Critical View of Multiple Channels Retailing

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to better understand the gap that exists between the literature dealing with multiple channels shopping behavior and the actual shoppers' behavior. Adopting a critical analysis of a large literature of research articles dealing with consumer behavior and retailing in a multiple channel context, covering the period from 2002 to 2020, this chapter identifies an important gap in the literature: generally the authors define the different situations of multiple channels retailing (e.g., multichannel, crosschannel, and omni-channel) from the company point of view, and the main distribution channels presented in the literature review do not reproduce the richness of variety of channels available to the shoppers. Implications for future research related to multiple channel retailing and shopping behavior are discussed.