What affects shopper's choices of carrying devices in grocery retailing and what difference does it make? A literature review and conceptual model

Abstract

Shopping carts, dating back at least to 1936, are not only used as an aid for shoppers to increase sales but are now being further developed and tested in relation to healthy food selection. To improve retailers’ ability to discover, generate, and capture the value related to both current practice and future innovations; such as consumers using smart carts when shopping, we systematically go through the empirical literature on carrying equipment in in-store shopping. We expose how limited the literature is by revealing the scarce number of studies on the effectiveness of baskets and carts on consumer behavior and especially when classified into different research themes. The contribution is a systematic literature review and a conceptual framework covering the most important factors affecting the choice of in-store carrying equipment, as well as the consequences of these choices in terms of in-store behaviors and transactional outcomes.