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The use of influence strategies is an integral component of the salesperson's role, while selling to retailers. However, it remains a chronically under-researched area, particularly so in emerging markets, which are distinct in terms of retail formats and salesperson challenges. In this study, we investigate influence strategies used by salespersons for selling to retailers in the dominant small retail format in India. Using a combination of observation techniques and in-depth interviews, we allow salesperson influence strategies at play to emerge. In comparison to extant literature, we find evidence for both universality and specificity in the types of influence strategies used at small retail. We identify ‘share of counter’ as a unique small retail phenomenon, potentially requiring a specific set of salesperson influence strategies to succeed. Based on this, a modified typology of salesperson influence strategies, specific to small retail, is proposed. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and managerial implications for emerging markets, and offer suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An often discussed topic today is college students' perception of buying lifestyle products through e-commerce websites. The purpose with the present dissertation in hand is to get a good understanding of how the perception of a college student gets affected when it comes to buying lifestyle products via e-commerce websites. We wanted to find the main factors affecting the perception of this particular target group. The discussed factors guided our empirical research, in which our purpose is to investigate how these factors create a psychological impact or how well they are able to convince the customers of the targeted age group. We chose to use a survey as a strategy for our research and the primary data was collected through questionnaire. We found that there are many factors such as the offers which an e-commerce company provides as compared to that offered by an ordinary retail store, convenience of getting the required product delivered at the doorstep rather than going to a store to buy it, getting an option of gifting the present to a person without having to be physically present, convenience of buying them at any point of time as per the convenience of a customer, etc. which have been discussed in detail in the article below. Precisely, convenience and recreational introductions were decidedly identified with inclination for shopping on the web. And also, we have discussed about the future scope of these companies which answer various queries such as will there be growth for them in the coming future, are these companies going to carry on their business in the same manner as they are conducting in the present scenario or are there any chances for their potential discontinue in the market resulting because of lack of scope. In the wake of gathering the data, they were processed, analysed and examined using descriptive and inferential statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]