Competition in the retail field has risen during last years. Online-based retailers emerged on the market leading to higher level of competition, not only on the distribution channel but also on the depth and width of the assortment available (Hart et al., 2000). Moreover, customers are increasingly asking for broader purchase experiences (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) and retailers are enlarging the scope of their stores, hybridizing their proposition by adding new products and services to the existing mix. Innovation studies in retail has been recently focused on the shift from Multi-channel to Omni-channel customer strategies (Verhoef et al., 2015). Omni-channel customer strategies leverage on the potentialities given by digital technologies to add digital touchpoins to the store offering, to increase customer satisfaction (Blazquez 2014). Moreover, scholars have been investigating the importance of customer experience in the retail field (Pine, Gilmore, 1998) and its management. Within this approach, strategic service innovation gives a framework to increase customer experience by enlarging the scope of the service provided (Sawhney et al., 2004). The paper aims at providing guidelines to understand how the relationships among strategic decisions, hybrid retail experiences and customer journeys. The proposed framework allows to manage different categories of hybridization highlighting the fit with the pursued strategy. Through in-depth case study research (Yin, 2013, Eisenhardt, 1989), this paper investigates the customer journeys provided by 12 stores characterized by hybrid retail experience. The empirical results are based on 4 main approaches that can be adopted to develop hybrid retail experiences. They can be classified along two main dimensions: (i) role of the new product/service offering: differentiating the business or filling a category- centred offering; (ii)role of the store: providing access to goods or making customers live an experience.
• Hybrid Retail: Enriching the Customer Journey Merging Different Experiences
F. Artusi;C. Dell'Era;E. Bellini
2018-01-01
Abstract
Competition in the retail field has risen during last years. Online-based retailers emerged on the market leading to higher level of competition, not only on the distribution channel but also on the depth and width of the assortment available (Hart et al., 2000). Moreover, customers are increasingly asking for broader purchase experiences (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) and retailers are enlarging the scope of their stores, hybridizing their proposition by adding new products and services to the existing mix. Innovation studies in retail has been recently focused on the shift from Multi-channel to Omni-channel customer strategies (Verhoef et al., 2015). Omni-channel customer strategies leverage on the potentialities given by digital technologies to add digital touchpoins to the store offering, to increase customer satisfaction (Blazquez 2014). Moreover, scholars have been investigating the importance of customer experience in the retail field (Pine, Gilmore, 1998) and its management. Within this approach, strategic service innovation gives a framework to increase customer experience by enlarging the scope of the service provided (Sawhney et al., 2004). The paper aims at providing guidelines to understand how the relationships among strategic decisions, hybrid retail experiences and customer journeys. The proposed framework allows to manage different categories of hybridization highlighting the fit with the pursued strategy. Through in-depth case study research (Yin, 2013, Eisenhardt, 1989), this paper investigates the customer journeys provided by 12 stores characterized by hybrid retail experience. The empirical results are based on 4 main approaches that can be adopted to develop hybrid retail experiences. They can be classified along two main dimensions: (i) role of the new product/service offering: differentiating the business or filling a category- centred offering; (ii)role of the store: providing access to goods or making customers live an experience.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
