Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Grocery sector'

In Angola, 96.7% of established small businesses fail. Thus, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies retail grocery store owners in Angola use to succeed beyond 5 years. The population of the study consisted of 5 retail grocery storeowners who sustained their businesses longer than 5 years in Angola. The conceptual framework for this study was the resource-based view. Face-to-face, semistructured interviews and company documentation review were used to collect data. Yin's 5-phase cycle, which includes (a) compiling, (b) disassembling, (c) reassembling, (d) interpreting, and (e) concluding, was used to find patterns, themes, and categories from the data. Member checking and methodological triangulation were used to ensure credibility. Through thematic analysis, 5 themes emerged: control and monitoring, dedication of the owner, quality staff, regular offer and quality products, and social capital. These themes reflect a common set of strategies that retail grocery storeowners in Angola use to succeed beyond 5 years. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve the performance of small businesses and reduce business failure rates and unemployment in Angola. Additionally, by sustaining their profitability, small businesses offer a basis for increasing tax revenues, contributing to economic growth of the local economy, and improving people's living standards.

Research on own brand strategy has been extensively conducted in Western countries; especially in the UK, which represents the most advanced own brand market. However, there is a paucity of studies in this arena in developing markets, including the huge market of China. More research in these countries is encouraged. Competitive Advantage theories provide a framework for analyses of own brand development. Own brand research work and the UK own brand model present the guidance for comparing and contrasting the Chinese own label model. The existing research work provides an explanation for how and why the UK own brand model can excel in the Western markets. However, it has not fully explored whether these theories, coupled with the UK own brand model, can also be applied and adapted in the non-Western markets and, specifically, in China. This thesis presents a study, which was conducted in Shanghai. It provides insight into the development of Chinese own label marketing. The investigation has been conducted using the case study and triangulation approaches. The study has focused on the following three questions: What is the definition of Chinese own brand? What are the factors related to Chinese own label emergence and existence? What is a preferred Chinese own label model? The terms of ‘own label’ over ‘own brand’ have been defined in the context of China’s market. Eight key external and internal factors leading to the Chinese own label developments are identified. A preferred Chinese own label model has been developed on the basis of the Shanghai case study. The findings have provided some simple but relevant results with analyses for the further study of developing own brand theories and models in the non-Western market. The findings have also offered some basic guidance in the arena of own label research in China. The work suggests the directions for future studies.

Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate how certified labels are being communicated through sustainable marketing within the grocery store sector. Research Question: How can the grocery store sector use sustainable marketingcommunication in order to contribute to a wider knowledge regarding sustainabilityand certified products? Method: The study is of qualitative character, with a combination of an inductive and deductive approach. The empirical data has been collected through five semi-structured interviews and one telephone interview. Result and conclusion: Sustainable marketing communication can contribute with an increased knowledge regarding sustainability when communicating and defining the term in an easy and clear way which makes it possible for anyone, no matter age or education, to understand what sustainability means. Regarding certified labels, sustainable marketing communication can contribute with an increased knowledge by creating an interest for the label in question. This can be achieved by defining the certified labels brand image by clear and accurate associations. Recommendations: The grocery stores must communicate easy messages in order for the consumers to understand what sustainability is as well as using social media as a strategic marketing tool. The certified labels need to establish accurate associations while working with transparency.

Abstract Title:  Communication of Green Marketing Strategies for Creating Consumer Awareness: A study of grocery retail sector of Sweden.  Level: Final assignment for Master Degree in Business Administration (MBA) Aim: The aim of the study is to explore the process of green marketing communication (preferred communication channels and messages) to create the customers awareness about eco-friendly products. Method: The study is done on three major grocery stores; Coop, ICA and Willys in Sweden. Triangulation, both qualitative and quantitative research, is used to achieve accurate results. Primary data is collected from interviews with respondents from companies and a customer survey. Results & Conclusions: The main findings are firstly: for grocery stores, point-of-sale and newspaper are preferred communication channels for green marketing communication. Secondly: The most suitable contents of communication messages for green marketing are health issues and environmental protection. Thirdly: Customers want to know about the process of certifying the eco-labels to eco-friendly products. Fourthly: Information function, information of eco-friendly products that is conveyed through green marketing communication to inform persuade and motivate the customers, and sustainability image (green reputation) of companies can create customer awareness. Lastly: Green marketing communication itself brings green reputation for companies. Suggestions for future research: This study is limited to advertising contents of green marketing communication. For further research, green marketing communication through personal relations, visual identification and sponsorships should be studied to create customer awareness. This study could be extended to other industries to seek more generalizable results. The results of current study indicate that ecolabels on eco-friendly products needs to be further explored. Hence, further studies can be done with regard how to make the customers aware about the process of certification of eco-labels to eco-friendly products. Contribution: This study contributes to existing literature by connecting the process of green marketing communication with customer awareness. Keywords: Green marketing communication, communication channels, communication messages, eco-labels.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018.
In the last two decades, the concept of e-commerce has been embraced and widely adopted by many enterprises across the world. Many enterprises continue to reap the benefits of ecommerce across industries and sectors. Despite the benefits, which have been widely reported, South African retail enterprises have only adopted the concept sporadically. The lack of, or slow pace of, adoption and participation in the e-commerce space by South African retail enterprises is a problem for both the enterprises themselves and individuals (consumers): retail enterprises are challenged with competitiveness at global space, and individuals are constrained and limited in their attempts to partake in transactions with retailers. This research was therefore undertaken to examine and understand the factors, from both technical and non-technical perspectives, that influence the adoption and use of e-commerce within the South African environment. Two organisations were used as cases in the study. In that human opinions and views were required, the qualitative methods and the interpretive approach were employed in the research. Actor Network Theory (ANT) was applied in the analysis of the qualitative data. Based on the findings and interpretation of the findings, a framework was developed. The framework is intended to guide how e-commerce can be adopted and used in the mainstream retail grocery sector in South Africa. The research can be of use and benefit to both business and in the academic domain, from either a practical, methodological and theoretical perspective. Practically, small and large retail enterprises in South African or other African countries with similar business cultures and settings can come to a better understanding of the e-commerce influencing factors. Methodologically, the use of ANT was vital, in the way it was used to examine the various networks, actors, relationship and interaction that happens in the process of adopting and or use of e-commerce. Theoretically, this study contributes to existing literature. Also, the study can be used as case study material in the field of information systems by institutions of higher learning.

Retail location planning in the grocery sector is used to aid location-based decision-making; addressing issues such as, store performance, store planning or for estimating demand. Location planning teams employ a range of sophisticated modelling techniques; this thesis draws on Spatial Interaction Models (SIMs). Spatiotemporal components have received limited attention in relation to retail location planning and this is addressed within this thesis. It is argued that spatiotemporal components of consumer demand fluctuate considerably within catchment areas, which has a direct impact of store sales, and that models, which have accounted for specific aspects of spatiotemporal demand result in better and more representative store revenue estimations. This thesis demonstrates the importance of spatiotemporal demand through an analysis of store level diurnal sales patterns which are related to observed consumer shopping habits, providing novel insight and improving our understanding of supply and demand-side spatiotemporal components. The insight is used to generate a series of spatiotemporal demand layers, which are used in conjunction with a (SIM) to generate spatiotemporally informed store level revenue estimations. Rare access to temporal EPOS transaction records at a store level and substantial loyalty card data provided by a major player in the UK grocery market presents novel opportunities for analysis. The data enables this thesis to generate insight into temporal fluctuations of store sales and the demand side drivers behind them, as well as, the geographies of consumer demand. The findings demonstrate evidence of distinct clusters of diurnal sales profiles in stores, which appear to be directly related to specific spatiotemporal demand types, and is used in conjunction with a SIM. The analysis shows that through adding spatiotemporal demand layers, demand estimates within catchment areas are far more representative and can lead to improved revenue estimations.

The motivation of this research emerged as a reaction to imbalances in the UK grocery retailing market. In 2012-2013, total grocery retail sales amounted to £163.2 billion (bn), of which £5.6bn (3%) was generated through the online channel. Offline sales which amounted to £157.6bn are greater than all total combined non-grocery retail sales for the same period. Notably, online grocery sales of 3.4% posted the lowest percentage compared to all other segments of non-grocery e-retailing. The problem lies with challenges associated with managing supply and distribution of e-groceries, which constitute one of the greatest barriers to grocery e-retailing. These challenges led Somerfield to close its e-operations. This further heightens the online-offline grocery imbalances as only few grocery retailers are able to sustain their online operation. Of the 24 grocery e-retailers with more than ten stores in the UK, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose (ASTW) continue to stamp their authority in the market. Studies that examined the e-operations of ASTW attribute their cutting edge practice in grocery e-retailing to an overwhelming difference in resources (stores). It is the fundamental principles such as store assets that have seen Tesco’s pioneering in-store model outperform rivals in penetrating the market. These findings more than anything, have galvanized this research interest into deeper understanding of stores and managerial capabilities from a resource-based view (RBV). The study examines the four case studies (ASTW) using a mixed method approach to reduce the methodological challenges inherent in the RBV theory. Respondents were purposively sampled and responses were elicited using semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal the value of the resources from RBV perspective, and the prominence and interdependence of chain resources in creating sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). The study developed a resource-based strategy that may minimise some of the challenges, especially the cost of supply and distribution. Although the findings provide a RBV of stores and managerial capabilities in grocery e-retailing, the extent of value is limited to access and disclosure of sensitive information. Future studies must assess SCA, in partnership with the organisation to avoid the latter limitations. It is anticipated that the findings will pave the way for future research in e-retailing through contribution to both knowledge and practice. From the perspective of knowledge contribution, the research empirically tested the robustness of RBV using mixed method in the context of the grocery sector. Meanwhile, the developed strategy is also highly valuable in practice, in that it could offer useful insights for practitioners to better improve the efficiency and resilience of their e-retailing adoption.

Grounded in an evolutionary approach to environmental sustainability, this thesis adds an understanding of the dynamics of the greening of the economy, particularly highlighting the neglected demand side aspect of the greening of markets. Since the emergence of green food markets in the 1980s and 1990s, this study investigates the role of retail groups in the development of the green food market in Denmark and Brazil. Accordingly, it investigates the rate and the direction of the greening of this process in those markets as well as the convergence and the impact of retailers\' strategizing in the grocery sector. Using the dynamic capabilities framework, it examines why, how and when the strategizing, performance and competitiveness of grocery retail groups co-evolved with the development of the Danish and Brazilian green food markets. This thesis contributes innovatively to the literature on at least three more aspects. Firstly, it advances the existing literature in adding combined qualitative and quantitative longitudinal firm-level data, which is analysed over time through a proposed set of macro (market-level), meso (sectoral-level), and micro (firm-level) dimensions\' indicators of green market analysis. Secondly, it provides the perspectives of the interviewed retail groups and market support stakeholders operating in the Danish and Brazilian green food markets. Thirdly, it provides an estimate of the green food sales in the Brazilian retail sector. Even though this thesis concludes that major retail groups in Denmark and Brazil were not the pioneers in the green food market, their collaboration with specialized organic food producers and market support stakeholders were rather central in making the green food market a viable business case. These retail groups were key players in the evolution of the green food market as they have played a vital role in scaling up the Danish and Brazilian green food markets to higher turnover levels. Furthermore, these retailers sensed the market potential for the green foods in the 1980s and 1990s, and particularly in the 2000s and onwards, and through strategizing have been able to size and transform the green food market in Brazil and Denmark. These retailers\' strategizing and related capabilities building have been key to the innovative changes in their business models, which have become markedly greener in this period due to their role in the development of the Danish and Brazilian green food markets. Finally, as Denmark is at a higher level of green food turnover than Brazil, it suggests a more mature stage of its green economy.
Seguindo uma abordagem evolucionária para sustentabilidade ambiental, esta tese agrega uma compreensão das dinâmicas de esverdeamento da economia, particularmente destacando o aspecto negligenciado da demanda no esverdeamento dos mercados. Desde o surgimento dos mercados de alimentos verdes nas décadas de 1980 and 1990, este estudo investiga o papel dos principais grupos varejistas no desenvolvimento do mercado de alimentos verdes na Dinamarca e no Brasil. Dessa maneira, a taxa e a direção do processo de esverdeamento nesses mercados são investigados, bem como a convergência e o impacto da estratégia dos varejistas no setor supermercadista. Usando o quadro de análise das capacidades dinâmicas, esta tese investiga o por que, como e quando as estratégias, performance e competitividade dos grupos de varejo co-evoluíram com o desenvolvimento dos mercados de alimentos verdes dinamarquês e brasileiro. Ainda, este estudo contribui de forma inovadora em pelo menos mais três aspectos. Em primeiro lugar, avança-se a literatura existente complementando-a com dados longitudinais qualitativos e quantitativos ao nível da empresa, que são analisados ao longo do tempo através da proposição de um conjunto de indicadores das dimensões macro (nível de mercado), meso (nível setorial) e micro (nível da empresa) para análise do mercado verde. Em segundo lugar, prove-se as perspectivas dos varejistas e stakeholders de suporte do mercado entrevistados, que atuam nos mercados de alimentos verdes dinamarquês e brasileiro. Em terceiro lugar, estima-se o volume de vendas dos alimentos verdes do setor varejista brasileiro. Embora esta tese conclua que os principais grupos varejistas na Dinamarca e no Brasil não foram os pioneiros do mercado de alimentos verdes, estes em colabolação com produtores especializados em alimentos orgânicos e stakeholders de suporte do mercado foram centrais para tornar o mercado de alimentos verdes um caso de negócios viável. Tais grupos de varejo tiveram um papel decisivo no aumento da escala do volume de negócios dos mercados de alimentos verdes dinamarquês e brasileiro. Ademais, esses varejistas sentiram o potencial do mercado de produtos alimentares verdes já nas décadas de 1980 e 1990, e particularmente da década de 2000 em diante; e conseguiram através de estratégias específicas dimensionar e transformar o mercado de alimentos verdes na Dinamarca e no Brasil. A elaboração de estratégias e a construção de capacidades específicas desses varejistas foram fundamentais para as mudanças inovadoras em seus modelos de negócios, que se tornaram claramente mais verdes neste período devido ao papel deles no desenvolvimento dos mercados de alimentos verdes dinamarquês e brasileiro. Finalmente, como a Dinamarca está em um nível mais alto do que o Brasil no consumo de alimentos verdes, isto sugere um estágio mais maduro da economia verde dinamarquesa.

Sustainability, and especially sustainable consumption, has become more important throughout the years in line with the challenges of climate change. A large majority of Swedish consumers have a positive attitude towards sustainable consumption. However, their actions do not speak louder than words. Many have the intention of buying sustainable products, but fewer actually buy sustainable products causing an attitude behaviour gap. This study aims to investigate the relation between green marketing and consumer decision making. Diving deeper into the grocery sector as well as the clothing sector the study examines the differences regarding the matter of green marketing and consumer decision-making.  With a theoretical starting point in the Theory of Planned Behaviour as well as green marketing, this quantitative study shows that green marketing has an effect on a consumer’s perceived behavioural control which in turn has an effect on the intention. However, the study also states that there is a gap between the intention of buying sustainable products, influenced by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, and the actual behaviour to buy sustainably. The study finds a moderately strong correlation between perceived behavioural control and green marketing. Further on, the study also notices a difference between the two sectors, where consumers are reached as well as affected by green marketing to a higher extent within the grocery sector than in the clothing sector.

Digitalization has forced retailers to reevaluate their business models and channel strategies. Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are no longer the standard and most of today’s retailers offer customers multiple sales channels to purchase from. The present study focusses on the grocery retail industry, which is rapidly shifting towards a more online purchasing setting. There is a need for further research regarding customer experience and customer loyalty, in an online grocery setting, with the aim to identifyimportant online attributes. Previous studies on online grocery and purchasing behavior have neglected to consider customers’ shift from the physical to the online store. Therefore, this study contributes to explain how factors of Brand Equity, Online Customer Experience (OCE) and E-loyalty affect customers’ willingness to stay with same grocery retailer while moving from offline to online. The study used a quantitative research approach by distributing a questionnaire on social media, resulting in 128 useful responds. The result demonstrated a positive relationship between the three concepts and customers’ willingness to choose the same online grocery retailer as offline. Brand was a significant factor in both offline and online. An online grocery retailer’s Website, Products, Interaction and Convenience wereshown to be important online attributes. Feeling secure with providing personal information and using acredit card online, was important. Lastly, maintaining a relationship with their online grocery retailer andfeeling emotionally satisfied after their online purchase was essential. Future research couldcomplement with other concepts that further explain grocery customers’ shift from the physical store to online.

One of the major advantages of store-based retail formats is the availability of products. The unavailability of products is a major threat for store-based retail formats as out of stock (OOS) situations are considered to be some of the most displeasing occurrences for consumers, resulting in dissatisfaction. As avoiding or recovering from OOS situations are matters of allocating limited resources (e.g. staff, money) wherever they are most effective, this work recommends actions that retailers can take to manage OOS occurrences at store-based retail formats to increase consumer satisfaction. The literature review identifies that OOS research only rarely considers the importance of a product to a consumer. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of the importance of products on consumers’ satisfaction, which, as mentioned above, is the central driver for consumer’s evaluative and behavioural consequences with respect to retailers. Experimental fieldwork was conducted in the German grocery sector, comprising 24 different research scenarios, two products (hedonic/utilitarian), three importance drivers (basic importance [need]/brand loyalty/promotion) and four different retail settings (on-shelf availability [OSA]/OOS with no recovery measure/OOS with basic recovery measure/OOS with recovery-plus measure). By comparing the results of these 24 different research scenarios, this work provides that consumer satisfaction levels correlate significantly with the importance of a product to consumers and that consumer satisfaction levels correlate significantly with consumer reactions to retailers. This study finds that the outcomes to no recovery measures and to applied recovery measures in reaction to OOS occurrences varied between the hedonic and utilitarian settings and by the level of importance of the product to consumers.

This research investigates customer loyalty and relationship marketing theories into two different commercial sectors in the UK, namely grocery retailing and telecommunication. The study is divided into two major parts. The first part examines consumer perceptions of customer loyalty schemes and explores the nature and extent of relationship development in the UK retail grocery sector. Aspects of the Interaction Approach, historically developed and confined to organisational contexts, were used as a conceptual framework for assessing the level of these relationships.

Flexibility in prices is generally assumed to be a key factor in gaining competitive advantage in sectors like the supermarket grocery stores. However, changing prices frequently is a costly exercise for retailers. The degree of price rigidity is therefore determined by this need to respond to changing market conditions as well as the inherent costs of changing prices. This tension makes the degree of price rigidity of great empirical importance to marketers and economists. To this end, this thesis empirically explores price rigidity in the supermarket grocery sector. It investigates price rigidity using observational price data over a period of 52 weeks, across 11 categories including almost one hundred SKUs, and from three different stores in a Montreal area. Price rigidity is estimated both in temporary (sales price) as well as more permanent price changes (regular price). It also investigates asymmetries in price rigidities. The general results show a surprisingly high degree of price rigidity with a higher rigidity in permanent price changes being complemented by a compensatory flexibility in sales prices. Prices remain unchanged for more than 9 weeks on the average for sales price, and more than 14 weeks on average for regular prices. We also find some evidence of asymmetric price rigidity, although limited and not statistically significant within the constraint of the limited dataset. The patterns suggest that both store and category level factors could be important sources of variation of price rigidity. This calls for more research into their respective roles.

Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão
sector da distribuição tem estado, desde a década de 1990, associado à criação de emprego em Portugal e, por sua vez, à expansão de formas flexíveis de tempos de trabalho e de vínculos contratuais. Alem disso, a organização do trabalho difere significativamente daquela que prevaleceu no comércio tradicional, aproximando-se de um modelo organizacional que se pode designar de neo-taylorista. O presente trabalho pretende analisar quais as implicações destas mudanças nas condições de trabalho. Conclui-se, a partir da análise de dados recolhidos através de um inquérito por questionário aplicado a trabalhadores de duas empresas do sector, bem como do conteúdo de entrevistas, que o sector da distribuição emprega sobretudo força de trabalho feminina e jovem. Esta encontra-se particularmente abrangida por elevados níveis de precariedade emprego, baixas remunerações, trabalho sequencial, rotineiro, de pobre conteúdo e intensivo, fracas oportunidades de qualificação técnica e de progressão profissional. Na tentativa de responder às exigências dos consumidores, mas também de aumentar os períodos de venda (facturação) e a competitividade, os hipermercados têm vindo a estender os períodos de abertura e a apostar na flexibilidade de tempo de trabalho. Verifíca-se, porém, que esta prática gera dificuldades na articulação com os restantes tempos da vida dos trabalhadores, designadamente na gestão e organização da vida familiar. Este facto assume particular relevo entre as trabalhadoras que exercem a função de operadoras de caixa, quer porque se trata da profissão mais abrangida pela flexibilidade de horários, quer porque as representações sociais tradicionais em tomo das relações de género se reflectem ainda numa divisão do trabalho doméstico e familiar assimétrica.
Since the 90's, lhe large groccry retail has bcen associated with job creation in Portugal, as well as with the expansion of flexible forms of employment and ílexible working time schedules. Additionally, the work organization in hypermarkets differs significantly from the one that prevailed in traditional retail and has become closer to the neo-taylorist organizational model. The present study intends to analyse the implications of such trends on the working conditions in hypermarkets. The main conclusions and arguments are based on data collected through a questionnaire applied to workers at two companies, as well as on the content analysis of interviews. The sector mainly employs female and young workers, and both groups are specifícally affected by precarious jobs, low wages, sequential, routine and poor content tasks, few opportunities for improving skills, as well as low expectations in what concems occupational development. In order to meet consumers' demands, extending opening hours and increase their competitiveness, hypermarkets have made use of flexible working time schedules. Such practice, however, usually causes difficulties in the articulation with worker's personal lives, namely conflicting with the management and organization of family life. This fact is particularly noticeable among those female workers who are cash-desk operators, not only because this is the occupation most affected by flexible schedules, but also due to traditional social representations underlying gender relations and the asymmetrical division of domestic and caring work within the family.
N/A

This thesis dissertation presents an analysis of the opportunities for Smart Voice Assistants in the grocery retailing industry. Consumers are facing several costs in their grocery shopping activities which SVAs might alleviate while at the same time improving the overall grocery shopping experience for consumers. Grocery retailers count as the largest industry in the world and most of us deal with grocery shopping in our daily lives. The role of intermediaries for retailers between consumers and their products might present new challenges due to the rise of Smart Voice Assistants. Thus, it is necessary to analyze consumers' attitudes towards grocery shopping, as well as analyzing SVAs and what opportunities it may provide in the context of grocery shopping. A mixed-method approach of qualitative data from industry experts and a quantitative consumer study (n=169) was used. In addition, five potential features for SVA have been identified and tested among Dutch consumers. The attitudes of consumers in this study towards grocery shopping are negative, at the same time consumers recognize the benefits of SVAs for their shopping experience, as well as the identified features. However, SVA is not perceived as a technology that would make consumers switch to retailers that use SVA.
Esta dissertação de tese apresenta e analisa as oportunidades de uso da tecnologia Smart Voice Assistant (SVAs) no processo de compra de alimentos para consumidores na Holanda. Os retalhistas alimentares representam a maior indústria do mundo, com a qual muitos de nós lida regularmente. Seu papel como intermediários entre consumidores e produtos pode apresentar novos desafios devido ao surgimento dos Assistentes de Voz Inteligente. Portanto, é necessário analisar a tomada de decisão e o comportamento de compra dos consumidores quando se trata de comprar alimentos, bem como analisar os SVAs e quais oportunidades eles podem oferecer no contexto das compras de alimentos. Um método misto de dados qualitativos adquirido por especialistas na área do retalho alimentar e por consumidores (n = 169), onde cinco características potenciais para SVA foram identificadas e testadas entre consumidores holandeses. Os consumidores estão enfrentando custos em suas atividades de compra de alimentos em que os SVAs podem aliviar e melhorar a experiência geral de compra de alimentos. Poder fazer a sua lista de compras com o control de voz é percebido como o SVAs que maior impacto tem na experiência de compra dos consumidores. As atitudes dos consumidores neste estudo em relação à compra de alimentos são negativas, ao mesmo tempo que os consumidores reconhecem os benefícios dos SVAs para sua experiência de compra, bem como as características identificadas. No entanto, o SVA não é percebido como uma tecnologia que faria os consumidores migrarem para varejistas que usam o SVA.

Institute for Rural Development
PhDRDV
Studies conducted in some parts of the world have highlighted the fact that Asian-owned small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) always thrive better than those that other racial groups own. For example, a Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study revealed that in South Africa, Blacks owned few businesses and rarely took advantage of the entrepreneurial opportunities available to them even though there are policies that underpin the promotion of SMME. The aim of this study was to compare the determinants of performance of Asian and Black-owned small supermarkets in Thulamela Local Municipality. Specific objectives of the study were to: (1) assess the indicators of performance of small supermarkets; (2) compare the performance factors of Asian- and Black-owned small supermarkets; and (3) suggest intervention strategies to improve the performance of the small supermarkets. A cross-sectional study underpinned by a mixed methods approach and techniques was applied in two sequentially integrated phases. The first phase was qualitative in nature and participants were officials from the Local Economic Development units in Thulamela Local and Vhembe District Municipalities, representatives of Associations of Business Owners, Blacks (Venda and Shangaan speaking) small supermarket owners and Asian (Indians/Pakistanis and Chinese) small supermarket owners. Snowball sampling was used to select interviewees. Data was analysed using the Atlas- ti.7.0.81 software. The second phase was quantitative in nature. Small supermarket owners who were involved during qualitative phase also participated in phase two. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) ver 24.0 for windows. Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to establish if there were differences in the perceptions of participants due to race, gender and geographic location. The indicators of success commonly mentioned were number of employees, profit, survival of the business over a long period, and stock or inventory and growths. Asian-owned small supermarkets were performing better because they used more effective and efficient purchasing plus supply systems. Their collectivist culture and networking abilities made them realise higher levels of efficiency when purchasing goods compared to the Black entrepreneurs. Black-owned small supermarkets were performing poorly because of their weak entrepreneurship culture, human capital and business ties. Unfair competition from spaza shops negatively affected their performance. Other factors hindering the performance of the latter were crime and rigid labour laws. In small supermarkets owned by Asians, shoplifting and burglaries were monitored using surveillance cameras during the day. Security companies were deployed during night hours. iii Regarding perception of motivation to start a business, there were significant differences due to race of small supermarket owners and location or area of operation (P < 0.05). Significant differences in perception (P < 0.05) among the races and due to gender and location were attributed to the culture of business owners. Effects of social capital on performance of small supermarkets were reported (P < 0.01). Based on the findings of this study, small supermarket owners should strengthen their human capital through participating in training programmes, especially on supply chain management, marketing and financing. The need for creating networks that help to access information needed to take advantage of the support from the state institutions and the non-governmental sector was evident. Thus, it was concluded that improved performance of small supermarkets could be realised through strengthening human capital, joint purchasing, establishing effective networks and diversifying business activities.