Retailing, Consumers, and Territory: Trends of an Incipient Circular Model

Abstract

The aim of this theoretical research is to analyze the state of retail distribution nowadays, reviewing the dynamics of action that contribute to the move from a linear to an incipient circular retail model. The framework is based on the Retail Wheel Spins Theory and the Retail Life Cycle (RLC), with an extra review of Bauman’s liquid metaphor. We consider two questions. Firstly, are offline retailers ready to disappear as online commerce and digital marketing aggressively break into the retail industry? Secondly, could commercial spaces (in the fifth stage in the evolution of retail and territory) be in the decline stage in the RLC in the near future or can a circular connection take place? Thus, a desk research methodology based on secondary documentary material and sources issued leads to an interpretive analysis that reveals ten trends (e.g., solid retail vs. liquid retail; glocal retail; food sovereignty) and a wide diversity of changes that could involve offline stores recovering territory and entering a circular phase. Our findings suggest that digitalized physical stores are flourishing and our reflections augur changes in pace and the closure of the linear business cycle to recover territory, the city, its local market, and its symbolism, as well as a liquid business steeped in omnichannel formats developing an incipient circular movement. Conclusions indicate that it is possible to perceive a timid change back to territory and retail spaces which, along with phygitalization, will coexist with the digital world.

Public Policy for Sustainability and Retail Resilience in Lisbon City Center

“…These principles kept going into land use planning, often in a more open and flexible application, aligned with the neoliberal ideas that spread in several countries. However, the meaning attributed to the 'best location' for a store had changed and is now perceived much more than a mere physical site and its accessibility, to include landscape and livability [67], in addition to symbolic connotations [68,69].…”

The transition towards circular economy and waste within accounting and accountability models: a systematic literature review and conceptual framework

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