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1 – 2 of 2Isabelle Collin-Lachaud, Guillaume Do Vale, Jonathan Reynolds and Richard Cuthbertson
Digitalization and multi-channel strategy have appeared as recurrent themes in retailing for years, yet some major international as well as domestic mass retailers have chosen to…
Abstract
Purpose
Digitalization and multi-channel strategy have appeared as recurrent themes in retailing for years, yet some major international as well as domestic mass retailers have chosen to retain a single, physical channel focus for customer transactions. These retailers, despite the digital mindset preoccupying the retailing sector, have chosen to rely fully, or predominantly, on their stores to generate revenues. A number of questions arise from this approach. This paper aims to understand the rationale for marketing and strategic practices which appear to go against the dominant, strongly digitally oriented, discourses and practices in the field of retailing. Why do some retailers choose not to add a digital transactional channel? Are there defensible reasons for this choice? Can such a strategy successfully create value?
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on a qualitative, multiple case study of the strategies adopted by Primark (fashion) and Aldi (food), two major retailers that retain a largely single-channel transaction focus, in France and the UK.
Findings
This research suggests that some retailers may still be able to succeed by maintaining a single-transactional physical channel to avoid a cost trap which extensive moves towards digitalization of transactions might mean for them. In such circumstances, refusing to adopt a digital value proposition may be a means of preserving the success of their original business model.
Originality/value
Despite the weight of academic and practitioner discourses on the urge to undertake digital transformation, this work provides a comprehensive illustration of the rationale for sticking to a single physical channel to preserve the profitability of a traditional store-based business model.
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Keywords
Philip Tin Yun Lee, Aki Pui Yi Hui, Richard Wing Cheung Lui and Michael Chau
This paper aims to examine why retail firms seldom achieve full integration of online and offline channels as prescribed in omni-channel literature. It examines the intermediate…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine why retail firms seldom achieve full integration of online and offline channels as prescribed in omni-channel literature. It examines the intermediate process of channel integration from an internal, operational perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is composed of two parts. In the first part, the authors interviewed informants from nine firms that were engaged in channel integration. In the second part, the authors conducted case studies with three firms from the cosmetics and skincare industry against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic to find evidence to support or negate the propositions made in the first part.
Findings
The first part identified six operational challenges to channel integration. The authors categorized these challenges into two groups: inter-channel communication and inter-channel competition. Inter-channel competition carries more weight at the latter stage of integration. The authors also identified two antecedents that affect the seriousness of these challenges: heterogeneity among channels in business operation and external competitive pressure. In the second part, the authors found that both inter-channel communication and inter-channel competition were improved because of the external competitive pressure exerted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the heterogeneity of offline channels against online channels in business operation is a double-edged sword.
Originality/value
The study identifies the changing effects of the challenges of channel integration and their antecedents in the midst of integration. The positive influence of a specific dimension of channel heterogeneity against other channels increases and then decreases along channel integration. The identification of the changing effects lays the foundation for a finer stage model of channel integration.
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