Focusing on two determinant aspects of retail competition, prices and catchment area, this paper aims to specifically investigate the importance of the relative price density function. We answer such questions as whether it pays for a store to offer more low-priced items in a given category than its close competitors and whether a retailer should have a consistent assortment in terms of price tier frequency across all categories. To tackle these issues, we use a store-level panel database provided by IRI covering 34 categories and 150 stores in one province.
The VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) principle is to provide customers with a set of tools for managing their relations with vendors. The three main drivers of this shift in commercial relationships are a) customers taking back their personal data b) a drastic decrease of online tracking c) intent-casting. The first two issues are fostered by a European regulation project on data protection. The third is the basis of new tools being developed by innovative companies. This paper analyses all of these aspects of VRM and presented them to customer opinions through a series of interviews and a focus-group.
This paper explains the elaboration of a web service whose goal is to bring managers into using advanced geomarketing methods. The service is build using open-source software. Three studies demonstrate how well it performs at both technical and methodological levels, while keeping a friendly user-interface.
Personal data are overwhelming the economy. They seem to offer companies the opportunity to develop highly personalized relationships with millions of customers at a time. However, this goal is not an easy one to achieve. Major issues are raised regarding consumer acceptance towards the use of their personal information and the actual right for company to make such use of these informations. This report offers a state of the art and a prospective view on the issue of personal data and privacy in the e-business world. It is divided in four parts. First part presents the evolution of privacy laws. Second part analyses the actual practices of companies regarding personal data. Third part develops the point of view of consumers. Fourth part proposes some strategic recommendations.