Atmosphere in retail stores: reseach on factors affecting the consumers retail store choices in Azerbaijan

Management of retail stores is a difficult and complicated process. Since it wholly depends on personal relations, sometimes targets cannot be achieved. Every purchase, especially selling transaction is as a result of a contact with many people. Various personal and psycological characteristics of these people visiting retail stores, either as a seller or a customer, make the personel of this sector to be more careful. Using the right tool and timing while getting in touch with people is often a defining activity of a store. As retail food sector becomes more developed, firms should fully take advantage of all opportunities provided them by science and technology, in order to differentiate themselves. Otherwise, they will lose advantage in this strong competitive market. In this sense, the most important tool of retailers are the factors that constitute the retail store atmosphere. The factors that are examined in this study under two categories, namely physical and sensable, need more scientific investigation. In this thesis, physical and sensable factors constituting retail store atmosphere have been studied and a survey on the factors affecting the consumers? retail store choices was conducted in Azerbaijan.