Consumer logistics as a basis for segmenting retail markets

Abstract Consumer logistics (CL) refers to consumers' participation in the movement and handling of goods from the point of acquisition to the point of consumption or final disposal. Research into CL stems from the premise that the performance of logistics activities by consumers closely resembles the performance of logistics activities by businesses and from the observation that, as products travel down the distribution channel, households must eventually contribute toward making them available when and where they are needed for consumption. The reported study was undertaken with the intent of linking household CL patterns to consumers’ shopping behaviors and demographics so as to identify meaningful retail market segments. Six segments were identified using canonical correlation analysis. They were labelled ‘household captains’, ‘minimizers’, ‘extended shoppers’, ‘family supporters’, ‘flexible shoppers’, and ‘helpers’.