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The Oxford Times ran a headline in May 1896 that stated in bold capitals 'STRANGE DEATH OF A HINDOO', detailing the circumstances of the death of Baboo Mookhi Singh, who, it seems, was the first (known) Indian grocer in Oxford. While today, the pioneering research by Rozina Visram related to the presence of Asians in Britain, that of Antoinette Burton in the late-Victorian period, or Michael Fisher's work on counterflows to colonialism, is not new, the majority of research regarding the presence of Indians in the British Isles is either scant for this period of time, or related to ayahs and lascars, or to poets, intellectuals, and aristocrats, with considerable research also related to the Indian military. The majority of times, that research has also focused solely on London. The originality of this research paper provides material heretofore undocumented related to an early settler in Oxford from India (1880s–1890s): Baboo Mookhi Singh (1867–1893), Oxford's first grocer, and tea importer from India. He originated from Benaras (Varanasi) and arrived in Britain, where he set up a business in the centre of Oxford. However, what he encountered there was name-calling, verbal as well as physical harassment, and ultimately his death in strange circumstances. He seemingly came alone, although his import business, which boasted the best tea not only in Oxford, but in the whole country, was run by the 'Singh Brothers' (his brother remaining in India). While Singh most certainly travelled via the Suez Canal to Britain, the country to which he was travelling would have been both familiar and unfamiliar to him. However, due to the lack of resources available, all too often common people, such as Singh, have been neglected. In this article, newspaper reports and material from the numerous trials (mostly initiated by Singh against the local people and his immediate neighbours) are brought together, as well as the coroner's reports, and the police notes to determine Singh's struggle for recognition, and his attempt at resistance. This paper documents his struggle for cultural/geographic space, to redress the imbalance of power, and gain agency. Despite his attempts at resilience, he did, in the end, die. However, Singh was a pioneer in a struggle for power, a stand for resistance, and how the law perceived him, in his difference, changing the community around him, albeit on a small scale. It is a telling story that resurfaces an early Indian settler in Britain, his alterity in Victorian society, and the latter's attitudes towards race. It steps outside of the traditional image of the empire at home, in Britain, in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media and firm applications are two mobile service marketing mechanisms that rely on push or pull promotions to be effective. Literature, however, has yet to uncover how the promotions may complement each other when purposefully implemented. Our study examines this possibility in the grocery industry over three months. First, we create and manage a supermarket's Instagram profile, posting to the account (push promotion). Next, we compare performance measures with a third-party mobile app (pull promotion), which provides aggregated customer views and access to the supermarket profile. A time-series analysis reveals a sequential chain from push promotion to pull promotion to performance, the temporal effect of a push to pull, and the mediating effect from push to pull to purchase with an elasticity of.23. Results are important to those balancing push and pull promotional efforts and those involved with digital marketing and promotion in retailing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study specifies the lessons from a development program for suppliers implemented for more than 10 years by an international coffee trader with small-scale producers in Mexico, to fulfill the voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) required by their most demanding markets. The information was obtained in the year 2021, through semi-structured surveys, with a random sample of coffee growers (n=54), interviews with technical advisers (n=8), and operating staff (n=6) of the company. The information was analyzed with a mixed approach, to characterize the program and estimate the differential costs and benefits for the company and its suppliers. Results show that the implementation of the program required investing to develop a more complex and costly grocer's structure than purchases in the open market; however, the yields per hectare increased with the technical advice and better prices were attained from complying with the VSS. Thus, the trader stockpiled close to 2,400 additional tons of green coffee annually and managed to increase its profit in close to $7.4 million USD per year, with an estimated differential annual cost of $1.1 million USD. Likewise, coffee growers increased their income 1.7 times compared to a scenario without the program. The defining factor of these results is the presence of a "trailblazing company" with access to dynamic and solvent markets, which designed a mutual profit scheme with the small-scale producers and financed it with a vision in the medium term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retailers use artificial intelligence (AI) to serve customers better. This study examines the role of chatbots in shaping attitudes of customers relating to usefulness, usability, and trust when shopping for groceries online. Automated conversational agents, or chatbots, not only understand customers, but also provide them product knowledge, and promote behavioral change. Chatbots, automated and cost-effective as they are, provide efficient first-level support because a human employee cannot answer the whole range of customer questions round the clock. For Analysis, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the AMOS analysis programme version 23 is used in this investigation. The online questionnaire was circulated via Google forms (N-375) promoted on social media to respondents who are at least 18 years of age and have completed online transactions, selecting them using a sampling quota in the survey procedure. A novel model will be tested and compared to prior research. According to the study's findings, attitudes are significantly influenced by usefulness, usability, and trust, whereas attitudes have a major impact on decisions. However, it appears that trust has little impact on consumers' views about online purchasing. This conclusion could be yet more support for previous research that consistently claims that trust affects customer purchases. In the case of online purchasing, not only is the trust element important for customers to make a choice, but it also matters more than the attitude factor because attitude is a product of many different aspects. Significantly consumer confidence in internet retailers is the factor that most affects attitude. The quantitative investigation revealed that a deep majority of respondents were apprehensive about employing AI and online-retail (e-retail) chatbots, primarily due to concerns about their accuracy and security, but would like to seek the advice of chatbots for informative purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Consumers worldwide are increasingly ordering groceries from grocery delivery platforms (GDPs). This study aimed to explore the role of brick-and-mortar (B&M) retailers and GDPs in online grocery shopping (OGS) experience, attitude and continuous purchase intention under the platform model of online grocery retailing. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a mixed method approach. A qualitative analysis was conducted based on 30 in-depth interviews and relevant literature to identify key attributes of the OGS experience. Then, data from 352 online grocery shoppers was used to examine the associations between service attributes, attitude and continuous purchase intention using a structural equation model. Findings: The authors identified six key attributes of the OGS experience related to B&M retailers and GDPs. The quantitative study results showed that customer service, price value and instant delivery significantly impact attitude towards GDPs, while product quality, product assortment, customer service, price value and attitude toward GDPs positively impact online attitude toward B&M retailers. Online attitude toward B&M retailers significantly influences continuous purchase intention. Practical implications: B&M retailers and GDPs should strengthen cooperation and joint oversight. Originality/value: This study identified key attributes of the OGS experience associated with B&M retailers and GDPs under the platform model, giving a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between the OGS experience and behavioural intention when B&M retailers collaborate with GDPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]