This perspective paper considers the current state of retail and retail logistics and supply chain management to discuss what the future may hold for it through four important issues: changing consumer expectations, the impact of e-commerce, and the relationship with the natural environment all of which are influenced by the economic environment. These issues apply to retailing globally and have been exacerbated by events such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, and examples are provided from various retail markets to illustrate them. Retailers will need to think strategically how to adapt their business models to address these issues by recognising the needs of new consumer segments, focussing on niche service and products to avoid direct clashes with larger physical store and Internet retailers, embracing more fully opportunities in e-commerce, and ensuring their activities are sustainable economically, socially and ecologically.

Research has called for firms to prioritize reducing carbon emissions, however strategies to do so with external partners through institutional conformity and integration are lacking in research and practice. Drawing upon the resource-based view and institutional theory, the study in this paper proposes and tests a series of research hypotheses with Chinese firms. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse data and findings reveal carbon emissions reduction and low carbon institutional pressures are crucial forces driving external low carbon supply chain integration with external suppliers and customers. Further, low carbon supply chain integration overall positively impacts a firm's environmental performance, external customer integration positively impacts a firm's financial performance, and environmental performance plays a mediating role between external low carbon supply chain integration and financial performance. This study contributes by shedding new light on two patterns of external low carbon supply chain integration compared to prior studies.

This study investigates the mediation effect of customer empathy between theenvironmental orientation of retail firms, and subsequent customer purchasing behaviour towards eco-friendly goods. The empirical study developed conceptual and operational measurement variables from prior research and collected data from retail firm customers in the Republic of Korea. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to verify the reliability and validity of the collected data, and relationships between the variables were analysed using structural equation modelling. Two findings resulted as follows. First, a retail firm’s environmental orientation, manifested by a strategic approach to environmental issues and environmental capabilities, does positively affect customer empathy towards them. Second, positive customer empathy towards a retail firm’s environmental orientation positively affects customer purchasing behaviour towards the retail firm’s eco-friendly goods.

Retailers are continually developing initiatives to embed corporate social responsibility (CSR) in everyday business practices, especially in food retail. This chapter presents an ex-post consideration of a research project undertaken for a major European food retailer to address one CSR aspect: reducing food waste and loss in downstream retail operations. The chapter's objective is to highlight how extant management practices and processes may inhibit substantive changes required to implement CSR. The project was a single case study employing an action research method and retail distribution and supply chain management theory to investigate root causes and suggest solutions. Three major issues emerged from analysis at the interim report stage: a lack of a holistic approach to loss and waste related to different and unaligned performance measures among the retailer's three different management groups-the merchandising or trading group, the logistics and supply chain group, and the in-store retail management group; a lack of both sufficient stock visibility and forecasting accuracy. The latter two issues resulted from the lack of a holistic approach. Given these issues and potential impacts on its operational culture by reorganizing responsibility for loss and waste, the retailer cancelled the project at that stage.

PurposeMixed methods research is useful to enhance theoretical and practical research contributions. However, single methods have predominated much logistics and supply chain management (LSCM) research. This paper presents a review of mixed methods research across ten years in LSCM to determine their usage, identify benefits and inhibitors, and provide suggestions for LSCM researchers to realise the benefits from using mixed methods.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a mixed methods approach through a quantitative analysis of methods used in six leading LSCM journals, an e-mail survey of mixed methods article authors during the review period, and four published case studies that used mixed methods.FindingsOnly 144 (ten percent) of all empirical articles were published using mixed methods during the review period. A range of benefits and inhibitors regarding mixed methods adoption were found. Suggestions for LSCM authors include research training in mixed methods use and developing a project-specific research design due to the specificity and complexity associated with mixed methods research.Originality/valueLSCM is at a critical juncture, shaped by new contexts, themes and challenges, and would benefit from different research approaches and methods. This paper contributes to the LSCM domain through analysing the current state, benefits and inhibitors of mixed methods research in LSCM journals to provide a renewed call to action and guidelines for mixed methods LSCM research, and suggesting research design adaptation to enable agile and resilient research when investigating rapidly changing and complex phenomena.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate strength of supply chain integration based on social exchange theory and its resultant impact on supply chain cost and responsiveness. The study surveyed Korean export firms and obtained 182 usable responses. Data were analysed using cluster analysis and analysis of variance. Findings confirm that the strength of supply chain integration provides a mechanism for measuring the width of integration for both suppliers and customers. Further, identifiable gaps in cost performance and responsiveness were found based on strength of supply chain integration. This paper contributes through the development and testing of a conceptual model based on social exchange theory and also offers managerial suggestions in the understanding of customer needs and the importance of sharing information with suppliers in achieving improved cost performance and responsiveness in the supply chain.

This paper investigates how customs officials perceive the implementation of e-customs will influence business performance in Vietnam, a developing country with a lower technological environment. A survey of customs officials was conducted, and data were analyzed by structural equation modelling. The outcomes discover two significant enablers related to relative advantages and the new exploring factor Culture while Finance & Human Resources and Legislation as the inhibitors. Additionally, the study also emphasized that e-customs implementation had a positive influence on firm performance in Vietnam. In addition, the study provides different viewpoints of cultural dimensions in case study of applying e-customs in Vietnam in comparison with previous studies. Culture with attributions related to uncertain acceptance and individualism encourage innovation in other literature reviews, however, the study indicates uncertainty avoidance and collectivism as Vietnam also promotes e-customs deployment. Vietnam with high power distance and short-term orientation became old themes. This emerging country switched to low distance and long-term orientation in terms of e-customs innovation. In contrast to previous studies related to constraints from technology in emerging economies, technological factors are not an obstacle for Vietnam. Furthermore, previous literature reviews inflected legislation and regulations of government as one of the limitations that should be examined in further and this research carried-out this investigation in one of emerging economies. The results of the paper support policy makers who can have essential solutions to enhance e-customs implementation as well as enterprises’ managers set-up strategy to adapt with the modernization environment.

Fashion supply chains are characterised by pressure for low cost and short lead times and face increasing requirements for social and environmental compliance. Hence, fashion retailers have recognised a greater need for collaborating with competitors in upstream supply chain activities, despite competing against each other downstream in the marketplace. This notion of ‘coopetitive’ relationships, a nascent research area, motivated this paper’s case study of six UK-headquartered fashion companies to explore how and why they engage in areas of coopetition interaction and their management of inherent tensions in these relations. Capacity sharing, communication and information sharing, and building relationships/partnerships emerged as motives. The companies exhibited a processual approach to coopetition against a challenging landscape of institutional tensions, which included retailer pressure and organisational structures. Despite risks of opportunism, coopetition was found to be a useful strategy and highly influential for competitive advantage and sustainability in this volatile and dynamic industry sector.

This chapter posits that retail supply chains need to rethink their activities in the light of current economic, social, environmental and ecological subjects/approaches to provide better sustainable leadership. Supply chain activities have dramatically changed over the last four decades, from production through consumption, and contributed to current developments and issues which have led to humankind being at a cusp in its relationship with the environment. Raising concerns across holistic and global supply chains, such as increasing pollution and waste and depletion of natural resources, suggest a step-change and new way of thinking are required about how we engage with the planet, including in retail supply chains. Three research-driven examples are used to illustrate the breadth and depth of such concerns. The first discusses how retailers may not be providing food access and security to all consumers through existing store networks and distribution. The second discusses retail segmentation not really understanding the needs of younger consumer generations who are becoming a larger market segment each passing year, and who may genuinely not be interested in embracing massive consumption patterns like previous generations. The third example explores the increase of e-commerce: online retailing is supplanting traditional in-store retailing across the globe, which is more costly, encourages poor operational and managerial practices in fulfilment and return centres, and negatively impacts retailer costs and the natural environment due to increased movements. Finally, suggestions are provided for retailers to strategically adapt to these issues to incorporate smart, responsible and accountable leadership so the retail sector develops sustainability leadership.

Performance measures are a set of metrics used to quantify the efficiency and/or effectiveness of an organizational action and are especially important in a supply chain management context where such measures are typically quantitative and relate to reducing overall costs and the time taken to implement an action. Performance measurement in the logistics and supply chain domain is difficult, due to multiple tiers and the number of organizations involved. Organizations should first determine which measures are appropriate to meet their strategic objectives and guidance is provided on criteria for measure selection. Organizations then need to select an appropriate performance measurement system or framework to operationalize the selected measures in concert with any certification or accreditation schemes for their particular sector. Finally, two special cases are presented, sustainable or environmental and humanitarian logistics and supply chain management, to illustrate potential applications of the Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle and the Balanced Scorecard, respectively.

The paper identifies the enablers (drivers) and inhibitors (barriers) influencing e-customs implementation in Vietnam (known as a developing country with a lower technological environment) along with determining the impact of e-customs on firm performance. The survey was conducted with the representatives (managers) of firms in five cities and provinces dominating Vietnam's international trade. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings show two significant drivers (enablers) - relative advantages and national culture, while compatibility and ease of use are the barriers. Previous studies showed that cultural dimensions related to 'uncertainty acceptance' and 'individualism' encourage innovation; however, this paper demonstrates that 'uncertainty avoidance' and 'collectivism' promote e-customs deployment in Vietnam. Previously, Vietnamese culture was known for scoring high on cultural dimensions related to 'power distance' and 'short-term orientation'. However, today, as an emerging country, Vietnamese has switched to 'low distance' and 'long-term orientation', especially in terms of e-customs innovation. Additionally, the paper also emphasized that e-customs implementation had a positive influence on firm performance in Vietnam. Based on the results of the paper, policy-makers can devise essential solutions to enhance e-customs implementation as well as managers of firms can set-up strategies to adapt to the modernized environment.

Environmental supply chain performance measurement and reporting using environmental management systems (EMS) are evolving as new sustainability and societal challenges emerge. However, little research has been conducted to assess the use of appropriate EMS or the adoption of extant standards to understand environmental performance measurement in the logistics and supply chain sectors, or within different country contexts within globalized supply chains. This chapter compares studies undertaken in the UK, Finnish and Thai logistics and supply chain sectors to curate the adoption and use of EMS in each and identify common key enablers and inhibitors. The two most popular EMS are ISO 14001 and the European Union's Eco-Management Audit Scheme EMAS. However, they have been inconsistently adopted across the various sectors, for example many UK logistics practitioners have developed 'own company designed' reporting systems. Further, logistics and supply chain practitioners in all contexts indicated a lack of understanding of EMS with many small firms doing no reporting at all. Key enablers and benefits for adoption are financially linked to customer requirements, waste reduction and operational efficiency. Key inhibitors to effective implementation are a lack of standard measures and reporting systems and government direction for same, and supply chain complexity. Thus, there is currently 'no one size fits all' system for reporting environmental supply chain performance and a clear divergence between normative theory and practice.

The paper reviews omni-channel retailing strategy to differentiate between omni-channel retailing and its precursors, multi and cross-channel retailing; delineate omni-channel strategies evolving from a retailing perspective; and present a research agenda to address a lack of research on and inconsistencies in this topic. By means of an extensive literature review, the authors focus on papers that define the concept and approach the practical aspects of implementing the strategy. We identify three approaches to defining omni-channel retailing: integrated selling channels, seamless shopping experience, and a combination of the two. Finally, this paper reveals inconsistencies in understanding implementation of the strategy. It highlights the main areas that need to be addressed by a retailer when shifting to an omni-channel retail strategy. In contrast with the existing literature, this review combines the logistic and management perspectives. It is the only study that emphasises the imperatives and alternatives related to implementing omni-channel strategy.

Paper delivered at the 21st Logistics Research Network annual conference 2016, 7th-9th September 2016, Hull. Abstract Purpose: Logistics as a business discipline entered academic consciousness in the mid-1960s when work by marketing academics discussed the integration between marketing and logistics. However, the link with consumers in the point-of-origin to point-of-consumption typology was not explored until Granzin and Bahn’s conceptualisation and model of consumer logistics (CL) in 1989. Since then few contributions have followed and neglecting this aspect of logistics research is difficult to understand. Firstly, the consumer represents a productive resource as an important downstream supply chain member carrying out logistics activities and tasks. Secondly, logistics activities directed towards the consumer also act along a marketing axis, i.e. satisfaction and loyalty for an overall shopping experience both from transaction-specific and cumulative levels are influenced by product quality elements and service-related dimensions. This paper presents a theoretical framework for deeper research into the topic of CL. Research approach: A literature review was conducted first following philosophical or field conceptualization principles as a first step towards theory building. Data bases of major logistics and SCM journals were searched however the publication timeframe was not limited as the concept of CL is relatively new. Selection criteria and Boolean searches were conducted and keywords used within article abstracts and title fields of search. Due to a relative scarcity of contributions obtained by that approach and in-line with the principle of methodological triangulation, additional search strategies were applied using Google/ Google Scholar searches. The majority of the cited contributions were also cross-referenced and included in the analysis if appropriate. Findings and originality: The literature search yielded a mother population of 46 documents of which 24 have been considered relevant for further consideration. The document harvest was analysed using Granzin and Bahn’s original CL issues and additional features in order to explore, structure, articulate, orient, hierarchize and delimit the field of CL in the 21st century. Research impact: This paper updates Granzin and Bahn’s work to outline new and distinctive features of CL given the obvious changes in the retail landscape since their work 27 years ago, such as the Internet and omni-channel retailing. More broadly, conceptualizing CL in a holistic manner enhances SCM theory building by questioning traditional notions of time and space ranges, isolated marketing-merchandizing/logistics considerations, traditional understandings of sites /locations, and equipment (e.g. shopping cart or basket)/ infrastructure/ layout and buying stages that are in-line with external evolutions on organizational, technological and societal levels. Practical impact: Understanding and improving CL contributes to supply chain competitiveness via increased consumer satisfaction and loyalty, better order fulfilment via cost reductions and efficiency increases, and enhanced differentiation targeting consumers receptive for sustainability/ ethics/ mobility/ lifestyle/ life quality issues. A dedicated approach to CL also enhances management of repercussions and interactions with upstream/ B2B logistics, visible through retail stores being both a destination and a source for inventory, the rise of drop-ship vendor relationships and new fulfilment options and related infrastructure.

This chapter discusses an exploratory research study in the Finnish fashion retail sector to increase our understanding about the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in purchasing and procurement by Finnish fashion retailers, and awareness of social issues in the fashion sector by Finnish fashion consumers and how such awareness may affect their purchasing behaviour. Building on an academic literature review and secondary data analysis of CSR, sustainability and consultancy reports, empirical research was carried out using a data triangulation approach consisting of in-depth interviews with key Finnish fashion retailers and non-government organisations and focus groups with Finnish fashion consumers. Qualitative analysis included thematic and content analysis of interview, focus group and document texts, and was verified using trustworthiness quality criteria for qualitative research. Transparency along supply chains is the biggest challenge for Finnish fashion retailers however they are implementing CSR through carefully selecting suppliers and taking sustainability criteria into account including audit systems. Further, long-term buyer-supplier relationships have been established between Finnish buyers and their suppliers to reduce purchasing barriers such as last minute changes and lead-time pressure. Finnish consumers are aware of social issues occurring in the fashion sector and the negative impacts their consumption behaviour entails. However, price and availability were identified as main factors affecting purchase decisions. Increased interest in supporting ethical fashion was identified however there is a lack of ethical and sustainable clothes in the Finnish market, especially clothes appealing to younger consumers. Finally, consumers pointed out a lack of media attention for these issues and considered increased media coverage would increase consumer knowledge. This study extends existing theory on CSR implementation by retailers in the fashion sector, focusing on the Finnish market, and provides insight into Finnish fashion consumers' perspectives of CSR challenges in this sector and their resultant consumer behaviour.