Search Results (9)

Nanostores—micro, independent grocery retailers—are often defined overlooking their socioeconomic roles and relational significance in favour of their primary functional aspects. To close this gap, this study adopts a systemic perspective to examine how multiple stakeholders (owners, customers, and suppliers) shape nanostore identity. Accordingly, this study proposes a framework of X-Y-Z identity statements, along with the use of the TASCOI tool, to examine nanostore descriptions and map their roles, expectations, and transformation processes. This systemic framework, rooted in management cybernetics, enabled the collection and analysis of 168 survey responses from 34 stores in Mexico City. The results show that nanostore identities are varied and context-dependent, operating as grocery stores, family projects, community anchors, economic lifelines, and competitors. This diversity influences stakeholder engagement, resource utilisation, and operational decisions. Overall, this study provides a transferable framework for analysing micro-business identity and transformation, with implications for problem-solving, decision-making, and policy development. Future research should address the current limitations of this study, including its geographical cross-sectional design, limited sampling method, reliance on self-reported perceptions, and lack of generalisability to other populations. Future work will involve exploring other urban contexts, utilising longitudinal data, expanding the sample, and adopting a participatory research approach to gain a deeper understanding of identity dynamics and their implications for nanostore resilience and survivability. Full article

Background: Access to healthy food in emerging-economy cities is challenged by last-mile constraints and poor infrastructure. Aligned with the UN SDGs on Zero Hunger and Sustainable Cities, this study examines how a strategically located nanostores network can help close these gaps while fostering local resilience. Focusing on Colombia’s Sabana Centro region, we designed a nanostore network that maximizes spatial coverage, proximity, and affordability. Methods: A competitive facility-location model combined with a discrete choice model captures consumer heterogeneity in price and location preferences. Results: Results show that locating nanostores in peripheral rather than central areas improves equity: the proposed network meets about 65,400 kg of weekly demand—51% fruit, 36% vegetables, 13% tubers—representing 16% of total regional demand and reaching underserved municipalities. This is notable given that existing nanostores already satisfy roughly 37% of household needs. Conclusions: By linking consumer behavior with sustainable spatial planning, the research offers both theoretical insight and practical tools for equitable distribution. Future work should evaluate supportive policies and supply chain innovations to secure nanostores’ long-term viability and community impact. Full article

This study examines the identity of nanostores—micro, independent grocery retailers—through a systemic, stakeholder-informed lens to promote their survivability and competitiveness. Moving beyond traditional operational descriptions, it introduces a multidimensional framework that examines what nanostores do (X), how they do it (Y), and why they matter (Z), which is complemented by the use of the TASCOI tool to produce identity statements. Based on survey data collection and a thematic analysis of nanostore stakeholder responses in Mexico City, the research categorises identity statements into six 2 × 2 matrices across four dimensions: operational, functional, relational, and adaptive. This analysis yields twenty-four archetypes that capture the diversity, complexity, and adaptability of nanostores. The findings reveal that nanostores are not a homogeneous category. They simultaneously exhibit characteristics of multiple archetypes, blending retail function, social embeddedness, and entrepreneurial adaptation. This study contributes to the nanostore and micro-enterprise literature by operationalising identity description and offers practical insights for supporting diverse shop types through context-sensitive policy and business strategies. While this study ensures internal validity and reliability through systematic coding and stakeholder feedback, it acknowledges limitations in its generalisability. Future research may build on this work through comparative studies, longitudinal tracking, and direct engagement with nanostore owners and their communities to further understand the dynamics of their identity and their resilience in evolving retail landscapes. Full article

The emergence of the new retail model of community group buying (CGB) has brought a significant impact on the traditional retail of community nanostores while community nanostores, as the leaders of the community, have the natural advantage of becoming the pick-up points of the CGB platform. Therefore, as the two core formats in the new community retail ecosystem, the CGB platform and community nanostore exhibit both competitive and complementary characteristics. Aiming at the community retail market composed of the CGB platform and the community nanostore, this study constructed a Hotelling game model to portray the competition and cooperation between these two channels and explored the impacts of different operational strategies on the equilibrium decisions and optimal profits of community retail market participants through comparative analysis. The research revealed that when retailers adopt the non-cooperation strategy, the community nanostore will occupy a larger market share, and the spillover effect between channels brought by the cooperation strategy is the main factor influencing retailers’ operation strategy. In addition, the type of pick-up point operated by the community nanostore will also affect the cooperation willingness of the CGB platform. Full article

This exploratory study investigates Generative Artificial Intelligence’s (GenAI) use in strategy ideation for nanostores—i.e., small independent grocery retailers—to enhance their competitiveness while contributing to community sustainability. Nanostores, particularly in emerging countries, face intense competition and rapidly changing trends. These stores adopt various strategies by leveraging their proximity to consumers in neighbourhoods, resulting in different business configurations. While the existing literature highlights the broader nanostores’ functions, there is limited research on how they may develop comprehensive strategies to face their challenges. By employing a thing ethnography methodology, this work proposes GenAI thing interviewing—i.e., with ChatGPT 3.5 and Microsoft Copilot—through incremental prompting to explore potential strategy ideation and practices. Key findings suggest GenAI conversations can aid shopkeepers in strategy ideation through human-like written language, aligning with small business dynamics and structures. This proposition results in a GenAI ideation framework for strategy generation and definition. Moreover, this technology can enhance nanostore competitiveness and sustainability impact by enacting improved strategy practices in stakeholder engagements. Accordingly, this work’s main contribution underscores a GenAI-enabled conversational approach to facilitate nanostores’ strategy ideation and embedding in everyday business operations. Future work must address the limitations and further investigate GenAI’s influence on human understanding and technological creation, strategy ideation, adoption, and usability in nanostores. Full article

Packaging plays an important role in the movement and distribution of products along the supply chain by safely ensuring proper product delivery, achieving economies of scale through standardization, and serving as a selling tool. Packaging presents associated high economic and environmental costs for transportation, picking, handling, storing, and returning products. Considering the high demand for paper and cardboard worldwide and the projected increase during the next decade, there is a latent need to prevent and reduce the possible waste from packaging. The return of cardboard boxes used for packaging to the product suppliers could be a feasible solution to tackle this issue; however, it seems to be a disposable cost that companies assume when delivering products to highly fragmented markets. This research intends to understand the role that nanostores play in affecting whether or not cardboard packages are returned after receiving the products from suppliers and how likely shopkeepers are to support closing the loops in the current supply chain system. A survey with 27 questions related to recycling, reusing, reselling, returning, and waste was designed and applied to three hundred thirty-seven shopkeepers in two stages. The data was analyzed through plot analysis and descriptive statistical methods. The results show that some dynamic drivers and intervention schemes may increase the current returnability rate of packaging (11%) to the level of reuse rates (75% in these small, family-owned retailers). We found that thicker cardboard packages foster reuse and recycling rates. Based on the results, we propose that startups close the gap to trigger returnability and recycling while the government develops regulations to support these initiatives. Full article

This paper aims to improve understanding of the grocery retail landscape in a megacity in the developing world. Over the past ten years (i.e., 2010–2020), retail in the grocery sector in Mexico City has changed significantly. The fast growth of chain convenience stores (CCS) and the financial stability of modern channel stores (MCS) has provoked speculation about whether nanostores (i.e., mom-and-pop stores) are going to disappear or if they will endure. In developing countries nanostores dominate the grocery retail market, providing a source of income to millions of families. While some studies suggest that nanostores will keep growing in number because they are more likely to be attached to growing middle- and low-income consumers in developing countries, our results show that high- and medium–high-income consumers purchase at nanostores too. Through a comprehensive spatial statistical analysis, we provide evidence that nanostores will endure and, most importantly, coexist with MCS and CCS regardless of the socioeconomic levels that coexist in the urban areas of a developing megacity. To gain a thorough understanding of how the grocery retail market is organized in Mexico City, and provide a richer discussion on the logistics and managerial implications for stakeholders (e.g., customers, practitioners, shopkeepers, suppliers, and policymakers), we also validate hypotheses from the literature related to this context and the three channels studied in this work. Full article

Last-mile operations in forward and reverse logistics are responsible for a large part of the costs, emissions, and times in supply chains. These operations have increased due to the growth of electronic commerce and direct-to-consumer strategies. We propose a novel data- and model-driven framework to support decision making for urban distribution. The methodology is composed of diverse, hybrid, and complementary techniques integrated by a decision support system. This approach focuses on key elements of megacities such as socio-demographic diversity, portfolio mix, logistics fragmentation, high congestion factors, and dense commercial areas. The methodological framework will allow decision makers to create early warning systems and, with the implementation of optimization, machine learning, and simulation models together, make the best utilization of resources. The advantages of the system include flexibility in decision making, social welfare, increased productivity, and reductions in cost and environmental impacts. A real-world illustrative example is presented under conditions in one of the most congested cities: the megacity of Bogota, Colombia. Data come from a retail organization operating in the city. A network of stakeholders is analyzed to understand the complex urban distribution. The execution of the methodology was capable of solving a complex problem reducing the number of vehicles utilized, increasing the resource capacity utilization, and reducing the cost of operations of the fleet, meeting all constraints. These constraints included the window of operations and accomplishing the total number of deliveries. Furthermore, the methodology could accomplish the learning function using deep reinforcement learning in reasonable computational times. This preliminary analysis shows the potential benefits, especially in understudied metropolitan areas from emerging markets, supporting a more effective delivery process, and encouraging proactive, dynamic decision making during the execution stage. Full article

Last mile deliveries in urban areas cause a disproportionate unsustainable impact, while it is also the most expensive part of the supply chain. This is particularly true for freight flows that are characterized by fragmentation. Logistically, this becomes apparent in vehicles that are driving around with a low vehicle fill rate, leading to the unnecessary presence of freight vehicles in our cities. This study focuses on the operational feasibility of utilizing the spare transportation capacity of a service-driven company as a potential solution to supply small independent retailers, or nanostores. The aim is to reduce inefficient vehicle movement. Based on a real-life implementation, we use SYnchronization Model for Belgian Inland Transport (SYMBIT), an agent-based model, to simulate various bundling scenarios. Results show the total vehicle kilometers and lead times to supply nanostores for the service-driven company to serve its customers. There is a potential to utilize spare capacity to supply nanostores while maintaining a decent service level. The number of vehicle kilometers driven highly depends on the location of the distribution center where the service-driven company operates. Based on these results, the conditions that have to be met to replicate this solution in other urban areas are discussed. Full article