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Retail Science

Point-of-sales promotions and buying stimulation in retail stores
Received (in revised form): 2nd September, 2008

Rajagopal
is Professor of Marketing at Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), Mexico City Campus and Fellow of the Royal Society for Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, London. He has been listed with biography in Who’s Who in the World, 2008 and 2009. He holds doctoral degree from Ravishankar University, India and has been conferred as National Researcher- Level-II of Mexican National System of Researchers. He teaches various topics of marketing in graduate, doctoral executive development programmes of the Institute. Dr Rajagopal held key positions in many premier management institutes in India including Administrative Staff College of India.

Keywords sales promotion, shopping arousal, buying behaviour, retailing, loyalty cards, customer satisfaction Abstract This paper analyses the drivers of compulsive buying behaviour induced by store-based promotion through an empirical investigation in Mexico. The buying behaviour in reference to the point-of-sales promotions offered by retailing firms and the determinants of sensitivity towards stimulating shopping arousal and satisfaction among customers in order to build store loyalty have been discussed in the paper. This study also builds arguments around the convergence of attractiveness of point-of-sales promotions and the effectiveness of customer services as a tool for gaining a competitive advantage in the retail business environment. The results indicate that point-of-sales promotional programmes have become the principal tool of retailing in Mexico in order to acquire new customers and retain loyal customers. We also found during the study that loyal customers are attracted to the store brands during the promotional offers while new shoppers are price sensitive and are attracted by the in-store ambience of sales promotions and volume discounts. Journal of...