Decision making of retail buyers: perspectives from China and India

Purpose - Buying decisions are often viewed as random and therefore not generalizable. Additionally, retail buying is typically conducted by individuals and is impacted by cultural considerations. The aim of this paper is to identify critical incidents from China and India, and use theoretical concepts from buyer-supplier literature to explain the outcome success or failure. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses the critical incident technique to capture retail buying decisions that resulted in either successful or unsuccessful outcomes. The authors analyze and match each critical incident with theoretical evidence to explain the result. Findings - A total of ten critical incidents were described by ten senior retail-buying executives in China and India. Critical incidents were classified under four retailing categories: assortment planning, product promotion, sourcing issues, and supply chain issues, and analyzed under four theoretical themes: opportunism, trust, long-term orientation and power-dependence. Practical implications - Organized retailing is a new phenomenon in China and India. This study bears implications for the training of future retail buyers in both emerging economies, and emphasizes the integration of scientific, modern methods of decision-making with the cultural values of the local country. Originality/value - This study is unique because it relies on the voice of the retail buyer to explain real-world decision making with theoretical evidence from buyer-supplier literature. Methodologically, this paper is unique as it reports on the first study using critical incident interview techniques to study professional retail-buying practices.