groups. Results: Monte Carlo simulations show that, even at low sample numbers (much lower than the ones needed to prove that the two groups are statistically different), the MESTD estimator is a reliable predictor of the clinical differences between the groups, and therefore can be used to estimate from (low sample numbers) preliminary data whether or not the large sample number experiment is worth pursuing. Conclusion: By providing a reasonable estimate for the efficacy of a treatment (e.g., for cancer) even for low sample data, it might provide useful insight in testing new methods for treatment (for example, for quick testing of multiple combinations of cancer drugs).

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