Perceived Buyer-supplier Relationships and Performance Among Large Scale Retail Outlets in Kisumu, Kenya

Abstract

This study was carried out to establish the effect of perceived buyer-supplier relationships on performance among large scale retail outlets in Kisumu, Kenya. The study had three objectives, namely; to determine the extent to which large scale retail outlets in Kisumu have adopted the concept of buyer-supplier relationships, to determine the impact of buyer-supplier relationships on the performance on large scale retail businesses and to determine the challenges facing buyersupplier relationships. The research design involved a cross sectional survey of eleven (11) large scale retail outlets in Kisumu, Kenya. Data was collected using a questionnaire that was administered through “drop and pick” method. The data collected was sorted and coded then entered into the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Percentages and frequencies were used to analyze objective one and objective three whereas descriptive statistics was used to analyze the relationship between buyer–supplier relationships and performance among large scale retail outlets in Kenya. The findings are presented in tables. The study findings confirmed that most large scale retail outlets in Kisumu have embraced the concept of buyer-supplier relationships. They have incorporated most of the buyer- supplier relationship variables in their operations and this has contributed to an enhanced performance of the organizations to a large extent. The major limitation of the study is that it only focused on the large scale retail outlets in Kisumu. It did not feature other large scale retail outlets in other parts of the country hence problems unique to retail outlets in different geographical locations could not be ascertained. Furthermore, the findings of the study and their application are limited to large scale retail outlets in Kenya and may not be applicable directly to other organizations operating outside the Kenyan retail industry. The researcher therefore recommends further research on other firms that are not located in Kisumu and are not in the retail industry.