— Master’s Thesis —
With the support of national policies and the active participation of relevant enterprises, China’s new retail industry has grown rapidly and become one of the largest retail markets in the world. The combination of the new retail model and the fresh retail industry has given birth to a new way of purchasing fresh food, which has had an important impact on residents’ food consumption behavior and habits. In recent years, the dietary consumption structure of Chinese residents has undergone significant changes, from the pursuit of quantity to the pursuit of high quality, healthy, nutritious and tasty food. In this context, it is of great significance to explore the impact of the spatial distribution of fresh retail outlets on family dietary diversity.
Taking Nanjing as an example, based on questionnaire survey data and POI point of interest data, this paper analyzes the effect of brand spatial distribution of three representative new fresh retail outlets, Hema Xiansheng, Dingdong Maicai and Suguo Supermarket, on the dietary diversity of urban residents. The research results show that: firstly, the new fresh retail outlets in Nanjing present a distribution structure that decreases from the center to the surrounding areas. They are mainly concentrated in urban areas such as Jianye, Gulou, Xuanwu and Qinhuai, and the distribution of outlets in other administrative areas is relatively sparse. Affected by historical commercial development and population agglomeration, areas with high density are mainly located east of the Yangtze River. Generally speaking, the new retail outlets of fresh food in Nanjing develop vertically along the north–south direction along the banks of the Yangtze River. The outlet concentration of Hema Xiansheng, Dingdong Maicai Xiansheng, Dingdong Maicai and Suguo Supermarket in descending order is Suguo Supermarket > Hema Xiansheng > Dingdong Maicai. In terms of the distribution relationship with residential quarters, the distribution of new fresh retail outlets is basically consistent with the density distribution trend of residential quarters in Nanjing, reflecting that the location of residential quarters is an important consideration for the location of new fresh retail outlets. Second, using new fresh retail to buy food has a positive effect on enriching family dietary diversity. Compared with households that do not use new retail to purchase, households that use new retail to buy fresh food have higher dietary diversity. Families who have experienced temporary lockdown management measures are more likely to use new fresh retail to buy food. The purchase mode of fresh retail online ordering and offline delivery provides consumers with convenient services in daily life and helps enrich the diversity of food consumption in families. Finally, the contribution of different categories of fresh retail outlets to household dietary diversity is greater than the impact of the number of outlets on household dietary diversity. This paper also analyzed the spatial spillover effect of the level of family dietary diversity, and the results showed that the dietary diversity of different families showed a significant positive autocorrelation in space.
This paper mainly draws the following research conclusions: First, the new fresh retail outlets in Nanjing retail outlets in Nanjing generally present the structural characteristics of a ‘‘centripetal circle’’ that is distributed from the center to the surroundings, but the new fresh retail outlets of different brand types are different in space. It shows both common and heterogeneous distribution characteristics. Second, the distribution of new fresh retail outlets in the community has a positive effect on enriching the dietary diversity of residents’ families, and its role in safeguarding food emergencies is more prominent. Third, the products provided by different categories of fresh retail products have differentiated characteristics, and the combination and matching are more conducive to enriching dietary diversity. Fourth, the level of dietary diversity in different households has a certain spatial dependence on space.
Based on the research conclusions of this paper, the following policy recommendations are put forward for the distribution of new fresh retail outlets in cities: First, it is suggested that urban planners and policy makers should comprehensively consider the equality and distribution of outlets in the community when planning commercial land use to improve physical accessibility between community residents and retail outlets. In particular, they should consider the scope of the new retail online service area. Second, it is recommended that new retail–related companies do a good job of market research and business environment analysis when selecting locations for commercial retail outlets, and give full play to the comprehensive effect of the combination of new retail outlets of different categories on promoting dietary diversity. Third, it is recommended that relevant government departments implement supporting policies, adopt various forms of incentives to encourage, support, and guide the development of the new fresh retail industry, and mobilize the enthusiasm of market players. On the other hand, the United Community and others have stepped up publicity efforts for urban residents to promote residents’ understanding and use of new fresh retail.
