Abstract
In omni-channel retailing, the combination of different retail channels along the different customer touchpoints has become the predominant purchasing pattern for customers. The consumers´ purchasing behavior has changed tremendously with the development of e-commerce. The so-called omni-channel customers tend to switch retail channels during their purchasing process. In order to address changing consumer behavior, omni-channel fashion retailing companies still need to learn how to be able to provide an excellent service to these customers. This chapter aims to investigate this phenomenon from the perspective of omni-channel customers.
TopTheoretical Context: The Concept Of Integration
Research about omni-channel retailing embraces the concept of “integration” of the different operated channels within an organization (Ailawadi & Farris, 2017). Channel integration initially meant that a retailer should provide a ‘seamless’ customer experience between stores and online shops; customers should be able to easily switch channels during their interaction with the retailer (Goersch, 2002; Seck, 2013). However, important questions remain unanswered yet: Does a seamless customer experience automatically mean a full integration? In other words, does it mean the more integrated the better? For retailers, the level of integration is a difficult managerial decision. They face various challenges since channels might be different regarding purposes and features, cost structure and competitors (Berry et al., 2010). Studies have investigated the optimal level of integration in certain areas. Related literature has devoted to several aspects of the retail-mix. Mainly, a special focus has been set on integration of assortment (Emrich, Paul, & Rudolph, 2015; Mantrala et al., 2009), pricing and promotions (Vogel & Paul, 2015; Wolk & Ebling, 2010), fulfilment (Agatz, Fleischmann, & Van Nunen, 2008; Lang & Bressolles, 2013; Wolk & Ebling, 2010; Xing, Grant, McKinnon, & Fernie, 2010), and web- and store design integration (Emrich & Verhoef, 2015). However, none of the aforementioned areas have been completely resolved yet. Quite the contrary, there are still several areas for further investigation (Verhoef et al., 2015).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Omni-Channel Retailing: A multichannel retailing system with full channel integration and/or customer interaction across different retail channels.
Show-Rooming: Customers use an offline-mediated environment to gather information about a product, physically touch and see it, but then purchase it in an online-mediated environment.
Multichannel Service Quality: A construct, which consists of the three dimensions physical, electronic and integration quality.
Cross-Channel Free Riding: A customer first selects one retail channel to search for information about a product and then switches the retailer and the channel to purchase it.
Integration Quality: The distinctive dimension of service quality in a multichannel system, which provides a seamless service experience for multichannel customers.
Web-Rooming: Customers use an online-mediated environment to gather information about products, but then purchase it in an offline-mediated environment.
Cross-Channel Retailing: A multichannel retailing system with a given degree of channel integration and customer interaction across different retail channels.