An investigation into the influence of quality and standardisation of merchandising activities in grocery retailing chains on impulse purchasing in the Durban area

Abstract

Little is known about the implications of merchandising activities of retailers, despite the fact that retailing plays a vital role in the economy. South African retailers, who are the only players in their domestic territory, need to be aware of the economic situation and of the expansion strategies of the main international retail actors. Unlike South African retailers, international companies are experienced in the world-wide grocery retailing field and have shown a lot of determination in expanding their presence and power on an international scale. This dissertation illustrates the landscape of grocery retailing today, and the risk faced by a reactive attitude by South African retailers in the face of international competition. The dissertation provides a framework, and a complete description, for integrating merchandising activities, which include visual merchandising activities, as a crucial tool to influence consumers' buying behaviour, through their impulse buying behaviour. This research project has, as its main purpose, the identification of a relationship between merchandising activities in the grocery retailing field and the impulse buying behaviour of shoppers. The dissertation addresses three issues for efficiently managmg merchandising activities, namely, the importance of the level of standardised merchandising, the role of perceived