Online Shopping : An analysis of contributing factors in TAM

There has been an exceptional augmentation of online shopping as it provides convenience comfort to customers. The propagation of online shopping has kindled pervasive research to explore which aspects drives consumers for online shopping from consumer and technology oriented view. Online shopping, especially, an online retail sale is becoming increasingly popular. Greatest issue with information technologies is to identify the factors that influence consumers to adopt such systems. Various researchers have added different factors and over the years, the original TAM has been expanded. Hence, the present study has been carried out to explicate most widely accepted factors of technology acceptance model (TAM).

Shopgirls as Consumers: Selling Popular Music in 1920s Australia

The mid-1920s were boom years for the Australian gramophone trade. The most prominent multinational record companies had established local branches, and a handful of new factories produced millions of records for sale on the local market. Department stores joined an established network of music traders in retailing these cultural products. This article explores the labour of women involved in the retail sale of gramophone records in Melbourne. Selling recorded sound animated a charged rhetoric of musical meliorism, class and taste, according to which the value of the product was determined by the supposed musical quality thereof. Australian saleswomen or “shopgirls” were required to perform evidence of their modernity in the commercial encounter. I propose that conceiving of record saleswomen as simultaneously sellers and consumers provides valuable insight into the entangled nature of capitalism and culture in the realm of Australian music. This exploration of the process of commercialisation of recorded music illuminates the connection between labour and culture, leisure and society in colonial modernity.

Paintings off the Peg: The Retail Sale of Paintings in Tudor and Early Stuart England

The scholarly consideration of the marketing of luxury goods like paintings in Renaissance Europe has rightly concentrated on the Italian and Netherlandish experiences, while the discussion of an English retail market for paintings has focused on a later era. This article investigates the retail sale of painting in Tudor and early Stuart times. It asks what sorts of paintings were sold, who sold them, and what sorts of spaces accommodated such sales. Whereas conventional art historical research has concentrated on the production and sale of portraits, the discovery of an early seventeenth-century list of coat of arms painters holding retail shops in London adds additional support to the prominence of arms painting in such retail sales. This article considers the social context underlying the importance of displaying coats of arms and shows that arms painters engaged in the retail sale as well as the production of arms. The article proceeds to examine the varieties of retail spaces in which sales took place and concludes with a consideration of how retail sale of paintings contributed to London's role as a cultural center.

A survey of the levels of Campylobacter spp. contamination and prevalence of selected antimicrobial resistance determinants in fresh whole UK-produced chilled chickens at retail sale (non-major retailers)

Campylobacter spp. are the most common bacterial cause of foodborne illness in the UK, with chicken considered to be the most important vehicle for this organism. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) agreed with industry to reduce Campylobacter spp. contamination in raw chicken and issued a target to reduce the prevalence of the most contaminated chickens (those with more than 1000 cfu per g chicken neck skin) to below 10 % at the end of the slaughter process, initially by 2016. To help monitor progress, a series of UK-wide surveys were undertaken to determine the levels of Campylobacter spp. on whole UK-produced, fresh chicken at retail sale in the UK. The data obtained for the first four years was reported in FSA projects FS241044 (2014/15) and FS102121 (2015 to 2018). The FSA has indicated that the retail proxy target for the percentage of highly contaminated raw whole retail chickens should be less than 7% and while continued monitoring has demonstrated a sustained decline for chickens from major retailer stores, chicken on sale in other stores have yet to meet this target. This report presents results from testing chickens from non-major retailer stores (only) in a fifth survey year from 2018 to 2019. In line with previous practise, samples were collected from stores distributed throughout the UK (in proportion to the population size of each country). Testing was performed by two laboratories - a Public Health England (PHE) laboratory or the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Belfast. Enumeration of Campylobacter spp. was performed using the ISO 10272-2 standard enumeration method applied with a detection limit of 10 colony forming units (cfu) per gram (g) of neck skin. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to selected antimicrobials in accordance with those advised in the EU harmonised monitoring protocol was predicted from genome sequence data in Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates The percentage (10.8%) of fresh, whole chicken at retail sale in stores of smaller chains (for example, Iceland, McColl’s, Budgens, Nisa, Costcutter, One Stop), independents and butchers (collectively referred to as non-major retailer stores in this report) in the UK that are highly contaminated (at more than 1000 cfu per g) with Campylobacter spp. has decreased since the previous survey year but is still higher than that found in samples from major retailers. 8 whole fresh raw chickens from non-major retailer stores were collected from August 2018 to July 2019 (n = 1009). Campylobacter spp. were detected in 55.8% of the chicken skin samples obtained from non-major retailer shops, and 10.8% of the samples had counts above 1000 cfu per g chicken skin. Comparison among production plant approval codes showed significant differences of the percentages of chicken samples with more than 1000 cfu per g, ranging from 0% to 28.1%. The percentage of samples with more than 1000 cfu of Campylobacter spp. per g was significantly higher in the period May, June and July than in the period November to April. The percentage of highly contaminated samples was significantly higher for samples taken from larger compared to smaller chickens. There was no statistical difference in the percentage of highly contaminated samples between those obtained from chicken reared with access to range (for example, free-range and organic birds) and those reared under standard regime (for example, no access to range) but the small sample size for organic and to a lesser extent free-range chickens, may have limited the ability to detect important differences should they exist. Campylobacter species was determined for isolates from 93.4% of the positive samples. C. jejuni was isolated from the majority (72.6%) of samples while C. coli was identified in 22.1% of samples. A combination of both species was found in 5.3% of samples. C. coli was more frequently isolated from samples obtained from chicken reared with access to range in comparison to those reared as standard birds. C. jejuni was less prevalent during the summer months of June, July and August compared to the remaining months of the year. Resistance to ciprofloxacin (fluoroquinolone), erythromycin (macrolide), tetracycline, (tetracyclines), gentamicin and streptomycin (aminoglycosides) was predicted from WGS data by the detection of known antimicrobial resistance determinants. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was detected in 185 (51.7%) isolates of C. jejuni and 49 (42.1%) isolates of C. coli; while 220 (61.1%) isolates of C. jejuni and 73 (62.9%) isolates of C. coli isolates were resistant to tetracycline. Three C. coli (2.6%) but none of the C. jejuni isolates harboured 23S mutations predicting reduced susceptibility to erythromycin. Multidrug resistance (MDR), defined as harbouring genetic determinants for resistance to at least three unrelated antimicrobial classes, was found in 10 (8.6%) C. coli isolates but not in any C. jejuni isolates. Co-resistance to ciprofloxacin and erythromycin was predicted in 1.7% of C. coli isolates. 9 Overall, the percentages of isolates with genetic AMR determinants found in this study were similar to those reported in the previous survey year (August 2016 to July 2017) where testing was based on phenotypic break-point testing. Multi-drug resistance was similar to that found in the previous survey years. It is recommended that trends in AMR in Campylobacter spp. isolates from retail chickens continue to be monitored to realise any increasing resistance of concern, particulary to erythromycin (macrolide). Considering that the percentage of fresh, whole chicken from non-major retailer stores in the UK that are highly contaminated (at more than 1000 cfu per g) with Campylobacter spp. continues to be above that in samples from major retailers more action including consideration of interventions such as improved biosecurity and slaughterhouse measures is needed to achieve better control of Campylobacter spp. for this section of the industry. The FSA has indicated that the retail proxy target for the percentage of highly contaminated retail chickens should be less than 7% and while continued monitoring has demonstrated a sustained decline for chickens from major retailer stores, chicken on sale in other stores have yet to meet this target.

Postharvest UV-B and Photoperiod with Blue + Red LEDs as Strategies to Stimulate Carotenogenesis in Bell Peppers

Background: Our objective was to evaluate carotenoid accumulation in bell peppers during shelf life under different light conditions. Methods: Fruit stored for 6 d at 7 °C received a 9 kJ m−2 UV-B treatment, while non-UV-treated were used as control (CTRL). Subsequently, all peppers were disposed for a retail sale period of 4 d at 20 °C with a photoperiod of 14 h under fluorescent light (FL) + 10 h under darkness (D), FL, or blue + red LEDs (BR LED). Results: Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was increased by the UV-B treatment and the photoperiods supplemented with FL and BR LED, which was directly related to the carotenoid content. In fact, CTRL peppers (225 mg β-carotene kg−1) under FL+BR LED showed an increase of ~33% of 13-cis-β-carotene, ~24% of all-trans-β-carotene, and ~27.5% of 9-cis-β-carotene compared to FL + D and FL + FL. Capsaicinoids showed an increase by ~22%, ~38%, and ~27% in the content of capsanthin, capsanthin laurate, and capsanthin esters, respectively, after the UV-B treatment, which was even enhanced after the LED-supplemented photoperiod by ~18% compared to FL+D. Conclusions: Illumination with BR LEDs + UV-B during the retail sale period nights is recommended to increase the bioactive content of bell peppers via carotenoid accumulation to 270 mg β-carotene kg−1.

GOVERNMENT MEASURES AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK: SOME PRELIMINARY SHORT-TERM EVIDENCE FROM EUROPE

The present contribution is aimed at offering evidence of the impact of antiCOVID government actions on trade. Using monthly Eurostat data, it investigates the relationship between the turnover of sales and the adoption of governmental measures. Explanatory variables encompass three indexes measuring the government response, namely, a stringency, a health containment and an economic support index. A consumer confidence index is used as control variable. It has been estimated through a generalised least squares model with heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. The results outline that the percentage change of the index of deflated turnover of retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco is positively correlated with consumer confidence and negatively correlated with restrictive governmental measures. It is also determined that the percentage change of the index of deflated turnover of retail sale via internet is positively correlated with stringency governmental measures, this confirms the growing importance of internet as channel for trade.

Changes in cigarillo availability following implementation of a local flavoured tobacco sales restriction

IntroductionProvidence, Rhode Island (RI) was among the first US jurisdictions to enact a policy (effective 3 January 2013) restricting the retail sale of non-cigarette tobacco products with a characterising flavour other than the taste or aroma of tobacco, menthol, mint or wintergreen. We used scanner data to assess the impact of this sales restriction on retail availability of cigarillos, flavoured and otherwise, in Providence and a rest-of-state (ROS) comparison area.MethodsEvery unique cigarillo product—each indicated by a universal product code (UPC)—available for sale in RI from January 2012 to December 2016 was assigned to an exclusive flavour-name category (tobacco; explicit or concept flavour; or menthol/mint) based on characteristics in the scanner dataset and, as necessary, information from online websites. We calculated weekly unique cigarillo UPC counts and market share by flavour category and used difference-in-difference regression to assess prepolicy and postpolicy changes in counts and share in Providence relative to ROS.ResultsThe prepolicy to postpolicy decrease in the number of unique cigarillo products available in Providence was 28.64 (±5.83) UPCs greater than the comparable decrease in ROS (p<0.05). The prepolicy to postpolicy increase in the number of unique concept-named flavoured cigarillo products in Providence was 6.08 (±2.31) UPCs greater than the increase in ROS (p<0.05). The postpolicy market share of concept-named flavoured cigarillos was higher in Providence (27.32%, ±1.77) than ROS (12.67%, ±1.67) (p<0.05).ConclusionsAfter policy implementation, Providence consumers were exposed to fewer cigarillo UPCs but a greater variety and proportion of concept-named flavoured cigarillos in the retail marketplace.

Dynamics of Developing Food and Customer Goods Delivery Market During Last Three Years

Global pandemic of the corona-virus infection caused serious changes in economy of all countries of the world having brought many sectors of market to the deadlock. Food and customer goods are essential for life and health of people everywhere and in the Russian Federation as well. Delivery of orders made by the Internet became a retail trend in 2020, as the Internet during the quarantine was the only channel of safe sale. On-line retail sale of food and customer goods became very convenient for customers, thus it is necessary to search for ways of its support and optimization. The key goal of the research is to find out the most efficient method aimed at optimization of food and customer goods on-line retail market in today’s conditions. To reach this goal the author used the analytical method of research. On the basis of statistics the fundamental line in optimizing food on-line retail and delivery in it was identified – Dark stores. The author shows main advantages of introducing this method of optimization and estimates figures for the future.