Editorial

Citation

Broadbridge, A. and Clarke-Hill, C. (2003), "Editorial", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 31 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijrdm.2003.08931caa.001

Editorial

This issue of Retail Insights is devoted to cases from the 7th International European Association for Education and Research in Commercial Distribution (EAERCD) conference which was hosted by the University of Gloucestershire Business School in Cheltenham, England in July 2002 (Web site – http://online.chelt.ac.uk/eaercd). The conference attracted 27 papers in the areas of retail management, international retailing, retail education, retail case studies and online retailing. Colin Clarke-Hill chaired the conference and has been working with me to select cases for publication in Retail Insights. This was a difficult task as there was much good material at the conference and all cases had been through a blind-review process.

The selected papers will appear in two issues, three papers in this one and a further three in a later issue. The theme of this selection is retail management with a special emphasis on merchandising issues.

The three papers in this issue are linked but take very different views of merchandising. We believe that our readers will be interested in these papers as they offer some different insights into retailing in their different ways. We are particularly pleased to include the work of Shona Kerfoot and Tamira King who are being published for the first time.

The paper by Tony Kent develops the theme of 3-D visual merchandising based on the store design and the store brand. Each example shows the development of this theme over the period, with photographs depicting both historical and contemporary designs. Kent shows the link between the store brand and the physical design elements as a powerful way of creating differentiating through style and physical structures. The paper by Shona Kerfoot, Philippa Ward and Barry Davies focuses on visual merchandising and the effects that that has on purchase recognition and behaviour. The context the authors use is branded women's clothing in a department store setting. Their results suggest the liking of the merchandise display does not necessarily determine purchase, but good display does make a purchase more likely. The third selection from the EAERCD's July conference, is the paper by Tamira King and Charles Dennis. King and Dennis' research is on the newly reported phenomenon of deshopping, where consumers, purchasing mainly clothing and who are predominantly women shoppers, use retail stores as libraries. The deshopper selects, purchases, uses and then returns the garments and accessories to the store for a refund. The research reveals alarming results of this type of dishonest behaviour and considers the implications of deshopping on retailers' strategies on service and refund policy.

The issue concludes with a review by Mike Pretious of McGoldrick's book Retail Marketing, published by McGraw-Hill in 2002. There is also a press release for the latest edition of the Distributive Trades Digest, published by the Institute for Retail Studies, University of Stirling in 2003.

Adelina BroadbridgeSenior Lecturer in Marketing, Institute for Retail Studies, University of StirlingColin Clarke-HillReader in Strategic Management, University of Gloucestershire Business School