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Offline retail stores have been working on improving their in-store customer experience; they have begun to realise the physical advantage they have over online channels. Especially sports products have a number of unique features, such as high emotional involvement or a sense of community; additionally, sports customers put emphasis on multisensory brand experience at the point of sale. This study examines the in-store customer experience (ISCX) in offline sports retail stores, taking into account the commercial uniqueness of sport.

A qualitative study (focus groups; n = 16) and quantitative survey (cross-sectional survey design; n = 238) were conducted to measure ISCX in sports retail stores.

The results suggest that the customers' in-store experience has a significant influence on customers' satisfaction with the sports retailer and their likeliness to recommend the store to friends, which, in turn, is significantly affected by customers' satisfaction with the retailer. Moreover, social responses to actors involved in the service encounter, for example, the interaction with employees, play a significant role for the customer in-store experience. Accordingly, sports customers strive not only for functional benefits inherent in the interaction with customers and employees but also for social benefits.

This study extends the knowledge by (1) replicating the ISCX scale, (2) analysing ISCX in a sports retail environment and (3) examining the influence of ISCX on the Net Promoter Score. Moreover, the findings support managers' know-how about in-store setting and help to maintain the customer relationship.

Marketplaces are changing, and customers are demanding improved experiences where they want, how they want, and when they want. The omnichannel concept is perceived as an evolution of multichannel retailing, which implies a blurring division between the physical and online stores. In the omnichannel environment, customers move freely among physical and online stores expecting seamless shopping experiences between channels. Among different generational consumer groups, Gen Z deserves marketers’ particular attention, which is the new rising segment for omnichannel experiences. The purpose of this chapter is first to verify the essence of generational differences in consumer’s omnichannel buying behavior by giving a special focus on the Gen Z segment. Secondly, this chapter discusses how retailers should integrate their online and offline store channels to provide the best retail brand experience to these distinctive Gen Z consumers.

Revolutionary changes are happening in retail, and the term “retail apocalypse” reflects these dramatic changes. As a growing number of traditional brick-and-motor retailers are closing, the aim of this study is to understand and test the dimensions of specific store and consumer factors that are driving this shift towards non-traditional retail marketplaces (e.g. pop-up stores, fashion trucks), factors that drive consumer loyalty (i.e. re-patronage intentions) and the mediating role of shopping enjoyment in this context.

This study used a consumer panel (n = 237) of previous shoppers of non-traditional retailers. Utilising exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this study identifies possible store and consumer factors that are associated with consumers' patronage of non-traditional retailers. Based on results, we propose a model for non-traditional retail shopping behaviour.

EFA revealed that quality of personal experience and consumer curiosity were dominant factors explaining variance. Key findings revealed that in-store factors (in-store ambiance, quality and value of products) and consumer factors (consumer curiosity, quality consciousness) influence consumers' re-patronage intentions. This highlights the importance of maintaining quality elements in shopping experiences. Shopping enjoyment was found to mediate relationships, indicating that while not all factors directly impact loyalty, it can be enhanced through pleasurable shopping experiences.

Our findings help retailers understand which factors are driving this dramatic change in consumer behaviour so they may develop better strategies to attract and retain customers. Retailers need to highlight product quality and in-store atmosphere and spark consumers' quality consciousness and curiosity to enhance consumer loyalty.

Despite the rise in popularity, this is the first study to investigate non-traditional retailers comprehensively.

In recent years, while the food and grocery retail in developed markets like Western Europe seem to be slowly facing saturation, it has been steadily growing in the Asia–Pacific region markets like India. This is mainly due to the emergence of modern retail and the changing consumer dynamics. This study purposes to assesses whether food and grocery (F&G) shoppers in India are strongly influenced by store-attributes.

Descriptive research design, a cross-sectional survey involving 346 respondents (households) from metropolitan Bengaluru, participated in the study. Data is analyzed with SPSS 21, involving descriptive analysis, 1-way Anova, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which appears useful to confirm the theoretical structure used for the study.

Store-attributes – atmosphere, promotion, convenience, facilities, merchandise, store personnel interaction and services affect F&G store choice decisions. Additionally, significant difference is found in the way respondents perceive the sub-constructs of store-attributes, based on age.

The study contributes to the theoretical knowledge on store-attributes and dynamic socio-demographic influences on store choices. It has managerial implications to encourage global retailers use knowledge on store-attributes influences to initiate effective communication and promotion strategies and work at customer relationship management (CRM) that earn profitably in the long run.

Today, connected consumers seek shopping experiences that blend physical stores-attributes with other retail formats offerings. This research paper provides insights on shopper expectations of store-attributes, which could be used by global retailers to create delightful shopping experiences and to build CRM, especially when “experience per square foot” is used to measure the retailer's performance.

The purpose of this paper is to review published research on retail customer service communication with people with complex communication needs (CCN) and impacts on their social inclusion.

The researchers searched electronic databases EBSCOHost and Web of Science and found no studies on retail customers with CCN. The search was expanded with the intention of exploring factors affecting people with disability as a group and to locate the experience of people with CCN within findings. Studies found were reviewed by the first author and two external reviewers.

Twelve articles met the broadened inclusion criteria. Analysis using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) found the literature demonstrated some environmental and personal factors that are likely to construct disability in the retail environment for people with CCN. The authors proposed further research to further explore ICF factors not identified in research and to establish links with social inclusion.

Further research is needed to understand the role of retail customer service communication in the social inclusion of people with CCN.

The social inclusion of people with CCN will be assisted by findings on good practice customer service communication.

Shopping is rarely considered in social inclusion research. This review discovered an absence of research into the impact of retail customer communication on inclusion of customers with CCN and proposed a framework for further enquiry.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of a fashion store’s visual complexity on consumers’ behaviour. Considering environmental order and individuals’ sensation-seeking tendencies, the authors examine the effect of visually complex fashion stores on consumers in a more conclusive way to address the inconsistent effect found in the previous literature.

This study features a 3 (visual complexity level: low, medium, high) × 2 (environmental order condition: low, high) between subjects design, with individual sensation-seeking tendency included as a moderator. Using this design, an online survey was administered to 188 participants in South Korea.

The results indicate that there is a three-way interaction, where the interaction effect of visual complexity and environmental order is moderated by individuals’ sensation-seeking tendency. The effect of visual complexity on approach behaviours had an inverted U-shape in the low-order condition, while had a positive linear shape in the high-order condition, and the interaction effect was significant only for high-sensation seekers.

The findings assist practitioners in establishing strategies for visual merchandising and store design within fashion stores. It is suggested that retailers consider environmental order when organising a large amount of varied merchandise in a complex environment. Store managers must adjust the complexity and environmental order to meet the optimal stimulation level of their target consumers.

This study strengthens the literature on visual complexity by applying the concept to the retail environment. The results provide a significant contribution to the literature because they show how individual-level and store-level variables interact to influence consumer behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of store characteristics (i.e. product availability, product quality, store layout, employee politeness, décor, music, lighting, and aroma) on the various dimensions of in-store leisure shopping experience (i.e. hedonic, flow, escapism, challenge, learning, socialising, and communitas).

In order to achieve the study’s objectives, a quantitative on-site survey was conducted. Respondents were interviewed upon exiting fashion retail stores.

Findings indicate that not all store characteristics impact the various dimensions of experience in the same way. Product quality and in-store music were found to be the most important in-store characteristics that affected the majority of experience dimensions. Other important store attributes that emerged were store layout and ambient scent. Conversely, product range actually had a negative impact on in-store experience.

By orchestrating the most influential in-store characteristics, fashion retailers could be delivering unique in-store experiences to their customers. This research shows that they would benefit from designing experiential strategies that focus on merchandise quality, price, and availability while simultaneously carefully managing ambient (music and scent) alongside design factors (store layout and décor). Careful consideration should be paid to merchandise variety in order to avoid potentially negative effects on customers’ shopping experience.

Until now most studies that document the relationship between store elements and shopping experiences have examined the effects of store characteristics on a limited number of experience dimensions. This study adds to the body of research into in-store leisure shopping experience in two ways: by shedding light on its multi-dimensional nature, and by analysing the effect of the different store elements on the various components of the in-store experience.