IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jageco/v75y2024i3p981-1003.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of price and assortment of local products on store performance: An agent‐based modelling approach

Author

Listed:
  • Houtian Ge
  • Miguel I. Gómez
  • Timothy J. Richards

Abstract

Retail distribution is essential for the growth of markets for local food. While online direct‐to‐consumer and local food hubs are becoming more sophisticated, the largest market for local foods remains the traditional intermediation (retailing) sector. We develop an agent‐based model to simulate the expansion, growth and profitability of retailers offering local foods across a landscape populated by consumers and competing retailers. We design a series of experiments to examine how changes in prices and assortment that include local and non‐local options in the fresh produce category impact store market share and profitability. We validate the model, and conduct our experiments, using household fresh produce expenditures data from a retail food‐delivery business in the Mid‐Atlantic region of the US. We find that retailers offering a larger assortment of local foods are able to sustain higher basket‐average retail prices and exhibit higher long‐run profits in comparison to retailers that do not carry local options. These results underscore the importance of local foods in a food retailer's price and assortment strategy. The key implication is that retailers need to be conscious not only of the breadth but also of the quality of their assortment in their pricing strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Houtian Ge & Miguel I. Gómez & Timothy J. Richards, 2024. "The effect of price and assortment of local products on store performance: An agent‐based modelling approach," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(3), pages 981-1003, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jageco:v:75:y:2024:i:3:p:981-1003
    DOI: 10.1111/1477-9552.12612
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12612
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1477-9552.12612?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cohen, Andrew, 2008. "Package size and price discrimination in the paper towel market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 502-516, March.
    2. Giraud, Kelly L. & Bond, Craig A. & Bond, Jennifer Keeling, 2005. "Consumer Preferences for Locally Made Specialty Food Products Across Northern New England," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 34(2), pages 1-13, October.
    3. Timothy J. Richards & Stephen F. Hamilton & Miguel Gomez & Elliot Rabinovich, 2017. "Retail Intermediation and Local Foods," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(3), pages 637-659.
    4. Richards, Timothy J. & Hamilton, Stephen F. & Yonezawa, Koichi, 2018. "Retail Market Power in a Shopping Basket Model of Supermarket Competition," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 328-342.
    5. Richard A. Briesch & William R. Dillon & Edward J. Fox, 2013. "Category Positioning and Store Choice: The Role of Destination Categories," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 488-509, May.
    6. Talukdar, Debabrata & Gauri, Dinesh K. & Grewal, Dhruv, 2010. "An Empirical Analysis of the Extreme Cherry Picking Behavior of Consumers in the Frequently Purchased Goods Market," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(4), pages 336-354.
    7. Timothy J. Richards & Stephen F. Hamilton, 2006. "Rivalry in Price and Variety among Supermarket Retailers," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(3), pages 710-726.
    8. Kim Darby & Marvin T. Batte & Stan Ernst & Brian Roe, 2008. "Decomposing Local: A Conjoint Analysis of Locally Produced Foods," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(2), pages 476-486.
    9. Sharad Borle & Peter Boatwright & Joseph B. Kadane & Joseph C. Nunes & Shmueli Galit, 2005. "The Effect of Product Assortment Changes on Customer Retention," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 616-622, July.
    10. Hayden Stewart & Noel Blisard, 2008. "Who Pays More for Food?," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 150-168, February.
    11. Hubbard, Raymond, 1978. "A Review of Selected Factors Conditioning Consumer Travel Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 5(1), pages 1-21, June.
    12. Thong Meas & Wuyang Hu & Marvin T. Batte & Timothy A. Woods & Stan Ernst, 2015. "Substitutes or Complements? Consumer Preference for Local and Organic Food Attributes," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1044-1071.
    13. Ge, Houtian & Gray, Richard & Nolan, James, 2015. "Agricultural supply chain optimization and complexity: A comparison of analytic vs simulated solutions and policies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 208-220.
    14. Houtian Ge & James Nolan & Richard Gray, 2015. "Identifying Strategies to Mitigate Handling Risks in the Canadian Grain Supply Chain," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 63(1), pages 101-128, March.
    15. Matthew Gentzkow, 2007. "Valuing New Goods in a Model with Complementarity: Online Newspapers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(3), pages 713-744, June.
    16. Hao Lan & Tim Lloyd & Wyn Morgan & Paul W. Dobson, 2022. "Are food price promotions predictable? The hazard function of supermarket discounts," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 64-85, February.
    17. Inseong Song & Pradeep Chintagunta, 2003. "A Micromodel of New Product Adoption with Heterogeneous and Forward-Looking Consumers: Application to the Digital Camera Category," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 371-407, December.
    18. David R. Bell & James M. Lattin, 1998. "Shopping Behavior and Consumer Preference for Store Price Format: Why “Large Basket” Shoppers Prefer EDLP," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 66-88.
    19. Azucena Gracia & Jesús Barreiro-Hurlé & Belinda López- Galán, 2014. "Are Local and Organic Claims Complements or Substitutes? A Consumer Preferences Study for Eggs," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 49-67, January.
    20. Cleary, Rebecca & Goetz, Stephan J. & McFadden, Dawn Thilmany & Ge, Houtian, 2019. "Excess Competition among Food Hubs," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 44(01), January.
    21. Phillip Leslie, 2004. "Price Discrimination in Broadway Theater," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 35(3), pages 520-541, Autumn.
    22. Vincent R. Nijs & Marnik G. Dekimpe & Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamps & Dominique M. Hanssens, 2001. "The Category-Demand Effects of Price Promotions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 1-22, September.
    23. Venkatesh Shankar & Ruth N. Bolton, 2004. "An Empirical Analysis of Determinants of Retailer Pricing Strategy," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 28-49, May.
    24. Kwak, Kyuseop & Duvvuri, Sri Devi & Russell, Gary J., 2015. "An Analysis of Assortment Choice in Grocery Retailing," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 19-33.
    25. Giraud, Kelly L. & Bond, Craig A. & Bond, Jennifer J., 2005. "Consumer Preferences for Locally Made Specialty Food Products Across Northern New England," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 204-216, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:ags:aaea22:335857 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Zhang, Qin & Gangwar, Manish & Seetharaman, P.B., 2017. "Polygamous Store Loyalties: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 93(4), pages 477-492.
    3. Printezis, Iryna & Grebitus, Carola, 2018. "Marketing Channels for Local Food," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 161-171.
    4. Ge, Houtian & Gomez, Miguel I. & Richards, Timothy J., 2018. "Retailer Marketing Strategy and Consumer Purchase Decision for Local Food – An Agent-Based Model," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273819, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Richards, Timothy J. & Hamilton, Stephen F. & Yonezawa, Koichi, 2018. "Retail Market Power in a Shopping Basket Model of Supermarket Competition," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 328-342.
    6. Shi, Wei & Halstead, John & Huang, Ju-Chin, 2016. "Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Locally Grown Produce: Comparison of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Results," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236109, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Panchalingam, Thadchaigeni & Howard, Gregory & Allen Klaiber, H. & Roe, Brian E., 2023. "Food choice behavior of adolescents under parent-child interaction in the context of US school lunch programs," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    8. Chenyi He & Ruifeng Liu & Zhifeng Gao & Xin Zhao & Charles A. Sims & Rodolfo M. Nayga, 2021. "Does local label bias consumer taste buds and preference? Evidence of a strawberry sensory experiment," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 550-568, July.
    9. Xiao Dong & H. Allen Klaiber & Zoë Plakias, 2023. "I scream, you scream, we all scream for local ice cream: Consumer preferences for locally processed foods," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 51-64, January.
    10. Lina Wang & Elliot Rabinovich & Timothy J. Richards, 2022. "Scalability in Platforms for Local Groceries: An Examination of Indirect Network Economies," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(1), pages 318-340, January.
    11. Kopalle, Praveen & Biswas, Dipayan & Chintagunta, Pradeep K. & Fan, Jia & Pauwels, Koen & Ratchford, Brian T. & Sills, James A., 2009. "Retailer Pricing and Competitive Effects," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 56-70.
    12. Liu, Ruifeng & ,, 2021. "What We Can Learn from the Interactions of Food Traceable Attributes? a Case Study of Fuji Apple in China," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315916, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Grebitus, Carola & Lusk, Jayson L. & Nayga, Rodolfo M., 2013. "Effect of distance of transportation on willingness to pay for food," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 67-75.
    14. Carlos E. Carpio & Olga Isengildina-Massa, 2009. "Consumer willingness to pay for locally grown products: the case of South Carolina," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 412-426.
    15. Timothy J. Richards & Stephen F. Hamilton & Koichi Yonezawa, 2017. "Variety and the Cost of Search in Supermarket Retailing," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 50(3), pages 263-285, May.
    16. Marc Herz & Adamantios Diamantopoulos & Petra Riefler, 2023. "Consumers' use of ambiguous product cues: The case of “regionality” claims," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 1395-1422, July.
    17. Carroll, Kathryn A. & Bernard, John C. & Pesek, John D. Jr., 2013. "Consumer Preferences for Tomatoes: The Influence of Local, Organic, and State Program Promotions by Purchasing Venue," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(3), pages 1-18.
    18. Guyt, Jonne & Gijsbrechts, Els, 2018. "On consumer choice patterns and the net impact of feature promotions," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 490-508.
    19. Haans, A.J. & Gijsbrechts, E., 2011. "One-deal-fits-all? : On category sales promotion effectiveness in smaller versus larger supermarkets," Other publications TiSEM 2c1a69db-bdfa-4988-a84c-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Ying, Jiahui & Shonkwiler, Vanessa P. & Campbell, Benjamin L., 2018. "Willingness to Pay or Not to Pay: Valuing Foods Some Respondents Find Distasteful," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274065, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    21. Ali Goli & Pradeep K. Chintagunta, 2021. "What Happens When a Retailer Drops a Product Category? Investigating the Consequences of Ending Tobacco Sales," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(6), pages 1169-1198, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jageco:v:75:y:2024:i:3:p:981-1003. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-857X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.