The purchasing behaviour of Shanghai buyers of processed food and beverage products: implications for research on retail management

Examines empirically the purchasing behaviour of Shanghai buyers of processed food and beverage products. An average of only 3.66 product items are purchased on each shopping occasion. Explains the value or weight of purchases by various geographic, demographic and behavioural factors, specifically: the distance travelled to the shop (closely related to the frequency of shopping), the gender of shopper, whether the shopping was undertaken on the main shopping day of the week, and income (by far the dominant explanator). However, because of the limited quantities purchased on each shopping occasion, and the low numerical variation in purchases, the question for future research is whether some combination of low value attached to shopping time, logistical limitations, and storage constraints operate to limit the purchases of shoppers. Such research findings would support a decentralized retail strategy for sales maximization.