Strategic retail expansion for artisanal producers: Quality signaling through geographic proximity in small business distribution decisions
研究了法国葡萄酒生产者如何通过零售扩张传递质量信号，发现与零售商的地理邻近性显著提升销量，尤其对高端产品效果更强，挑战了零售会侵蚀直销的常规看法。
Small artisanal producers face a critical strategic dilemma: Will retail expansion reduce profitable direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales? Drawing on quality signaling theory, we examine how retail presence serves as quality certification for resource-constrained producers. Through three studies of French wine producers—combining consumer surveys (N = 689) with multi-year retail sales data (2017–2019)—we demonstrate that retail presence enhances perceived quality, and that this quality signal is particularly effective for consumers using retail channels, resulting in higher purchase quantities. Using instrumental variables regression, we show that geographic proximity between the producer and the retailer significantly increases sales volume, with effects three times stronger for premium-priced products than mid-tier products. Our findings challenge conventional wisdom that retail partnerships have the potential to take away from DTC sales. Instead, we provide evidence that strategic retail expansion—particularly with proximal retailers for premium products—creates quality signaling benefits for small producers lacking traditional marketing resources. We offer actionable guidance for artisanal producers’ distribution decisions.