This paper proposes that to be systematic in gaining customers, retailers could benefit from recognising the marketing implications of a set of pre‐ and post‐purchase stages of customer behaviour. A parallel theme is that retailers possess several weapons in their armoury for persuasion...

When Theodore Levitt discussed how firms respond to the question “what business are we in?”, he highlighted the myopic perceptions of some because they viewed their business as “running a railroad” or “making films” — rather than being “in the transport or entertainment market”.