Using the Simulation of Ecological Systems to Explain the Wheel of Retailing

Understanding the change in retail structure has been a distinct challenge for many managers and policy analysts since the 1950s. Research has focused on concepts such as the wheel of retailing. However, this theory is more descriptive than explanatory of changes in market structure. In this paper we argue that changes in retail structure (discount stores, specialist stores, department stores and even malls versus online shopping), can be modelled using the ecological simulation concept of competing sessile species, with different growth rates and overgrowth rates based on changing suitability to the environment. Our results show that the application of the COMPETE model [see 1, 2] produce greater and a different diversity of retailers in larger compared to smaller shopping malls.