Leisure Shopping (Marketing, Retail Management, Tourism)

When assessing the expansion of the tourist, management, and retail industries

Leisure shopping is seen as a crucial component of tourism development. The necessity to identify the product mix that is highly sold under leisure shopping in the tourism and other sectors is brought on by recent measures to develop and promote shopping in these sectors (LeHew & Wesley, 2007). However, competition between various settings affects how frequently things are sold during leisurely shopping. The majority of tourists and travelers favor shopping as a pastime. Previous studies exploring the level of satisfaction of resident shoppers and tourist shoppers revealed that tourist shoppers always have the intentions to spend more on leisure shopping compared to resident shoppers (Turner & Reisinger, 2001). Although shopping centers and retail industry always put more emphasis on revenue generation through leisure shopping, less evidence is provided on the rating of products regarding shoppers preference (Turley & Milliman, 2000).

According to Turner and Reisinger (2001), crafts and arts are leading on the list of best-selling products in this industry

However, such results have not been consistent over the past years. Different countries have different products that are most purchased under leisure shopping activities. Depending on a country’s history, the bestselling products tend to be associated with the cultural heritage or uniqueness in their prehistory (Turner & Reisinger, 2001). This paper tries to find out the bestselling products examine the bestselling products among arts, crafts, and specialist foods and beverages in tourism and specialist retail. Moreover, it investigates whether shopping experience and leisure shopping activities differ by countries. To answer the research questions, information from the previous literature will be reviewed. In addition, surveys will be conducted in major specialists’ retail shops and tourist destination points. Shop owners and clients’ opinions will be sought regarding leisure shopping.

Research Questions

What is the best selling product among arts, crafts, and specialist food and beverage in tourism specialist retail?

Do shopping experience and leisure shopping activities differ by countries?

Literature Review

The literature review sections explore findings from previous studies. In addition, tries to analyze the problem to gain more insights based on existing theories and empirical evidence. Shopping forms an important part of trips for most local travelers and international tourist. In fact, for many travelers, trips are not considered complete without having some leisure shopping. It is estimated that around thirty-four percent of trips by tourists usually include leisure shopping as an activity (Murphy, Moscardo, Benckendorff & Pearce, 2008).

Towns and urban centers across the world have currently turned into specialist retail

Thereby pursuing strategies that can boost tourist-shopping activities (Swanson & Horridge, 2006). Such moves have not only improved tourist activities regarding positive tourists and travelers’ experience but have also improved the growth of local businesses in the travel destinations. Moreover, other factors like service convenience, physical characteristics of the shopping centers, and intentions of spending on the items determine the type of items that tourists will purchase during leisure shopping. According to Yüksel (2007), individual preferences and shopping orientations may affect the products that tourist may want to purchase during trips.

Leisure shopping is linked to the shopping experience and individual satisfaction with the local products

During leisure shopping, the majority of tourists make their purchase decisions based on their prior shopping experience (Murphy, Moscardo, Benckendorff & Pearce, 2008). They are attracted to well-designed products and high-quality products. In addition, they have a feeling that purchasing items from well-known manufacturers will boost their shopping experience. Although prior research on the topic does not give a clear evidence on the bestselling products under leisure shopping, arts and crafts, specialist food, and beverage have been considered the leading items (Yüksel & Yüksel, 2007). Moreover, they look for unique products that they cannot easily find back at home but only available in their destinations. It is believed that the unique quality of these items improves their positive tourism experiences since they act as a memory of the trips (Machleit, Meyer & Eroglu, 2005). One greatest challenge for most marketers and sellers is to come up with strategies that may increase the number of tourists and travelers buying the products.

Study Variables

Tourists shopping experience- An individual’s shopping experience is considered one of the important factors that influence their decision on shopping for some given items during travel, trips, any tourism activity. Information on this variable will be obtained by asking the respondents to indicate their intended reasons for carrying out leisure shopping and the products they prefer. In addition, other information like frequency of visits will also be collected.

Customer satisfaction- The satisfaction of the tourists with the local businesses and the items they sell influence their choices of carrying out leisure shopping during trips. Moreover, other factors like service convenience, physical characteristics of the shopping centers, and intentions of spending on the items influence the type of items that tourists will purchase during leisure shopping. In measuring customer satisfaction, respondents will be given questionnaires with responses such as satisfied, dissatisfied, and undecided to get their satisfaction level with their products and their providers.

References

LeHew, M. L., & Wesley, S. C. (2007). Tourist shoppers’ satisfaction with regional shopping mall experiences. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1(1), 82-96.

Machleit, K.A., Meyer, T., & Eroglu, S.A. (2005). Evaluating the nature of hassles and uplifts in the retail shopping context. Journal of Business Research, 58(6), 655-663.

Murphy, L.E., G. Moscardo, P. Benckendorff and P. Pearce (2008). Tourist Shopping Villages: Exploring Success and Failure. In A. Woodside and D. Martin (Eds) Tourism Management: Analysis, behaviour and strategy (pp. 405-423). Wallingford: CABI.

Swanson, K. K., & Horridge, P. E. (2006). Travel motivations as souvenir purchase indicators. Tourism management, 27(4), 671-683.

Turley, L.W. and Milliman, R. (2000) Atmospheric effects on shopping behaviour: A review of the experimental evidence. Journal of Business Research 49 (2), 193-211.

Turner, L. W., & Reisinger, Y. (2001). Shopping satisfaction for domestic tourists. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 8(1), 15-27.

Yüksel, A. (2007). Tourist shopping habitat: Effects on emotions, shopping value and behaviours. Tourism management, 28(1), 58-69.

Yüksel, A., & Yüksel, F. (2007). Shopping risk perceptions: Effects on tourists’ emotions, satisfaction and expressed loyalty intentions. Tourism management, 28(3), 703-713.