Retail: The Retail Environment

This project is concerned with developing a deeper understanding of the myriad of factors which influence decision-making in retailing.

The focus is on retail decision-making which influences the spatial domain, particularly the location of stores in their wider environment. The aim is to survey a series of key retailers through in-depth interviews, to gauge their needs in terms of new tools for decision-support and to sketch the basis of such tools and how existing tools can be adapted.

The project, which is funded by the EPSRC Systems Engineering Initiative, involves CASA, the Complex Systems Management Centre at Cranfield University, and Volterra Consulting.

Ian Greatbatch and Charles Boulton organised the interviews with six key retailers and finance houses - Marks and Spencer, HBOS, Sainsbury's, Boots, and Debenhams. Mike Batty and Peter Allen are working on an outline of the decision tool (see picture top right), Paul Longley liaised with the Demographic Users Group whose members were part of the interview process, and Bridget Rosewall and Paul Ormerod framed the project's perspective.

People

• Ian Greatbatch