Should our established models of retailing change be revised?

抄録

Conceptual models, such as the wheel of retailing and others, have been important in framing many studies of retail history and change. Common to all these models have been two assumptions - sometimes explicit but always implicit. The assumptions are, first, that the dominant retail format is a ‘shop’ of some type, and secondly, space and place are fundamental factors for retailer strategy and management. Significant changes in society linked to new technologies have had a profound influence on consumers, retailing and retailers such that the ‘shop’ is less dominant and the power of space and place in retailing are diminished. The short paper seeks to open discussion on what these changes mean for the long established conceptual models of retail change. Do these models remain valuable as a frame for understanding current changes in retailing, or are new conceptual models required for exploring change in a world of a-spatial and digitally constructed retailing?