小売業態の社会化プロセス

1 はじめに : 小売業を取り巻く環境は厳しく、百貨店、GMSといった業態が伸び悩む一方で、専門量販店が成長する等、業態間の「盛衰」も顕著になりつつある(田村、2008)。こうした業態の盛妻は、社会経済的変化に伴う消費者ニーズの変化、それに対応したメーカーや小売業の側での新製品開発や新しい小売業態の開発競争の結果として、消費者が商品を購入する販路が変化したことを意味している。こうした顧客の争奪戦の結果として、同一業態のみならず、異業態間での競争に直面した小売企業は、あらためて自社の「業態」(厳密にいえば、フォーミュラー)の強みは何かを再考しなければならない状況にある。……
Retail competition has intensified in recent years. Department stores and general merchandise stores (GMS) have experienced a decrease in sales, while specialty retailers have enjoyed increased sales. The differing retail formats, in which products, price and ancilliary services for each target consumer group are different, have caused the rise and fall' among them. In this competitive process, some retailers have developed a new retail format, while others have attempted to change their existing format by extending product lines beyond the traditional 'border' of dealings. Regarding food, for instance, it has been considered that processed foods and beverages are sold in traditional supermarkets and GMS, as well as convenience stores (CVS) and discount stores. However, they are also sold in drug stores and home centres. Although drug stores and home centres were previously thought to be non-food retailers, they have recently begun to extend their product lines to include items such as processed foods, beverages, confectionary, and so on. This paper aims to clarify how and why retailers transform their retail format, and from the opposite perspective, how consumers recognize and accept the new retail formats that they were not previously familiar with. Traditionally, a discussion on retail format focuses on describing, in hindsight, the format that has already been formed. However, in order to differentiate themselves from other competitors, retailers are presently facing the problem of how to transform their retail format. Therefore, it is increasingly important to analyse the process under transformation.