Logistic Integration of Trading Service Facilities: Spatial Aspect

Abstract:

One of the most actively developing economic sectors in the world is trade, however, in spite of the high pace of development, there are difficulties in trading environment, which are connected with toughening of competition and a need of enterprises for optimizing all types of costs. One means of increasing competitiveness of trading service enterprises is to introduce modern logistics tools, namely, to apply an aggregate of methods and models of integrated logistics and spatial siting of retail facilities. 
The paper proposes a technical approach to choosing a place for siting of trading service facilities on the basis of the level and kind of logistic integration, which includes an invariant approach to creating a “consumer pathway”. Owing to an increasing trend towards limiting the choice of ground areas for establishing large trading service facilities or due to the absence of ground areas within the city limits in large cities, we propose the options providing the choice of a place for siting within the limits of a city’s district, on a city’s territory and out of town; we also propose a way of creating the transport, warehouse and trading infrastructure. This approach allows modeling the scripted development of a region’s trade in the long run and adjusting the existent consumer flows at the city level, which are one of the main vectors of development of modern logistics.