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Directions of Innovation in Trade

Summary/Abstract: An aim of the author’s considerations is an attempt to answer the question of the direction, in which there are contemporarily going the innovative processes in retail trade and what positive or negative consequences they may yield from the purchaser’s viewpoint. The often applied in the subject literature distinction between the product innovation and the process one is not a sufficiently useful tool to survey innovation in trade as, in principle, all innovations in trade are of the process nature. Much more important is distinction of the disruptive innovation, also defined as radical or revolutionary innovation, from the innovation I call improving or developmental, though in the literature there is rather used the notion of incremental, continuation or evolutionary innovation. The discussed in the article disruptive innovation has meant so far, from the purchasers’ viewpoint, a leap like improvement of the quality of service and growth of their sovereignty. However, trade was and is introducing in an ever growing scale also innovation aimed at manipulating purchasing behaviour of its customers. At present, it is difficult to foresee what will finally be consequences of those innovations, though there are solid premises to express one’s anxiety of the growing limitation of purchasers’ sovereignty and to make it a subject of in-depth research.

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