Search

As e‐commerce emerges as a central mechanism through which customers make purchases, so does the diversity of products they choose to purchase online. One of the fastest‐growing product categories is that of large and oversized items, often referred to as "big and bulky" items. This trend is particularly pronounced in the United States, with the online appliance and furniture markets experiencing substantial growth. Significant growth is also observed in the last‐mile delivery services sector for these large items. This presents a plethora of opportunities for industry stakeholders. Capitalizing on these opportunities and achieving service differentiation requires significant strategic investments in specialized equipment and capabilities by retailers and logistics service providers. These capabilities differ significantly from those typically required to deliver standard consumer products. This shift in operational context requires a deep understanding of customer preferences regarding big and bulky item delivery services. In this study, we determine customer preferences for big and bulky item delivery service features and quantify the effect of customer psychographic traits on those preferences. We accomplish this by conducting a choice‐based conjoint experiment. Our findings indicate significant effects that bear both research and managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacists and pharmacies are key drivers in the American marketplace. They serve as an endpoint of the pharmaceutical supply chain and are the dispensers of a range of consumer goods, some nonthreatening and others potentially harmful to public health. In adding pharmacies to the roster of consumerist locales in the postwar period, scholars might draw even deeper connections about the transformation of health, corporate medicine, and American economic power. To understand the interface of consumerism, corporatism, and health in postwar America, this article holds the postwar pharmacy as a key site of commodity exchange and business and positions it within the larger American firmament, paying attention to the design of pharmacies. In particular, the article will add to the knowledge about the tangible ways that medical and health care spaces are constructed, organized, and designed to best generate profits. Besides prescription medications, alcohol, tobacco, and sugar-rich products were also vital elements of the postwar pharmacy and will be featured in this article. What is more, this article focuses on a central debate between pharmacists during the postwar period about how pharmacies were shifting from the role of healer to that of a retailer — from a "conscientious guardian" to a "commercialized jungle" — in order to highlight how the public health role of pharmacies was undermined by industry pressures for profit. Based on unused corporate guides and manuals, company records, photographs, and management documents, this article will spotlight the underexplored interiority of pharmacies – the store's insides, processes of organization, and design features related to potentially habit-changing substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]