The changing landscape of the spaza retail outlet amongst black South Africans

The Spaza retail outlet is predominately found in South Africa’s black populated areas or townships. It also has a historical significance to it because, during the apartheid years, black people were not allowed to move freely by the white minority rule. This study is qualitative research where the author carried out an extensive literature review to look first, at the background, characteristics, challenges, and future directions that affect the Spaza micro businesses in South Africa. The research aims to first highlight the importance of micro-businesses. Second, to highlight the need for South Africa’s government initiatives to support small businesses for sustainable growth of the economy and to explore whether this support is far-reaching enough to protect the Spaza retail shops. The authors rely on Karl Marx's theory of class struggle as the theory informing the study. Some of the findings are: Spaza owners need to be more trained in business management, entrepreneurial skills, advertisement, social networking and marketing research, accounting and bookkeeping, technology, and innovation concerning promoting their businesses. The Spaza's annual revenue stream for the South Africa government currently stands at 5.2 % of the GDP.

Evaluation of neighborhood deprivation and store characteristics in relation to tobacco retail outlet sales violations

Introduction Regulations of the sale of tobacco products to minors have been effective at reducing adolescent tobacco use overall. However, these efforts may not be uniformly enforced in all areas, creating uneven protection against adolescent smoking. Knowledge regarding factors associated with tobacco retail outlet (TRO) violations could help inform better enforcement strategies. Methods In this study, we used Bayesian index regression models to determine if tobacco sales to minors violations across Virginia (2012–2021) were related to store characteristics and neighborhood deprivation and identify geographic areas at significantly elevated risk for violations after adjusting for these factors. Results Results show that there were multiple factors associated with a higher likelihood of tobacco sales violations. Store type was an important factor, as grocery stores and pharmacies had significantly lowered likelihood of violations compared with convenience stores. Being located near another TRO was significantly associated with increased risk of sales to a minor. Neighborhood deprivation was also positively associated with TRO sales violations. Further, there were statistically higher likelihood of sales violations occurring in specific areas (e.g., southwest and southeast) of the state that were not explained by neighborhood deprivation and store attributes. Conclusions Together, results highlight the need to better understand where and why TRO sales violations are occurring in order to improve efforts aimed at monitoring and remediating TRO sales violations.

Association of cigarette production and tobacco retailer density on secondhand smoke exposure in urban China

The primary aims of this study are to examine the associations between two key environmental factors—regional cigarette tobacco production and tobacco retail outlet density—and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in urban China and to explore the possible mechanisms that explain this association.MethodsA cross-sectional multistage sampling design was used to collect individual information in 21 cities in China. Environmental variables were retrieved from national databases. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between regional cigarette tobacco production, tobacco retail outlet density and SHS exposure. Structural equation modelling was employed to determine possible mechanisms.ResultsSHS exposure prevalence defined as daily exposure to SHS for at least 15 min/day at the time of the survey was found to be 28.1% among non-smokers (95% CI 27.1 to 29.0) across the 21 cities. The multilevel logistic regressions showed that province-level per capital cigarette production (OR: 2.72 (95% CI 1.56 to 4.76)and per GDP cigarette production(OR:1.69(95% CI 1,42,2.01), and city-level tobacco retail outlet density (OR: 2.66 (95% CI 1.63 to 4.38)) were significantly associated with SHS exposure. Moreover, results showed that these associations may be explained by the level of tobacco advertisement, which influences social norms, including attitudes and behaviours toward SHS exposure.ConclusionsFindings shed light on the role of cigarette manufacturers and retailers in producing environmental SHS pollution. To address the health and economic burden associated with SHS in China, it will be critical for the Chinese government to enact tobacco control measures consistent with the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control. Efforts should also focus on restricting the permitted density of tobacco retail outlets, and tobacco production in China.

Consumer Shopping Behaviour among Modern Retail Formats

The objective of this study is to analyze consumer shopping behaviour in different retail formats. Consumer shopping behaviour presents using shopping intention, attitude towards modern retail outlet and shopping habit. Self administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was collected from five different retail formats, i.e. hypermarket, supermarket, departmental store, mini market and convenience store. Consumer shopping behaviour is modeled using Structural Equation modeling (SEM), and the difference of behaviour among retail format was tested using multi level Lisrel software. It's found, as can be seen on consumer shopping model, the effect of attitude towards modern retail outlet and shopping habit on shopping intention. However, it's found that there is no difference in this behaviour among hypermarket, supermarket, and mini market.

No prescription? No problem: drivers of non-prescribed sale of antibiotics among community drug retail outlets in low and middle income countries: a systematic review of qualitative studies

Background Non-prescription dispensing of antibiotics, one of the main sources of antibiotic misuse or over use, is a global challenge with detrimental public health consequences including acceleration of the development of antimicrobial resistance, and is facilitated by various intrinsic and extrinsic drivers. The current review aimed to systematically summarise and synthesise the qualitative literature regarding drivers of non-prescribed sale of antibiotics among community drug retail outlets in low and middle income countries. Methods Four electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and Google Scholar) and reference lists of the relevant articles were searched. The Joanna Briggs Institute’s Critical Appraisal Checklist for qualitative studies was used to assess the quality of included studies. The enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research statement was used to guide reporting of results. Data were coded using NVivo 12 software and analysed using both inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Results A total of 23 articles underwent full text review and 12 of these met the inclusion criteria. Four main themes were identified in relation to facilitators of non-prescribed sale of antibiotics among community drug retail outlets: i) the business orientation of community drug retail outlets and tension between professionalism and commercialism; ii) customers’ demand pressure and expectation; iii); absence of or a lax enforcement of regulations; and iv) community drug retail outlet staff’s lack of knowledge and poor attitudes about antibiotics use and scope of practice regarding provision. Conclusions This review identified several potentially amendable reasons in relation to over the counter dispensing of antibiotics. To contain the rise of antibiotic misuse or over use by targeting the primary drivers, this review suggests the need for strict law enforcement or enacting new strong regulation to control antibiotic dispensing, continuous and overarching refresher training for community drug retail outlet staff about antibiotic stewardship, and holding public awareness campaigns regarding rational antibiotic use.

Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of Iot Deployment On Petro-Retail Operations

After the Internet revolution, Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to be the next big technological change, connecting equipment as well as everyday objects to help businesses explore new ways of creating and delivering value. In the Oil & Gas industry context, IoT has been deployed extensively in the upstream sector and also to some extent in the mid-stream sector. However, it’s implementation in the downstream (retail) sector has been limited. This paper explores the applicability and impact of deploying an IoT solution at a fuel retail outlet. In our experiment, a live outlet was chosen in Kolkata, where a limited IoT solution was deployed, for a period of 3 months. Our research shows that IoT implementation can yield significant operational benefits by reducing the response times, leading to increased operational uptime and hence sales. It can also help improve the root cause analysis process by providing increased data to identify the issue(s).

National Health Insurance Fund’s relationship to retail drug outlets: a Tanzania case study

Background Achieving universal health coverage will require robust private sector engagement; however, as many low- and middle-income countries launch prepayment schemes to achieve universal health coverage, few are covering products from retail drug outlets (pharmacies and drug shops). This case study aims to characterize barriers and facilitators related to incorporating retail drug outlets into national prepayment schemes based on the experience of the Tanzanian National Health Insurance Fund’s (NHIF) certification of pharmacies and accredited drug dispensing outlets. Methods We reviewed government documents and interviewed 26 key informants including retail outlet owners and dispensers and central and district government authorities representing eight districts overall. Topics included awareness of NHIF in the community, access to medicines, claims processing, reimbursement prices, and how the NHIF/retail outlet linkage could be improved. Results Important enablers for NHIF/retail outlet engagement include widespread awareness of NHIF in the community, NHIF’s straightforward certification process, and their reimbursement speed. All of the retail respondents felt that NHIF helps their business and their clients to some degree. As for barriers, retailers thought that NHIF needed to provide more information to them and to its members, particularly regarding coverage changes. Some retailers and government officials thought that the product reimbursement prices were below market and not adjusted often enough, and pharmacy respondents were unhappy about claim rejections for what they felt were insignificant issues. All interviewees agreed that one of the biggest problems is poor prescribing practices in public health facilities. They reiterated that prescribers need more supervision to improve their practices, particularly to ensure adherence to standard treatment guidelines, which NHIF requires for approving a claim. In addition, if a prescription has any problem, including a wrong date or no signature, the client must return to the health facility to get it corrected or pay out-of-pocket, which is burdensome. Conclusions Little published information is available on the relationship between health insurance plans and retail providers in low- and middle-income countries. This case study provides insights that countries can use when designing ways to include retail outlets in their health insurance schemes.

Farmers Markets: An Analysis of the Determinants of Consumers Attitudes and Behavior

This research explores indicators of the attitudes, preferences, and features of customers who buy at farmers’ markets in India, using an intercept survey design. Single-stage purposive sampling was carried out in which consumers were targeted at weekend farmers’ markets at nine different locations within the state of Maharashtra, India. Over a 2-month period of data collection (eight weekend visits) a total of 255 consumers were interviewed on site at the time of purchase, from whom we collected 235 completed questionnaires. Consumers in the sample were divided into three clusters and were rated positively on all seven factors considered. The findings of the study are that in cluster 1, about 80% of consumers were willing to pay more at the farmers’ market rather than to go to a nearby retail outlet or supermarket. Cluster 2 comprised those consumers who prefer value for money while cluster 3 includes those consumers who gave a high rating to the hygiene and service conditions at the market. This research concludes that consumers are positive about the operation of farmers’ markets held near their home.