Opportunities and Drawbacks of Extended Opening Hours versus Online Shopping in the German Food Trade: On the Basis of a Consumer Behaviour Analysis

Diplomarbeit, die am 04.10.2003 erfolgreich an einer Fachhochschule in Deutschland im Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaften eingereicht wurde. Abstract: This report analyses whether the German market is ripe for online grocery shopping or whether German food retailers should continue fighting for their right to extend the opening hours. The research question of this project is: Opportunities and drawbacks of extended opening hours versus online shopping in the German food trade on the basis of a consumer behaviour analysis Both secondary and primary data have been collected. Secondary data has been essential in providing background information for this project. The literature mainly gives information about research methods, concepts of market analysis and consumer behaviour, the German market and e-business. Primary quantitative data has been collected implementing the concept of judgement sampling to give indications of trends and attitudes in the German population. 152 German supermarket customers have been interviewed face to face. In addition primary qualitative research has been undertaken with the help of four in-depth interviews with experts from the supermarket industry. Table of Contents: 1.|Introduction|6 1.1|Objectives|8 2.|Research Methodology|10 2.1|Primary Data|10 2.2|Secondary Data|11 3.|Scenario Analysis|12 4.|The German Market|15 4.1|The German Law of Opening Hours|15 4.2|Definitions|16 4.3|Extension of Opening Hours|17 4.4|Porter's Five Forces Analysis|19 4.4.1|Threat of Entry|19 4.4.2|Bargaining Power of Suppliers|20 4.4.3|Bargaining Power of Buyers|20 4.4.4|Threat of Substitutes|21 4.4.5|Rivalry among Participants|21 4.5|SWOT Analysis of German Market for E-grocers|22 4.5.1|Strengths|22 4.5.2|Weaknesses|24 4.5.3|Opportunities|26 4.5.4|Threats|27 5.|Online Issues|28 5.1|General Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Shopping|28 5.1.1|Benefits of e-commerce|28 5.1.2|Problems of e-commerce|28 5.2