A Comment on Patterns of Store Choice and Customer Gain/Loss Analysis

Abstract

We explore patterns of store choice and shopping be havior in the domain of women's specialty clothing stores. Based on previous research, four exploratory research propositions are examined to note patterns in customer loy alty to their "favorite" stores and the incidence of shopping at competing stores. We conduct a vulnerability analysis to note which stores have customer segments most vulnerable to marketing efforts of competitors. Our findings suggest customers in the women's specialty clothing market do not exhibit 100 percent loyalty to the favored retailer, and the share of trips to the favored retailer is generally constant among stores. The primary implications to retail managers are that they should be most concerned with increasing the customer franchise base (those naming the retailer's store as "favorite") rather than focusing on increasing the fre quency of shopping trips among those customers that com prise the current franchise base.