COMPARING BUSINESS MODELS IN THE GROCERY RETAILING INDUSTRY: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL

The aim of this proposal is to contribute to the topic of pricing strategy in grocery retailing as a dimension of the overall business models emerging and affirmed in FMCGs. For the existing literature, pricing is a lever of the retail mix whose decisions must be consistent within the more general framework of the retail mix. In the perspective adopted here, however, pricing is a component of the broader value creation system to affect the value proposition to the consumers and the profit formula of the grocery retailer. This work pursues the following objectives: 1. provides an overview of the various scientific contributions in the literature concerning the pricing strategy and business model configurations in grocery retailing (Table 1); 2. systematises the existing literature on HILO/EDLP; 3. proposes a conceptual model (Figure 1) for the understanding and management of the strategic levers of business model in grocery retailing. This model will be used to compare business model configurations that, to date, are more recurrent in grocery retailing (HILO vs EDLP)