Which product category has the largest effect on consumers’ retail store choices? lead product approach

The presence of a large number of actors in the retail sector in recent years has led to intense competition. For this reason, it is increasingly important to determine the factors that affect retailer store preferences of consumers. In this direction, it is seen that a lot of studies have been done in the field of marketing. It has been generally focused that in these studies, low price, distance / location, store atmosphere and image, product variety and quality. These studies, however, have not revealed how the products consumers are planning to purchase have an effect on retailer store preferences. The lead product concept expresses which product categories are important in the retail store preference and explains consumer purchasing processes, thus providing a different perspective on retailer store preference. In this respect, the current study has tried to determine which product category is the lead product and examined the effects of lead product retailer's store preference. Thus, it is aimed to fill an important gap in the literature. In the scope of the research, the obtained data via the survey method from 444 consumers aged 18 years and living in the central district of Erzurum were analyzed. Findings show that fruit-vegetable product category is the lead product due to it has the greatest influence on consumers' retail store preferences