Our focus lies on the overarching question of how companies engaged in retail activities can create a unique and recognizable identity vis-à-vis relevant stakeholders. Research activities in the areas of shopper marketing, pricing and promotion policy and employee and customer inspiration are among the focal points of the competence center.
Shopper Marketing
Market-oriented management is based on the conviction that profitable sales can be achieved when companies recognize, anticipate and satisfy the needs and desires of consumers. Through the use of various market research instruments, retail companies hope to better understand the attitudes and buying behavior of their customers and to use targeted marketing measures to control buying decisions at the point of sale. In the area of shopper marketing, the Institute of Retail Management investigates, among other things, consumer trends in various retail sectors in Switzerland, the eating and consumption behavior of Swiss consumers, and the attitude of Swiss consumers to precious metals. The results are incorporated into various workshops and teaching activities.
Customer Loyalty and Inspiration
Customer loyalty has always been at the heart of companies' marketing activities. In the area of customer loyalty, the Competence Centre Shopper Marketing, Inspiration & Pricing is investigating, among other things, how ethnic diversity affects service interactions at the POS. Having identified customer inspiration as an important lever for successful retail management in science and practice, the competence center is currently investigating concrete drivers of customer inspiration in retail. The competence center is also currently testing the need to inspire not only customers but also employees in the company in several scientific studies. The results on customer loyalty and inspiration are not only being published at a high level, but also flow into various workshops for retail managers.
Price and Promotion Policy
Price reductions are criticized for causing long-term negative effects. In this context, one speaks of the "erosion" of the internal reference price (the consumers' price perception) or the brand value, which leads to the fact that consumers hardly ever buy certain products at the regular price. Instead, they make stock purchases or wait for the next price promotion. A further problem in consumer-oriented promotion policy is that certain types of sales promotions are conducted too frequently, too similarly and too little creatively. The aim of the competence centre is to develop management-oriented recommendations for an "optimal" pricing and promotion policy. Through the coordinated use of different pricing policy instruments, it should be possible to positively influence the price perception of consumers and thus to promote customer loyalty in the long term. Findings are generated through customer surveys, behavioral science experiments and field studies. In current pricing projects, the competence center is researching, among other things, the influence of new price promotion formats on consumer behavior and the influence of new technologies on consumers' price knowledge.
Our focus lies on the overarching question of how companies engaged in retail activities can create a unique and recognizable identity vis-à-vis relevant stakeholders. Research activities in the areas of shopper marketing, pricing and promotion policy and employee and customer inspiration are among the focal points of the competence center.
Shopper Marketing
Market-oriented management is based on the conviction that profitable sales can be achieved when companies recognize, anticipate and satisfy the needs and desires of consumers. Through the use of various market research instruments, retail companies hope to better understand the attitudes and buying behavior of their customers and to use targeted marketing measures to control buying decisions at the point of sale. In the area of shopper marketing, the Institute of Retail Management investigates, among other things, consumer trends in various retail sectors in Switzerland, the eating and consumption behavior of Swiss consumers, and the attitude of Swiss consumers to precious metals. The results are incorporated into various workshops and teaching activities.
Customer Loyalty and Inspiration
Customer loyalty has always been at the heart of companies' marketing activities. In the area of customer loyalty, the Competence Centre Shopper Marketing, Inspiration & Pricing is investigating, among other things, how ethnic diversity affects service interactions at the POS. Having identified customer inspiration as an important lever for successful retail management in science and practice, the competence center is currently investigating concrete drivers of customer inspiration in retail. The competence center is also currently testing the need to inspire not only customers but also employees in the company in several scientific studies. The results on customer loyalty and inspiration are not only being published at a high level, but also flow into various workshops for retail managers.
Price and Promotion Policy
Price reductions are criticized for causing long-term negative effects. In this context, one speaks of the "erosion" of the internal reference price (the consumers' price perception) or the brand value, which leads to the fact that consumers hardly ever buy certain products at the regular price. Instead, they make stock purchases or wait for the next price promotion. A further problem in consumer-oriented promotion policy is that certain types of sales promotions are conducted too frequently, too similarly and too little creatively. The aim of the competence centre is to develop management-oriented recommendations for an "optimal" pricing and promotion policy. Through the coordinated use of different pricing policy instruments, it should be possible to positively influence the price perception of consumers and thus to promote customer loyalty in the long term. Findings are generated through customer surveys, behavioral science experiments and field studies. In current pricing projects, the competence center is researching, among other things, the influence of new price promotion formats on consumer behavior and the influence of new technologies on consumers' price knowledge.