The effect of the brick and mortar model on impulsive buying behaviour. A study on fast fashion outlets in Colombo

Abstract

" The brick and mortar retail format is known to be one of the most traditional retail formats. Therefore as time evolved retailers incorporated various strategies and elements to add value to the consumer retail experience. Therefore diverse studies have been conducted in different countries to identify the factors influencing the effectiveness of brick and mortar retail. Although there has been a growth in e-commerce platforms and social media businesses in Sri Lanka, consumers are seen to be more loyal towards brick and mortar retail over online platforms which in turn signify higher probability towards practice of impulsive buying behaviour. Therefore it was observed as necessary to conduct the following study to determine certain factors affecting impulsive buying behaviour of Sri Lankan consumers in a brick and mortar retail model. Further for the purpose of the study the researcher selected four variables based on the literature research and theoretical models. The factors selected were product assortment, store environment, customer experience and value shopping. Thereby the conceptual framework was designed and the hypotheses were deduced for the study. The research approach followed being deductive an online survey was circulated amongst a sample of two hundred and seventy respondents, whereas the structure involved the factors selected and the impulsive buying behaviour practiced in brick and mortar retail. According to the findings the consumers bear a positive attitude towards the variables studied with the exception of customer experience where consumers are neutral. Further in terms of the hypothesis analysis all four factors are significant in their relationship with impulsive buying behaviour and this relationship has been asserted in studies globally. Moreover the cumulative impact portrayed with the support of the III multiple regression analysis enables the researcher to develop a model in the form of a formula. This formula consists of product assortment, value shopping and customer experience. Most importantly based on the findings of the study recommendations and implications are made available to upcoming and existing fast fashion retailers"