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This study focuses on memorable customer shopping experience design in the sporting goods retail setting. It aims to identify the phygital customers' needs and expectations that are satisfied through in-store technologies and to detect the in-store strategies that use these technologies to make the store attractive and experiential.

This exploratory study adopted a qualitative research methodology, specifically a multiple-case study, by performing semi-structured interviews with sporting goods store managers.

Sporting goods retailers use various in-store technologies to create a phygital customer shopping experience, including devices, mobile apps, wireless communication technologies, in-store activations, support devices, intelligent stations, and sensors. To improve the phygital customer journey and the phygital shopping experience, retailers meet customers' needs for utilitarian, hedonic, social, and playfulness experiences. Purely physical or digital strategies, as well as phygital strategies, are identified. This research also proposes a model of in-store phygital customer shopping experience design for sporting goods retailers.

Sporting goods managers can invest in multiple technologies by designing a physical environment according to the customers' needs for utilitarian, hedonic, social, and playful experiences. In addition, they can improve the phygital customer shopping experience with specific push strategies that increase customer engagement and, in turn, brand and store loyalty.

This study highlights how the phygital customer experiential journey can be created through new technologies and improved with specific reference to the sporting goods stores.

The purpose of this research is to portray the historical evolution of retailing from 1980 to 2020. The study considers India as the domain as it is one of the fastest growing markets, and the retail growth is anticipated to reach more than one trillion dollars within this decade.

This paper captures the historical growth trajectory of retailing from the pre-online era to the online era and highlights how the retail environment has become modernized and sophisticated in the process in India.

The study traces the journey of retail from 1980 to the multi-billion-dollar sector it had become by 2020 in India. Furthermore, the article provides an overview of how the different retail forms and players in the Indian retail sector have been shaping the industry over the last four decades. During this period, there has been a transformational change in the format of Indian retailing. The Indian consumers' shopping mindset moved from physical in the 1980s to online, and now “Phygital” (Physical and Digital) in 2020s has become an omni-channel platform in Indian retail.

This paper aims to present a viewpoint of the evolutions of retailing from the unorganized to the organized form and from the physical to the online form over the last 40 years in the Indian retail sector landscape.

The purpose of this research is twofold: (1) to identify and understand consumer motivations to use interactive technologies in stores through the lens of the uses and gratifications (UGT) approach and (2) to understand how these gratifications differ between different interactive technologies (interactive kiosks and self-checkouts).

This research presents a dual qualitative study based on 32 in-depth interviews with 20 consumers, eight salespersons and four phygital experts.

The data analysis identified three specific gratifications sought in using interactive kiosks (information-seeking, hedonic and social interaction) and two gratifications common to both interactive kiosks and self-checkouts (control and time-saving).

From a media perspective (UGT), this research provides a deeper understanding of gratifications sought in using interactive technologies in a phygital store. It also contributes significantly to previous research by highlighting that gratifications differ between different technology types.

The purpose of this study is to examine how phygital luxury experiences can be generated from mobile-mediated service activities while enabling luxury apparel shoppers to attain status goals and hedonic goals. Phygital luxury experiences are defined in this context as shopping experiences that blend the participative and immersive components of mobile and ubiquitous media with physical luxury servicescapes.

This conceptual research draws on activity theory from the field of human-computer interaction to produce an activity-centric model of phygital luxury experiences. By drawing on activity theory, the authors develop research propositions and build a conceptual model. The conceptual model probes how phygital luxury experiences can be generated from mobile-mediated service activities that enable luxury apparel shoppers to attain status goals and hedonic goals. In turn, service activities are proposed to meld with luxury shopping goals when mobile devices allow luxury apparel shoppers to participate in community-, rules-, and labor-based service activities.

First, the conceptual model demonstrates that social validation and personalization are status and hedonic drivers for community-based service activities (e.g. content-sharing and multiplatform storytelling). Second, special privileges and new comforts are status and hedonic drivers for rules-based service activities (e.g. engaging in pseudo-webrooming, pseudo-showrooming, and seamless and on-demand resources). Third, know-how and domination are status and hedonic drivers for labor-based service activities (e.g. adopting self-service technologies and smart or intelligent displays).

This conceptual model contributes to the well-documented need for research on interactive luxury strategies and luxury retail innovation. Overall, these service activities provide luxury brands and shoppers new opportunities for building elite communities, bending store rules, and altering the division of labor within physical stores. At the same time, this model shows that exclusivity and allure of luxury consumption can be reproduced through luxury apparel shoppers' embodied interactions with salespeople and relevant audiences in connected store environments.

This paper aims to empirically investigate the typologies of phygital (synaeresis of “physical” and “digital”) customer experiences (CXs) that can arise in high-tech retail based on the intensity of consumers' responses and reactions to the stimuli triggered by firms. Moreover, it explores how firms attempt to shape the architecture of the phygital CXs. Notably, this article identifies the flexible and agile strategies implemented by firms to enhance the several typologies of phygital CXs, with the intention of better exploiting physical and digital features to respond to the differences in customers' needs, preferences and expectations.

This study performs an in-depth exploratory single-case study based on semi-structured interviews with the customers, managers and employees of the Webidoo Store.

This study develops a framework illustrating the main typologies of ordinary (“hostile”, “controversial” and “disappointing”) and extraordinary (“passionate” and “explorative”) CXs that can arise in phygital contexts. Also, it identifies some key flexible and agile strategies (“decompressive strategy”, “mentoring strategy”, “prompting strategy” and “entertaining strategy”) that companies might follow to adjust their offerings and respond quickly to the different forms of phygital CXs to create a more compelling experience tailored to customers' needs, preferences and expectations.

Among the study's limitations are the single-case study methodology and a specific setting like the Italian one. As a result, future studies could broaden the study to include other research contexts and countries. The paper offers significant managerial insights based on the many forms of CX across ordinary and extraordinary CXs. Thus, it provides critical takeaways for businesses to meet customer demand.

This paper analyzes the different typologies of ordinary and extraordinary CXs that could occur in phygital contexts based on the intensity of consumers' responses and reactions to firms' stimuli. Also, it explores how firms attempt to shape the architecture of the phygital CXs through flexible and agile strategies. From this paper, managers and decision-makers can reflect on successful strategies they could use to affect the stimuli to which customers respond in an agile manner, thus enhancing phygital CXs.

Due to rapid digitalization, the emergence of the “phygital” environment, which blends physical and digital experiences, creates unique challenges for researchers. This paper aims to introduce an interpretivist methodological framework designed to understand consumer behavior in phygital environments. The framework enables an in-depth exploration of the contextual factors, subjective experiences, personal emotions and social networks that influence consumer behavior in this space.

The framework was developed after a thorough literature review of the phygital environment and interpretivist research landscape. Consistent with the phygital transformation theory, this approach allows researchers to go beyond the limitations of purely quantitative methods, gaining a deeper understanding of consumer behavior in phygital environments. The framework is organized into four meticulously designed pillars, each focusing on specific aspects of research and using distinct data collection and analysis approaches.

The systematic framework facilitates exploration of various dimensions of consumer experiences in phygital settings through qualitative research techniques. Uncovering the richness of contextual factors, subjective meanings, consumer experiences and social interactions within the phygital environment yields meaningful insights into consumer decision-making and preferences. These insights help marketers craft better phygital marketing strategies.

This interpretivist framework presents a unique approach for researchers hoping to investigate consumer behavior in phygital environments. It offers deep insights and understanding of this largely unexplored space, contributing to the evolving body of knowledge in phygital studies.

This paper aims to focus on how companies shape the architecture of a phygital customer journey through the exploitation of smart technologies.

The research adopts a qualitative method using a grounded theory approach involving leading players in digital customer solutions and service providers from different industries.

The shaping of the architecture of the phygital customer journey comes from the interplay between systems of insights and systems of engagement activated by multiple customer-provider interactions in an entanglement of physical and digital contexts.

Companies need to design a blended approach to bridge disconnected contexts, capture new opportunities and provide customer engagement along the entire journey.

This study depicts the “phygital customer journey” under systems of insights and systems of engagement: These systems operate as dynamic architectures to capture insights and engage customers.

Phygital emerges as a promising phenomenon, as it uses innovative technologies to connect digital spaces and physical places that provide customers with an interactive and unique experience. Drawing the stimuli–organism–response (S-O-R) framework, the study aims to examine the phygital customer experience by using key drivers and their effect on customer engagement (CE), trust (TRU) and patronage intentions (PI).

Data were obtained by using convenience sampling from 389 respondents from northern parts of India between December 2022 and February 2023. After checking reliability and validity, “variance-based structural equation modeling” has been applied to obtain results.

The outcomes reported that stimuli constructs such as customer brand experience (CBE), service quality (SQ) and emotions during the service (EDS) significantly influence organism (CE). However, pain points (PP) have a statistically insignificant impact on CE. Further, the outcomes also reveal a positive relation between organism and response variables (i.e. CE, TRU and PI).

This study’s results offer strategic insights to enhance CE and PI, ultimately contributing to the advancement of the retail banking industry. The financial service provider must prudently interrelate digital and physical platforms to make the customer journey fruitful.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to look at the effect of key drivers on the PI of active retail banking customers in national capital region, India by using the S-O-R framework.

The study aims to delve into the “phygital customer journey” (PCJ), which merges physical and digital interactions in customer experiences, using a practice-based lens to reveal the underlying dynamics of these blended encounters.

Feedback from 60 individuals established the groundwork for a qualitative analysis. They chronicled customer journeys through diaries and used UXPressia software for journey mapping. This strategy enabled a detailed exploration of the PCJ, focusing on customers’ lived experiences and perceptions.

The study presents an integrative framework for the PCJ, identifying four key elements: hybrid artefacts (the melding of digital and physical tools/interfaces), blended contexts (the seamless integration of digital and physical spaces), circular actions (the non-linear paths of customer engagement) and intertwined emotions (the complex emotional responses to phygital experiences). These elements underscore the intricate and interconnected nature of the PCJ.

This study advances the field by applying a practice-based approach to unravel the complexities of the PCJ, illuminating the nuanced interplay between digital and physical realms. This innovative lens foregrounds the significance of practices in consumer experiences, thereby contributing to a deeper academic and practical understanding of phygital integration.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the prospect of using neurophenomenology to understand, design and test phygital consumer experiences. It aims to clarify interpretivist approaches to consumer neuroscience, wherein theoretical models of individual phenomenology can be combined with modern neuroimaging techniques to detect and interpret the first-person accounts of phygital experiences.

The argument is conceptual in nature, building its position through synthesizing insights from phenomenology, phygital marketing, theoretical neuroscience and other related fields.

Ultimately, the paper presents the argument that interpretivist neuroscience in general, and neurophenomenology specifically, provides a valuable new perspective on phygital marketing experiences. In particular, we argue that the approach to studying first-personal experiences within the phygital domain can be significantly refined by adopting this perspective.

One of the primary goals of this paper is to stimulate a novel approach to interpretivist phygital research, and in doing so, provide a foundation by which the impact of phygital interventions can be empirically tested through neuroscience, and through which future research into this topic can be developed. As such, the success of such an approach is yet untested.

Phygital marketing is distinguished by its focus on the quality of subjective first-personal consumer experiences, but few papers to date have explored how neuroscience can be used as a tool for exploring these inner landscapes. This paper addresses this lacuna by providing a novel perspective on “interpretivist neuroscience” and proposes ways that current neuroscientific models can be used as a practical methodology for addressing these questions.