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In this chapter, using a dual approach based on managerial and legal perspectives, we examine franchisee attitudes regarding online sales in franchise networks to better understand their views of the costs and benefits of e-commerce in a franchise network. We thus explore the following research questions from a franchisee perspective: What are franchisees’ attitudes regarding online sales?; Are online sales viewed as complementary or competing sales for physical stores?; What about the opening of a franchisor’s website?; and What about the opening of a franchisee’s website? We also analyze how several different e-commerce options available to franchisors impact franchisee incentives and how they would be treated under European Union competition law.

The empirical research is based on the conduction and analysis of 46 in-depth interviews with franchisees in the retail and service industries in the French market.

We find that online sales in franchise networks raise important questions for the franchisees, and for the franchisors as well. E-commerce has to be integrated into the development strategies of franchise networks. Franchisors should facilitate the online sales practices of their franchisees in order to avoid potential conflicts with them or among the franchisees themselves, thereby maintaining the control necessary to ensure healthy network growth. Moreover, franchisors should pay attention to the sharing of Internet sales with its franchisees.

Our chapter contributes to the stream of franchising literature dealing with the use of Internet in franchise networks. Moreover, it can be viewed by franchisors, franchise experts, franchisees, and franchisee candidates as an overview of issues linked to online sales in franchise networks. It also highlights best practices when having a multichannel strategy.

Business-to-consumer e-commerce results in deliveries to consumers. Before evaluating the impact on urban networks, it is necessary to describe and understand the underlying logistics. Certain sectors, e.g. food products, require specific solutions.

Distribution systems are presented as an alternative to private shopping trips. However, the costs of order handling (order-picking, packaging) and home deliveries are still high and not always covered by the price paid by the consumer. On the whole, the profitability of on-line retailing is uncertain and the number of clients limited.

Climate change and digitisation are unquestionably the two defining features of this era. Both present immense challenges with unimaginable consequences for humankind while promising enormous rewards for those who can adequately address their adverse effects. These two critical factors must be considered while establishing strategies for the businesses' future operations. Hence, post-pandemic, especially with the rise of online commerce, packages and documents are delivered around the globe nearly every day, propelling the logistics industry's growth. This is not the critical challenge in logistics, the issue of sustainability, particularly as the returns are increasing exponentially, leading to a significant impact on transportation is and its reliance on fossil fuel has made it a prime target for society's growing environmental concerns. Thus, real-time visibility, collaboration and integration in reverse logistics (RL) are imperative for business sustainability. The most applicable Industry 4.0 technologies in RL are the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, blockchain and digital twin that enable the defragmentation of the RL market.

This chapter analyses the technological impact of Industry 4.0 on RL. This research investigates the challenges faced by the logistics industry in the context of sustainability and how digital transformation can bring many potential benefits across the entire value chain. This chapter also presents a guidance for a framework based on the literature review that tends to favour the development of elastic logistics, implying improved company responsiveness to market conditions. The study contributes to the body of literature and the establishment of the framework for planning on the application of various Industry 4.0 technologies in developing eco-friendly and sustainable reverse logistics framework.

The final chapter of the book titled ‘Beyond multi-channel marketing: Critical Issues in Dual Marketing’ aims at summarising issues related to the concept of dual marketing (DM). Starting from the analysis of a structured literature review on the selected subject, spread across three decades and reflecting on the different contributions of the research showed in the present book, the chapter tries to open the path to giving to the topic a new guise. In order to fulfil this duty, not only works on DM and multichannel marketing were taken into account, but also other research paths that share several features with the main topic were under scrutiny.

Few published studies have examined which values and motives might encourage the purchase of craft beer (CB) over the Internet by Millennials. This study aims to investigate the motivations behind CB online buying habits among Millennials, and the chosen context is Italy. Adopting a revised model of the Alphabet Theory, a questionnaire-based consumer survey was designed. The data were collected in Italy, between January and April 2020, from a convenience sample composed of 273 interviewees aged 25–39. A structural equations model was estimated using a three-stage least squares regression. The interviewees were segmented into two groups based on their habits of purchasing CB online, using a triadic split procedure. The findings confirm the significant role played in Millennials’ attitudes towards CB online purchasing habits. Specifically, within the whole sample, our concern was with the essential role played by online product availability. The impulsive desire to discover a moment of pleasure is the principal aspect influencing Millennials’ attitudes (among those who are more inclined to purchase CB online). Whereas, for consumers less inclined, sensorial aspects, self-identity and local identity remain relevant. Given the lack of research on Millennials in this purchasing context for CB, this study breaks new ground to better understand this group and the CB consumer culture in this evolving sector. These findings shed new light on making and selling CB, as well as on the interests of beer consuming communities. The findings may help marketing managers develop appropriate marketing strategies based on a better understanding of Millennial-specific needs.

Today's marketing is dominated by decision-making based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. This study focuses on one semi- and unsupervised machine learning technique, generative adversarial networks (GANs). GANs are a type of deep learning architecture capable of generating new data similar to the training data that were used to train it, and thus, it is designed to learn a generative model that can produce new samples. GANs have been used in multiple marketing areas, especially in creating images and video and providing customized consumer contents. Through providing a holistic picture of GANs, including its advantage, disadvantage, ethical considerations, and its current application, the study attempts to provide business some strategical orientations, including formulating strong marketing positioning, creating consumer lifetime values, and delivering desired marketing tactics in product, promotion, pricing, and distribution channel. Through using GANs, marketers will create unique experiences for consumers, build strategic focus, and gain competitive advantages. This study is an original endeavor in discussing GANs in marketing, offering fresh insights in this research topic.

Cross-docking is a supply chain distribution and logistics strategy for which less-than-truckload shipments are consolidated into full-truckload shipments. Goods are stored up to a maximum of 24 hours in a cross-docking terminal. In this chapter, we build on the literature review by Ladier and Alpan (2016), who reviewed cross-docking research and conducted interviews with cross-docking managers to find research gaps and provide recommendations for future research. We conduct a systematic literature review, following the framework by Ladier and Alpan (2016), on cross-docking literature from 2015 up to 2020. We focus on papers that consider the intersection of research and industry, e.g., case studies or studies presenting real-world data. We investigate whether the research has changed according to the recommendations of Ladier and Alpan (2016). Additionally, we examine the adoption of Industry 4.0 practices in cross-docking research, e.g., related to features of the physical internet, the Internet of Things and cyber-physical systems in cross-docking methodologies or case studies. We conclude that only small adaptations have been done based on the recommendations of Ladier and Alpan (2016), but we see growing attention for Industry 4.0 concepts in cross-docking, especially for physical internet hubs.