The influence of retailer choices on consumer behaviors and sales productivity

The aim of this chapter is to analyze the most relevant factors affecting retailers by investigating the relationships between store type, assortment level, customers’ purchases, and sales productivity. Analyzing the dataset of the German retailer Rossmann through classification and regression tools, this work investigates what store type customers visit more often, what kind of assortment they prefer, and how sales profitability is affected by internal and external factors. Results show a tendency from customers to shop in smaller neighborhood markets rather than in the large shopping centers with extensive assortments, determining an increase in sales productivity in smaller size stores. Results suggest managers developing strategies for creating multiple retail formats in order to meet the diverse customers’ tendencies in the today’s market.