Why Do Czech Customers Come to Upper Palatinate? Motives, Sales Volume, and the Importance of Distance: A Case Study of Shopping in Bavaria
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper aims at investigating the cross-border shopping behavior and potential of Czech customers. Here some suggestions: line 45-47: can you provide statistic data? all over the world is it possible to detect this trend or more in specific country? provide data line 48-52: can you provide some example? section 2: is it a study that works only for the European context? table 1: it would be interesting to understand which kind of qualitative or quantitative analysis have been used line 153: explain how the spatial analysis has been carried on conclusions: it would be interesting to relate this paper to the current situation we are living, how this trend will change, how to support it. Moreover it would be interesting as future perspective to consider agent based model in order to predict future behaviour. Moreover why not describe the real estate maerket value in that context. I suggest you to consider this contribution: Sdino, L., Zorzi, F., Rosasco, P., & Magoni, S. (2017). The Mass Appraisal Tool: Application of a Pluri-Parametric Model for the Appraisal of Real Properties. In Appraisal: From Theory to Practice (pp. 39-52). Springer, Cham.Author Response
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Comment-based article modifications
We would like to thank you for your valuable and positive feedback on our article. Based on your comments and those of the other reviewer, the article was amended and proofread by a native English speaker. We hope that you will be pleased with the result.
The paper aims at investigating the cross-border shopping behavior and potential of Czech customers. Here some suggestions:
line 45-47: can you provide statistic data? all over the world is it possible to detect this trend or more in specific country?
The cited study presents the results of two qualitative surveys; the first phase (2013) included 18 respondents, the second phase 10 respondents. The specific results are related to the Dutch-German cross-border region. However, the authors point out the increasing significance of cross-border tourism and mobility from the research perspective. (For more details, the full-text version is available here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616688.2016.1233289?scroll=top&needAccess=true)
provide data line 48-52: can you provide some example?
The evaluation in Prof. Hampl's study from 2000 was expanded in the article by the current development in the Czech-German border region. It is a topic that is intensively dealt with particularly by the University of West Bohemia as well as Czech and German chambers of commerce in collaboration with German companies (Note: their Science&Industry Platform was established in 2019). This development will also be the subject of further, follow-up research by these institutions. Examples of current developments in the region have also been provided.
section 2: is it a study that works only for the European context?
In this context - due to transfer reasons – we focus only on European cross-border practice studies.
table 1: it would be interesting to understand which kind of qualitative or quantitative analysis have been used
Qualitative analysis (expert panels) and descriptive analysis (descriptive statistics) - no test statistics or models.
line 153: explain how the spatial analysis has been carried on conclusions: it would be interesting to relate this paper to the current situation we are living, how this trend will change, how to support it. Moreover it would be interesting as future perspective to consider agent based model in order to predict future behavior.
A paragraph about the current situation related to the coronavirus pandemic and its implications for the area of study was added.
Generally, the income situation on the Bohemian side will continue to improve due to the positive economic and employment development (Czech Statistics). More Czech customers will be able to benefit from the “good offer quality“ (figure 3) as rising income implies rising frequency of cross-border shopping visits (Table 10). Thus, the Czech consumer potential is not only sustainable, but should be stepped up by German retailers due to the rising purchasing power. Nevertheless, the closure of the border in the corona pandemic strikes retailers in the border region on both sides the hardest. On the Bavarian side, grocery stores are affected first as the main target group, Czech customers, are mainly not allowed to leave their country. It remains to be seen how this development will change cross-border shopping activities in the long term not only from an administrative or political, but also from an individual perspective, which we tried to quantify by the indicators analyzed within the outlined logit model. It will be very interesting to conduct this study again in approx. 1–2 years in order to identify and ascertain how major an impact the current coronavirus pandemic will have had on shopping tourism in cross-border regions, and not only at the Czech-German border. We will continue to work on this topic.
Moreover why not describe the real estate market value in that context. I suggest you to consider this contribution: Sdino, L., Zorzi, F., Rosasco, P., & Magoni, S. (2017). The Mass Appraisal Tool: Application of a Pluri-Parametric Model for the Appraisal of Real Properties. In Appraisal: From Theory to Practice (pp. 39-52). Springer, Cham.
Thank you very much for recommending a very interesting publication. The real-estate market has its own specifics and is subject to completely different general conditions on either side of the border, and in this case it was not related to the subject of our research. However, this publication will be of greater relevance to our earlier research of cross-border regions that focused on the labor market, university studies and tourism, and the suggested resource will be mentioned in the respective research papers on this earlier research.
The article was proofread by Simon O'Flynn, a native English speaker.
Once again, thank you for your comments, which helped us improve the quality of our article.
Team of authors
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The literature review of the paper is not enough. The authors should add separate literature review section and in this section add state of the art analysis about previous research on the topic and the research gap.
The authors should add the aim of the paper.
In conclusion, it would be good to write about the limitation of the study.
Author Response
Comment-based article modifications
We would like to thank you for your valuable feedback on our article. Based on your comments and those of the other reviewer, the article was amended and proofread by a native English speaker. We believe that the resulting outcome will be satisfactory and meet your expectations.
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The literature review of the paper is not enough. The authors should add separate literature review section and in this section add state of the art analysis about previous research on the topic and the research gap.
We have reworked the article structure. In the Introduction, we clearly stated the aim of the article and provided the reader with brief background information on the topic that the article and the entire research deals with. Subsequently, we included a detailed literature review of the available cross-border research studies from other regions, on which we follow up with our research, providing justification for it, as there is an obvious research gap. It will be very interesting to conduct this study again in approx. 1–2 years in order to identify and ascertain how major an impact the current coronavirus pandemic will have had on shopping tourism in the cross-border regions, and not only at the Czech-German border. We will continue to work on this topic.
The authors should add the aim of the paper.
The aim of the paper has been clearly defined and added to the article's Introduction.
In conclusion, it would be good to write about the limitation of the study.
Apart from the separate subsection, the research limitations were also included in the Conclusion.
Once again, thank you for your comments, which helped us improve the quality of our article.
Team of authors
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Authors included my remarks.
