Purpose: This study aims to clarify the behavioral extraction and ability of venture merchants, who actively challenge commerce in the face of harsh living environments. Research design, data and methodology: Adopting the concept of retail functions and retail skills, this study examines how venture merchants perform retail functions, and identifies the required retail skills. This study analyzed primary data obtained through an interview with a bookstore called Lunuganga. Results: The venture merchant purchases products based on his self-assertion and creates an original "store identification." Moreover, he draws a changing "own-store customers image" and acquires "own-store customers," that is, customers acquired by him by building an original store identity. He sells products to "own-store customers" who identify with the store. The retail skills identified as required by venture merchants to carry out such retail functions were "skill to draw a store identification" and "skill to draw own-store customer image." Conclusions: Venture merchants' unique retail functions and retail skills suggest a new basis for the existence of small and medium-sized retailers. It is necessary to build a generalized theoretical hypothesis model by refining the concept presented in this paper by repeating research targeting venture merchants in the same industry and different industries.

Purpose: This study aims to identify the role of technological progress in the distribution sector in Saudi Arabia. Research design, data, and methodology: The study applies the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to estimate the Cobb Douglas production function of the wholesale and retail trade sector in Saudi Arabia, relied on annual data from the General Authority for Statistics from 2005 to 2019. Results: The results show that there is a long run relationship between the production of the wholesale and retail trade sector in KSA and the factors of production labour, capital and technology progress. The elasticity of the wholesale and retail trade production with respect to capital and labour are 0.26 and 0.78 respectively; the coefficients are positive and statistically significant. The wholesale and retail trade sector is operating under increasing returns to scale. The main result indicates that the elasticity of the wholesale and retail production with respect to the technology progress is 4.62%, which is positive and statistically significant. Conclusions: The study concluded that technological progress has a positive contribution to the growth of the distribution sector in KSA. Therefore, the technological progress can improve the productivity and efficiency of the resources allocated to the dis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the economic ripple effect(ERE) of logistics industry by construction of Trans-Korea Railway (TKR) and present policy measures to minimize the economic loss of South Korea (SK). Research design, data and methodology: As the analysis method, exponential smoothing was used for demand forecasting, Input-Output analysis was used to estimate the economic ripple effect coefficient, and scenario analysis was used to an efficient way to invest in TKR to minimize SK's economic losses. Results: 1) the production(logistics fares) of TKR for 10 years after its completion is about 11.42 trillion won in positive relations, and 26.89 billion won in negative relations. 2) the ERE of SK in positive relations is 24.32 trillion won in production inducement effect, 8.1 trillion won in value-added inducement effect, 3.54 trillion won in import inducement effect, and 70,930 persons in employment inducement effect. But the ERE was insufficient in the negative relations. 3) SK's efficient investment method is providing materials and equipment by SK and building the TKR by North Korea in positive inter-Korea relations. Conclusions: For the successful operation of TKR, international cooperation, legalization and stable peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula are required.

Purpose: Retailing is a very special sector because it demonstrates the effectiveness of combined products and services to create business values. In this study, the author wants to investigate particular areas in the distribution sciences of the purchasing process in Coopmart (Saigon Coop-Vietnam), which is about sauces and seasoning. Research design, data and methodology: The data were collected by experts of Saigon coop, which first went through the Delphi method to choose criteria and sub-criteria for the Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP). Results: After a long process of calculation based on AHP, the final supplier is chosen according to experts' interview; Masan is the most potential candidate to be the main supplier of sauces and seasoning to Coop mart. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the typical methods such as quantitative analysis of this process - AHP. With the aim of increasing the computational content of the evaluation process suppliers, especially the comparison of suppliers in the same industry as AHP has shown. This enables analyses of all the providers to be more scientific. Conclusions: Thus, this paper would help the facility managers ensure objectives to the reasonable decision, which can be based on AHP to get more information, implement plans and get strategic collaboration with suppliers.

Purpose: This study aims to utilize geographic data to analyze how various retail formats of large-scale stores around the traditional market affect the performance of the traditional market in Seoul, Korea. Research design, data, and methodology: The two types of catchment areas were demarcated (circle of 1km radius and Thiessen polygon) for each traditional market, and the large-scale stores located within each catchment area were identified for 153 traditional markets in Seoul, Korea. Additionally, multiple regression analysis was utilized. Results: The results revealed that the influence on the performance of the traditional markets were different depending on the retail format of the large-scale stores. Large discount stores were found to have a negative effect on the sales and the visitors of traditional markets, whereas complex shopping malls and department stores had a positive effect on the traditional markets. Conclusions: As a result of the differences in the retail format such as product categories and leisure functions, the impact of some large-scale stores on the traditional market may have a greater agglomeration effect than the consumer churn effect. Therefore, it is suggested that in the regulation of these large-scale stores, the differences in retail format should be considered for the future.

Purpose: This paper reviews the attitudes of consumers related to the consumption crisis response strategy (i.e., defensive vs. receptive) that companies implement during crises. Research design, data, and methodology: We discuss the interaction between the crisis response strategy and the consumption crisis type (i.e., corporate ability vs. corporate social responsibility). We used SAS ver. 9.4 software to analyze the results. We applied a 2 × 2 intergroup experimental design to our sample of subjects, who were undergraduate and graduate students at a university in Seoul, South Korea. The three experimental variables considered were the entity's risk response strategy, the crisis type, and public relations strategy. The experiments were conducted by presenting a hypothetical scenario to eight groups. Prior to this experiment, five preliminary surveys were conducted to determine the three variables just mentioned. Preliminary surveys were conducted on the basis of these criteria. For eight selected product lines, 320 undergraduates were required to enter the product lines that are frequently used in the assessment center up to the fourth priority. Results: Analysis of variance revealed that experiments related to crisis response strategy, type of enterprise crisis, and type of public relations message were successful. Conclusions: Our results verify the impact of different types of social initiatives on distribution marketplaces.