Consumers choice of small independent specialty stores in shopping centers during weekday extended trading hours: A qualitative study

Figures & data

Table 1. Typology of focus group questions

Type of questions	Purpose	Examples of questions used in the focus groups discussion
Main research question	Specifies the main focus of the discussion	How does the opening hours of the shopping center affect your daily shopping and browsing activities within a shopping center?
Leading question	Getting deeper ideas and perceptions of the participants	What are the reasons why you visit a shopping center?
Testing question	Test the ideas and perceptions of the participants	How would you describe your in-store browsing behavior at regional, sub-regional and neighborhood shopping centers?
Steering question	Steering the group back to the main agenda of the discussion after testing the perceptions and ideas of the group	Which category of shopping center do you consider most favorable for browsing specialty stores? (example of closed-ended questions)
Obtuse question	This question is introduced to generate differences in the opinions of the participants	Why do you feel this particular shopping center is more favorable for browsing specialty stores? (example of open-ended questions)
Factual question	This is employed to ease tension when participants argue inconclusively	How important is the weekday extended trading hours of the shopping center?
“Feel” question	Individual participants are given the opportunity to express their own experiences	Consider the following situation: you need to purchase a specialty product and you have already determined the brand and the type of specialty product to purchase. Will you still visit a shopping center with numerous options to choose from, or will you visit the nearest shopping center where the product is available, regardless of limited or few options to compare the products with other brands? Why?

Source: (Stewart et al., 2007)

Table 2. Socio-demographic profile of focus group participants

	Participants unique ID/code	Gender	Age	Occupation status
Focus group 1	R1	Male	30 yrs	Student
	R2	Male	30 yrs	Employed full-time
	R3	Female	25 yrs	Student
	R4	Female	43 yrs	Student
	R5	Female	48ys	Employed part-time
	R6	Female	23 yrs	Student
	R7	Female	28 yrs	Employed part-time
	R8	Female	25 yrs	Employed full-time
Focus group 2	R9	Male	29 yrs	Employed-fulltime
	R10	Male	34 yrs	Employed fulltime
	R11	Female	25 yrs	Student
	R12	Female	29 yrs	Employed part-time

Source: Prepared by the author based on the focus group participants

Table 3. Thematic analysis focused on the various agendas and shopping dimensions

Section	Agenda	Shopping dimensions: Outcomes/recommendation from previous studies	Source	Observation in the current study not identified in previous studies.
4.1	Strategy to address the efficiency of liberalisation of trading hours by retail centres.	Peak and off-peak strategy	(Shy & Stenbacka, 2006)	Not yet adopted in the state of Queensland but there is potential for this strategy. Section 4.1.1 to 4.1.3 provides key information of how ‘peak and off-peak strategy’ implementation could be focused and also challenges.
4.1.1	Shopping activity during late evening trading hours.	Task-oriented shopping	(Geiger, 2007)	Family and friends influences consumers to be task-oriented.
4.1.2	Implication of restricted retail trading hours.	Shopping dispersion	(Baker & Wood, 2010)	Shopping dispersion affects customer loyalty and it cannot be strengthening through online presence.
4.1.3	Shopping centre leasing policy.	Facilitating provision for short term leasing	(Roberts et al., 2010)	Can help in enticing browsing activity but this strategy will benefit only certain shopping centres.
4.2	Success of small Independent specialty store.	Customer assistance	(Goodman & Remaud, 2015)	Non-repetitive purchase and limited stock driving the need for customer assistance and choice of specialty retailer.
4.2.1	Demand for flexibility in shopping hours despite acknowledging that the current retail trading hours were sufficient.	Extended trading hours	(SafeWork, 2013)	Despite the advancement in technology consumer still perceive there is never enough time for shopping. In other words the perception of time poor for shopping activities will likely be pertinent despite extending the trading hours.

Table 4. Behavioural Dynamics influencing consumer in-store browsing behaviour on weekday extended trading hours

Latent variables	Measurable variables	Variable Type	References	Results in the current study supporting the latent variables and measurable variables
Choice overload	Perceived level of visibility of specialty stores at regional shopping centre	Independent	(Townsend & Kahn, 2014)	Stores in large-sized shopping centres will be eventually visible in the long-term as consumers at some point of time will be engaged in browsing activity. Therefore, its advantageous to locate in large-sized shopping centres if the retailer intends to stay for long-term period. Yet, the phenomenon of choice overload may still occur during restricted trading hours. Consequence of choice overload could lead to lower frequency of impulse purchase. It was evident in the current study that consumers may mostly choose to visit bigger stores only when they felt time-pressure as they can readily recall the main anchor tenants’ product offerings.
	Perceived level of visibility of specialty stores at neighbourhood shopping centre
	Frequency of impulse purchase
The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)	Perceived level of trust in online shopping for specialty products	Independent	(Grabner-Kräuter & Kaluscha, 2003; Klein & Ford, 2003; Davis, 1989)	One-time purchase and novelty of specialty products will likely be an important factor determining the benefits of online shopping in terms of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. For example, consumers may not be able to determine the purchase decision online due to the high uncertainty risk of specialty products and newness of the product. Consequently, consumers may not be able to utilised online shopping to shop efficiently in-store during restricted trading hours. Hence, consumers with higher level of trust on online shopping may use online shopping to frequently compare products and visit shopping centres with pre-determined shopping visits more often to achieve time efficiency. In contrast, Consumers with lower level of trust on online shopping might less frequently compare products online and less likely to visit shopping centres with pre-determined purchase objectives.
	Frequency of online product comparison for specialty products prior to purchasing in-store
	Frequency of shopping centre visits with pre-determined purchase objective
Customer assistance during restricted trading hours	Perceived level of shopping inconvenience due to shorter trading hours of the specialty stores	Independent	(Goodman & Remaud, 2015; SafeWork, 2013)	Customer assistant is one of the key strength for the specialty stores but based on the results in the current research it is proposed that consumers who engages in customer assistance less frequently are more likely to feel inconvenience of restricted trading hours. In the current paper we identified the importance of ‘feel and touch’ which is an important attribute of the shopping centre environment getting people to shop in-store. However, when customers visit stores to gain expert advice through customer assistance they may restrain their browsing activity to fewer stores. It is a well-known fact that customer assistance service usually aims to convince consumers of why they should buy their product. Hence, consumers that are engage in customer assistance less frequently in making a purchase decision are likely to browse multiple stores and more freely engage in ‘feel and touch’ of the product. Furthermore, the results in the current study indicates that consumers may not increase the frequency of online shopping due to the inconvenient of restricted trading hours especially for specialty products. Although Consumers with high frequency of online shopping may have less negative perception of restricted trading hours. They may also seek customer assistance more frequently when shopping in-stores due to lack of sensory experiences and face to face interaction with the expert.
	Frequency of customer assistance required when shopping for specialty products in-store
	Frequency of online purchases due to limited trading hours of the specialty stores
Huff’s Gravity Model	Perceived level of preference for shopping on days offering extended trading hours	Independent	(Baker, 2002; Goodman & Remaud, 2015; SafeWork, 2013; Wee & Pearce, 2015)	Consumers that are willing to travel to a physical store for specialty products are likely to prefer extended trading hours and choose large-sized shopping centres for the convenience of one-stop shopping. It was identified that the decision to purchase in-store is usually associated with the need for instant gratification.
	Perceived level of importance of distance to shopping centre when shopping for specialty products
	Frequency of shopping visit to regional/subregional/neighbourhood shopping centre during extended trading hours
Elements enhancing in-store browsing	Availability of variety of products	Mediating	(Bloch et al., 1989; Goodman & Remaud, 2015)	Availability of variety of product entices consumers as they are likely to find something suitable to their needs. Hence bigger stores tend to be their preferred stores in most occasion as indicated in the current study. It signifies the importance of main anchor tenants in increasing the footfall of consumers to the shopping centre.
	Presence of preferred store/brand
Consumer in-store browsing behaviour	In-store browsing time spent during goal-oriented shopping visits	Dependent	(Bloch et al., 1989; Xia, 2010)	The current study has identified consumers that enjoys spending time browsing stores during goal oriented shopping visits are likely to expend more time browsing in shopping centres when they visit for recreational purposes.
	In-store browsing time spent during recreational shopping visits

Stewart, D., Shamdasani, P., & Rook, D. (2007). Focus Groups. SAGE Publications, Ltd.

 Google Scholar

Shy, O., & Stenbacka, R. (2006). Service hours with asymmetric distributions of ideal service time. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 24(4), 763–771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2005.08.017

 Google Scholar

Geiger, S. (2007). Exploring night-time grocery shopping behavior. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 14(1), 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2006.03.001

 Google Scholar

Baker, R. G. V., & Wood, S. (2010). Towards Robust Development of Retail Planning Policy: Maintaining the Viability and Vitality of Main Street Shopping Precincts Towards Robust Development of Retail Planning Policy. Geographical Research, 48(1), 65–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2009.00622.x

 Google Scholar

Roberts, J., Merrilees, B., Herington, C., & Miller, D. (2010). Building retail tenant trust: Neighbourhood versus regional shopping centres. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 38(8), 597–612. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590551011057426

 Google Scholar

Goodman, S., & Remaud, H. (2015). Store choice: How understanding consumer choice of ‘where’ to shop may assist the small retailer. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 23, 118–124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2014.12.008

 Google Scholar

SafeWork SA. (2013). Review of changes to Shop Trading Hours Act 1977. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=de4fa7fce29a555796212d3f189e5462a0da8fe1

 Google Scholar

Townsend, C., & Kahn, B. E. (2014). The “Visual Preference Heuristic”: The Influence of Visual versus Verbal Depiction on Assortment Processing, Perceived Variety, and Choice Overload. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(5), 993–1015. https://doi.org/10.1086/673521

 Google Scholar

Grabner-Kräuter, S., & Kaluscha, E. A. (2003). Empirical research in on-line trust: A review and critical assessment. International Journal of human-computer Studies, 58(6), 783–812. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1071-5819(03)00043-0

 Google Scholar

Klein, L. R., & Ford, G. T. (2003). Consumer search for information in the digital age: An empirical study of prepurchase search for automobiles. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 17(3), 29–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.10058

 Google Scholar

Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008

 Google Scholar

Baker, R. G. V. (2002). The impact of the deregulation of retail hours on shopping trip patterns in a mall hierarchy: An application of the RASTT model to the Sydney project (1980–1998) and the global vacant shop problem. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 9(3), 155–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0969-6989(01)00032-7

 Google Scholar

Wee, C.-H., & Pearce, M. R. 2015. Retail Gravitational Models: A Review with Implications for Further Research. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 1984 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Cham, Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16973-6_64

 Google Scholar

Bloch, P. H., Ridgway, N. M., & Sherrell, D. L. (1989). Extending the concept of shopping: An investigation of browsing activity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 17(1), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02726349

 Google Scholar

Xia, L. (2010). An examination of consumer browsing behaviors. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 13(2), 154–173. https://doi.org/10.1108/13522751011032593

 Google Scholar