An Information-Processing Approach for Evaluating In-Store Retail Operational Design Strategies

Abstract

We develop a model to evaluate retail store operational design strategies using an information-processing perspective of organizational design. We propose that three model constructs pertaining to in-store shopper task uncertainty-the product mix complexity, the service production complexity, and the product mix changeover-create shopper encounter information requirements (IR). These requirements can be met using specific retail service operational design choices for managing shopper encounters, namely, designing layouts for self-service (SS) and providing employees with task empowerment (TE). The model is then operationalized using a two-stage approach to develop new multi-item, measurement scales. The psychometric properties and predictive validity of the scales and model are then confirmed by using structural equation modeling with survey data from 175 merchandise retail store managers. We find that our model can be generically applied across the retail industry to understand how shopper encounter IR motivate retailer store design choices and can be used to determine whether to design stores for SS or to provide store employees with TE. We then evaluate the efficacy of the studied store design choices on customer delivery satisfaction, and offer some suggestions for future research.

ERP System versus Stand‐Alone Enterprise Applications in the Mitigation of Operational Glitches

“…We correlated the objective data to the corresponding item in the measurement scale for delivery performance, finding a statistically significant correlation ( r = 0.61, p < 0.01). This correlation is equal to, if not larger than, those reported in previously published research comparing perceptual and objective performance measures (e.g., Randall & Ulrich, ; Devaraj, Hollingworth, & Schroeder, ; Boyer & Frohlich, ; Menor & Roth, ; Fugate, Stank, & Mentzer, ; Kristal, Huang, & Roth, ; Shockley, Roth, & Fredendall, ). We conclude therefore that the measurement scale for delivery performance also has criterion validity.…”

Looking Inside Glitch Mitigation Capability: The Effect of Intraorganizational Communication Channels

“…In addition to the customary tests of validity and reliability, we empirically examined the criterion validity of the dependent variable by computing the correlation between the survey measure of timeliness (i.e., the second item of delivery performance in Table ) and the objective on‐time delivery performance data (i.e., the average percentage of orders delivered on the promised delivery date). We obtained these data from 38 production processes (the average was 82 with the standard deviation of 19), and in that subsample, the correlation between the perceptual and the objective measures was .61 ( p < .001), which is equal or higher than in other studies where similar comparisons have been reported (e.g., Randall & Ulrich, ; Devaraj, Hollingworth, & Schroeder, ; Boyer & Frohlich, ; Menor & Roth, ; Fugate, Stank, & Mentzer, ; Kristal, Huang, & Roth, ; Shockley, Roth, & Fredendall, ).…”

Determinants of Success for Online Insurance Web Sites: The Contributions from System Characteristics, Product Complexity, and Trust

“…This confusion can then result in difficulty for consumers when trying to select the products that best fit their needs, and thus lead to dissatisfaction (Chang and Chen 2009;Dellaert and Dabholkar 2009). In addition, prior product design studies also indicate that product complexity negatively affects customer satisfaction, because it results in an increase in the level of the consumer uncertainty regarding their purchasing decisions and the time and effort needed to eliminate this uncertainty (Orfi, Terpenny, and Sahin-Sariisik 2011;Shockley, Roth, and Fredendall 2011). Rijsdijk and Hultink (2007) also argued that the more complex a product is, the less likely that consumers will develop a clear understanding of its features and how they can take advantage of it, and this will, in turn, raise dissatisfaction.…”