Shopping Hours and Price Competition with Loyal Consumers

Abstract

We study a retail market where firms compete in shopping hours and prices, and consumers have night-time or day-time preferences. In contrast to the existing literature, we introduce a market expansion effect of extending shopping hours by adding a segment of consumers (the loyal consumers) whose demand is increased if shopping hours are extended. We find that prices can increase due to shopping hours deregulation so that some consumers are worse off with deregulation. We also find that the extent of the price increase depends on the competitiveness of the retail industry.

Service Customer Loyalty: An Evaluation Based on Loyalty Factors

“…), and it is therefore considered to have a neutral effect on loyalty. The length of working hours is one of the most important factors for service customers when choosing a specific service provider [56]. As it is more convenient for the customer to use the service at the time that is more acceptable to them, a service provider with unlimited working hours is valued more.…”