Väitös geoinformatiikan alalta, James Culley, M.Sc.

Grocery retailing has undergone major changes in recent decades, which have impacted both where new outlets are located, as well as their physical characteristics. The importance of aspects such as brand loyalty, pricing and location to consumers means that it is no longer viable for retail decision makers to rely on regional statistics and analysis to draw conclusions about where and what service to provide. Instead, decisions should be taken based on localised characteristics.

This analysis looks at the reasons how the numbers, types and locations of grocery stores have changed across the Helsinki Metropolitan Area over a 30-year. The study looked at the type of consumers across the study area and whether the importance of different criteria, such as pricing and brand, varied according to the consumers’ locations.

In line with many other countries, there had been a shift from small to larger grocery stores dominating the grocery retailing landscape. These changes have not occurred evenly across areas, however, or at the same time. Using these results we defined spatial submarkets representing patterns of change of supply of grocery stores to residents.

As well as the demographics of inhabitants varying from location to location within the region, we found what they considered important to making their store choice varied greatly by location. These tools and the results can assist decision-makers in the grocery and retailing industry better understand their markets and make better, more informed decisions based upon data they hold.

Vastaväittäjänä toimii Dr. Urška Demšar, University of St.Andrewsista, Iso-Britanniasta.

Valvojana toimii professori Kirsi Virrantaus, Aalto-yliopiston rakennetun ympäristön laitokselta.

Väitöskirjan verkko-osoite: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/49 

Väittelijän yhteystiedot:
James Culley, Knight Frank
[email protected]
+442078611340

Väitöskirja on julkisesti nähtävillä Aalto-yliopiston insinööritieteiden korkeakoulun virastomestarin ilmoitustaululla (Otakaari 4).