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Understanding customer behavior from the perspective of channel integration has become a major stream of research in multi-channel retailing literature. Yet, despite recent advancements in scholarship, how retailers can most effectively sustain customers in online retailing remains unclear. Scholars have suggested online–offline channel integration (OOCI) as an effective multi-channel approach for increasing online loyalty; yet, few studies have explored OOCI's influencing mechanism. This study addresses that gap by investigating how OOCI helps achieve customer loyalty online and further examines the moderating role of retailer credibility in the influencing mechanism of OOCI.

The research model driving this study draws upon the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model and cue consistency theory. The authors collected a sample of 259 customers in China with experience making multi-channel purchases from retailers that have implemented OOCI in online retailing. Structural equation modeling and response surface analyses were employed to conduct data analysis.

The results revealed that the relationship between OOCI and customers' online channel loyalty was mediated by customers' perceptions of the usefulness and risks of online channel usage. The results also found that congruence and incongruence between informational OOCI (IOOCI) and fulfillment OOCI (FOOCI) had different curvilinear associations with perceived online channel usefulness and perceived online channel risk. In addition, retailer credibility weakened the effects of IOOCI on perceived online channel usefulness and FOOCI on perceived online channel risk but strengthened the effect of IOOCI on perceived online channel risk and had no impact on the effect of FOOCI on perceived online channel risk.

Theoretical and practical implications of this study are also discussed.

Shopping apps are a highly relevant channel and an increasingly important part of omni-channel retailing, as they strengthen the customer relationship. This study analyses the possibilities available to retailers to encourage consumers to download a shopping app and use it in the long-term.

The study uses a scenario-based online experiment with a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design and data from 332 participants. A second online experiment with a 2 × 3 between-subjects design and data from 200 participants supplements the main experiment. The data obtained from these experiments were analysed using M/ANCOVA and PROCESS.

Findings suggest that a rebate (monetary incentive) increases the download intention. Online and in-store app features (non-monetary incentives) do also have positive impacts on the use intention, though the in-store feature only works when it is offered in combination with the online feature. The relationships are mediated by the perceived usefulness of the shopping app. Moreover, the non-monetary features interact with the channel preference of the consumers, who react more positively towards features offered in a non-preferred channel. A supplementary study supports this finding.

This research is novel as it analyses the impact of monetary (rebate) and non-monetary (online and in-store features) incentives on both the download and use intention of a shopping app separately. Further, it contributes to research on the topic by examining which features consumers perceive as useful. Finally, the study considers the omni-channel environment regarding consumers’ channel preference.

Extant research has examined consumer acceptance of the internet in various contexts mainly as a dichotomy (adoption/non‐adoption), thus ignoring the process underlying adoption. This paper aims to provide insights into factors determining the extent to which an innovation is adopted.

The paper reviews the literature on the technology acceptance model (TAM), and justifies the use of this model to explore the factors contributing to the extent to which consumers use the internet as a distribution channel for financial services (FS). Data are collected through telephone interviews with 300 UK consumers responding to a questionnaire.

The application of the TAM model is helpful but additional links need to be included. The key drivers of extent of use are past experience with the internet as a purchasing channel (for non‐FS) and attitudinal aspects, i.e. positive emotions towards the internet as a distribution channel for FS. Insecurity about this channel does not appear to be an obstacle and perceived usefulness is not directly linked to extent of use but fully mediated via attitude towards the channel. Consumers with computer access from home, those with an active interest in FS, as well as consumers who have general online purchasing experience tend to find this channel easy to use, which, jointly with perceived usefulness, leads to a positive attitude toward this distribution channel.

The findings are limited to the FS online retail context and may not be generalisable beyond this context. Future research should be considered using a longitudinal approach.

FS retail providers should consider prior experience with the internet as a distribution channel and product category involvement as segmentation bases, and also provide more opportunities for consumers to try and observe the internet as a distribution channel.

This research explores the determinants of consumer acceptance of online retailing from a process‐based rather than a binary view of adoption of an innovation.

Structural equation modeling was conducted, and a sample with 577 consumers was investigated.

Based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, this study aims to explore how channel integration affects usage intention through perceived value in food delivery platform (FDP) services. Moreover, the author also examines the moderating effects of personal innovativeness and experience on the relationships in the model.

The study found that channel integration affects usage intention through perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and perceived price. Moreover, the moderating effects of personal innovativeness and experience are both significant in the model.

This study found that perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and perceived price are three major values influencing the relationship between channel integration and usage intention in FDP services. Moreover, for consumers with high personal innovativeness, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, social image and perceived risk affecting usage intention will be weaker than for consumers with low personal innovativeness. However, for highly experienced consumers, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and perceived price affecting usage intention will be stronger than for less experienced consumers.

This study suggests that practitioners should develop value-driven innovative services and activities by integrating various channels for customers. Moreover, they should segment consumers on the basis of different levels of personal innovativeness and experience to provide different strategies for increasing the intention to use the service.

This study advances the extant knowledge of the SOR model in the context of online-to-offline commerce.

To examine shopping orientation, information search, and demographics of multichannel customers in comparison to traditional single channel customers.

A questionnaire was used to assess research variables and mailed out to 10,000 individuals in South Korea who were randomly selected from a purchased national database. A total of 2,926 usable questionnaires were returned for a 29 percent response rate.

Shopping orientation, information search, and demographics differentiated shopper groups: single‐channel offline users, single‐channel online users, multichannel offline users, and multichannel online users.

A lack of theoretical approaches, a direct self‐assessment for store choice behavior, and duplicated measures for independent and dependent variables perhaps limit its usefulness.

Provides guidance to global retailers who plan to pioneer new markets with multichannel retailing strategies. Shopping orientations, perceived usefulness of information sources, and demographics can be effectively used to identify target markets in Korea.

This study first explored Korean consumer profiles in the context of multi‐shopping channels and added valuable empirical findings to the current limited literature in multichannel retailing in the international market and to help global retailers identify consumer segments based on channel choice behavior.

The pandemic impacted consumers' shopping processes, leading them to approach the online channel for grocery shopping for the first time. The paper contributes to the retailing literature by identifying different grocery shopper segments willing to switch online moved by heterogeneous motivations. Integrating the technology acceptance model 2 (TAM-2) and the protection motivation theory (PMT), this study identifies technology-related and Covid-related motivations jointly impacting channel switching.

A mixture regression model was estimated on the 370 valid questionnaires, filled out by Italian shoppers, delivering four internally consistent segments.

The results reveal the existence of four segments willing to switch towards the online channel for grocery shopping in the aftermath of the pandemic. Utilitarian shoppers would switch online as they consider the online channel useful and easy to use. Responsive shoppers will prefer the online channel driven by the fear of being infected in-store. Novel enthusiasts show interest in the online channel to not catch the virus and cope with emotional fear, although they consider online shopping as an enjoyable and useful activity as well. Smart shoppers consider online shopping as an easy-to-use alternative for their grocery purchases.

This paper identifies technology-related and Covid-related motivations jointly impacting shoppers' channel switching to online and presents a novel method – i.e. mixture regression – allowing for the identification of shopper segments motivated by different reasons, both emotional and utilitarian, to switch towards the online channel for their grocery shopping. Among other motivations, the fear of Covid-19 is identified as a relevant motivation to switch to online.

With India becoming world’s second largest user of smartphones (Ming, 2017) and with more users adopting mobile devices for online shopping, Indian online retailers now have to manage mobile channel in addition to existing traditional channel (of computers). Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the mapping of product characteristics with individual channel capabilities and its effect on online consumer behaviour, so that e-tailers can create enhanced online shopping experience for consumers.

A comprehensive research model is developed on the basis of the knowledge gained from multichannel retailing and e-commerce literature. Then, the model is empirically tested, with primary data collected from 344 customers, using structural equation modelling. The data are collected from customers across two product categories: electronics and fashion.

The results reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived risk and perceived self-efficacy are important drivers of online consumer behaviour for continued usage. The multi-group analysis confirms the moderation influence of platform type for some relationships across electronics and fashion.

The findings underline the importance of multichannel complementarity across electronics and fashion. The preference of mobile devices for fashion and traditional devices such as computers for electronics provides valuable insights for online retailers towards management of multichannel e-commerce ecosystem.

In Indian context, this is the first empirical research on online multichannel retail setting, studying the impact of diverse channel formats on different product categories. The study’s findings give empirical basis to online retailers to look out for right product–channel fit strategy for engaging consumers in the long run.

This study explores the causes and effects of technology usefulness on shopping behavior of consumers in Mexico by measuring inter-relationships between the constructs of shopping with new-normal following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) business shutdown and online retail technology.

This study has been conducted in six online retail stores with the online survey of 342 buyers in Mexico. Data have been analyzed using two regression models with dependent variables, perceived usefulness of technology and buying decision of customers. Multiple correlations across the variables were computed.

Results of this study reveal that as customers found higher ease of use of online shopping, they perceived higher usefulness of online retailing technology. The perceived quality of retailing website positively influences impulsive buying behavior of customers. The study observed that increase in coupon promotions has positively enhanced the perceived buying impulsiveness of consumers in online stores. The perceived usefulness of online redemption of coupons has also positively benefited the attitude of customers toward buying.

Online shopping has attracted a large section of customers during the COVID-19 business shutdown, and peer interactions have motivated them to experience the retailing technology of virtual stores. This study offers important insights for managers working in the retailing industries. Online strategies of retailers with unified customer experiences during the pandemic and business shutdown has provided extensive online retail space.

Managers of virtual retail stores need to build their business on customer-centric propositions, encourage 3D visions of products, develop “do-it-yourself” kiosks with augmented reality technology and enhance the value-based online business model. Online retailers need to prioritize developing an easy to navigate and quality website with comprehensive product information and instant messaging facilities over the sales promotion strategies. Online retailers need to establish quick response (QR) technology to improve the ease of use for navigation.

This study finds out the perceived usefulness in using online retail technology, and how customers have experienced it as a single wide option during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent statistics on increasing webrooming customers make it topical in the multi-channel retailing domain. The purpose of this paper is to offer an enhanced understanding on “Webrooming behaviour”, an area of concern for e-retailers by proposing an integrated framework grounded on the Theory of planned behaviour and Technology acceptance model.

The conceptual model presented develops a number of propositions applicable to webrooming behaviour utilizing the rich literature on channel choice behaviour in the multi-channel retailing environment. The propositions are open for verification and can serve the basis for future line of research.

The model proposed provides basis for understanding the webrooming sequence via search attitude towards online channels, purchase attitude towards offline channels, perceived ease of online search and perceived usefulness of webrooming behaviour. The impact of online risk perceptions and mediating role of (lack of) “trust” have been proposed along with the direct impact of product type and category which offers an holistic view towards understanding the webrooming conduct.

The model proposed lacks empirical verification. There is a need to test the model empirically to validate the model and to find out the suitability of integrated TPB-TAM model.

Webrooming substantially erodes online profits. Before retailers’ strategies to defend webroomers, it is imperative to understand the phenomenon from the consumer’s side. The model proposed is a step in this direction and provides the basis for formulating strategies for holding back the webroomers.

This paper adds to the body of knowledge in retailing by proposing a conceptual model on webrooming behaviour which is an emerging area of research in the present retail landscape.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework explaining the adoption of online insurance claims characterised by infrequent interactions, inherent complexity and risk. It extends the technology acceptance model to include knowledge-related and trust-related beliefs.

The framework is tested with structural equation modelling using data from a survey of 292 customers who made online insurance claims. Findings are further explained through 30 telephone interviews conducted with online and offline claimants.

Previous research in financial services has shown trust to be equally or more important than perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in forming attitudes towards adopting online insurance applications. The findings of this paper contradict this by showing, at best, a weak relationship between trusting attitude and intention to use the online service. Trust is somewhat meaningful; however, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and technology attitude are substantially more important in an online insurance claims setting.

Contradictory results always beg further research to assure their robustness. Nevertheless, they can also point to a developing trend where trust in the internet channel, per se, is of diminishing importance. Internet and product knowledge are not as pertinent to forming intentions as usefulness and ease of use.

To encourage customers to adopt online applications for a trusted company, all emphasis should be on user friendliness and perceived usefulness of the online interface.

Compared to other channels, consumers are no longer naïve or distrustful of the online channel for interacting with a firm. If they perceive usefulness and ease of use, they will adopt the offered service.