Determinant factors affecting the point of purchase selection: Valuation and perceptions

During the last years, the retail sector in Spain has undergone many transformations which have been mainly noted by the introduction of the private label which represents more than the 30% of the total food brands market share. The main purpose of the present thesis is to assess the determinant factors for consumers’ selection of a particular food grocery store. Data were obtained through a face to face survey of 420 consumers responsible of food purchase and currently living in Barcelona province. First, we explore why and where consumers in Barcelona decide to purchase their food basket using two different Focus Groups. Second, we identify the determinant factors that can affect consumers’ while choosing a point of purchase (POP) and focusing on a proposed decision making structure using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Third, we carried out a comparative valuation of the POP competitors and we worked out on positioning the major retailers in terms of the most important attributes using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method (AHP). Our results show that the convenience in term of time and closeness is the most important factor in deciding where to purchase food. In the same context, this factor also stimulates POPs confidence and promotions valuation and indirectly affects quality perception. Both quality perception and POP confidence have been noticed to be key elements for the valuation process for choosing a POP, being more important the former aspect. Regarding the POP valuation, results show that the most important attribute is the price followed by the product availability, localization, private label, and promotions. Finally, three clusters were identified according to the attributes relative importance. The first class looks for welfare and enjoyment in the purchasing process. The second segment seek for economize his purchase and the third group focus in saving time.