Retail productivity and scale economies at the firm level: a DEA approach

We investigate the concept of productivity in retailing. In the literature, there are unresolved issues concerning the construct of retail output and measurement methodologies. In accordance with recently developed theory, we define the output of the retail firm as a set of explicitly priced market goods accompanied by distribution services that are implicitly priced. We operationalise these services, and measure productivity of a chain of grocery stores using data envelopment analysis. We also find evidence of increasing returns to scale. Managerial implications of the findings are provided.