From basket to shopping bag

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to follow the gradual transformation of consumer mobility in mid-20th-century Sweden in connection with the introduction of self-service retailing. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an analysis of the magazineICA-Tidningen, published by the major Swedish retailer ICA, for the period from 1941 to 1970. Findings – The paper describes the transformation of consumer mobility as a set of interrelated changes that involved both retailers and consumers, the interrelationship between modes of transport and container technologies and how self-service not only transformed the interior of retail stores but also had more far-reaching implications. Originality/value – When attempting to understand the reconfiguration of shopping practices in the 20th century, there is a tendency to focus on large infrastructural changes. These studies tend to overlook gradual, mundane and everyday translations. This paper contributes methodological tools and analyses that account for such mundane transformations.

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