Omni-Channel Retailing Research – State of the art and intellectual foundation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: to identify, evaluate and structure the research that focusses on omni-channel retailing from the perspective of logistics and supply chain management; and to reveal the intellectual foundation of omni-channel retailing research. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies a multi-method approach by conducting a content-analysis-based literature review of 70 academic papers. Based on the reference lists of these papers, the authors performed a citation and co-citation analysis based on the 34 most frequently cited papers. This analysis included multidimensional scaling, a cluster analysis and factor analysis. Findings The study reveals the limited consideration of logistics and supply chain management literature in the foundation of the omni-channel retailing research. Further, the authors see a dominance of empirical research as compared to conceptual and analytical research. Overall, there is a focus on the Western retail context in this research field. The intellectual foundation is embedded in the marketing discipline and can be characterised as lacking a robust theoretical foundation. Originality/value The contribution of this research is identifying, evaluating and structuring the literature of omni-channel research and providing an overview of the state of the art of this research area considering its interdisciplinary nature. This paper thus supports researchers looking to holistically comprehend, prioritise and use the underpinning literature central to the phenomena of omni-channel retailing. For practitioners and academics alike, the findings can trigger and support future research and an evolving understanding of omni-channel retailing.

[1]  Michael Bourlakis,et al.  Does social exclusion influence multiple channel use? The interconnections with community, happiness, and well-being , 2016 .

[2]  Gino Marchet,et al.  A review of the environmental implications of B2C e-commerce: a logistics perspective , 2015 .

[3]  Hyun-Hwa Lee,et al.  Investigating Dimensionality of Multichannel Retailer's Cross-Channel Integration Practices and Effectiveness: Shopping Orientation and Loyalty Intention , 2010 .

[4]  Sebastian van Baal,et al.  Free riding and customer retention across retailers’ channels , 2005 .

[5]  A. Ramos-Rodríguez,et al.  Changes in the intellectual structure of strategic management research: a bibliometric study of the Strategic Management Journal, 1980–2000 , 2004 .

[6]  Alea M. Fairchild.  Extending the Network: Defining Product Delivery Partnering Preferences for Omni-channel Commerce , 2014, CENTERIS 2014.

[7]  David W. Wallace,et al.  Customer retailer loyalty in the context of multiple channel strategies , 2004 .

[8]  J. Kruskal.  Nonmetric multidimensional scaling: A numerical method , 1964 .

[9]  S. Seuring,et al.  Conducting content‐analysis based literature reviews in supply chain management , 2012 .

[10]  R. Gulati,et al.  Get the right mix of bricks & clicks. , 2000, Harvard business review.

[11]  E. P. Michael.  Strategy and the Internet. , 2001 .

[12]  R. B. Woodruff,et al.  Exploring the Phenomenon of Customers' Desired Value Change in a Business-to-Business Context , 2002 .

[13]  Katherine W. McCain,et al.  Mapping authors in intellectual space: A technical overview , 1990, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[14]  Alexander H. Hübner,et al.  Last mile fulfilment and distribution in omni-channel grocery retailing: a strategic planning framework , 2016 .

[15]  René de Koster,et al.  Distribution structures for food home shopping , 2002 .

[16]  N. Ravishanker,et al.  Multichannel Shopping: Causes and Consequences , 2007 .

[17]  Fredrik Åström.  Changes in the LIS research front: Time-sliced cocitation analyses of LIS journal articles, 1990–2004 , 2007 .

[18]  Jayashankar M. Swaminathan,et al.  Boiling Frogs: Pricing Strategies for a Manufacturer Adding a Direct Channel that Competes with the Traditional Channel , 2006 .

[19]  Michael Brusch,et al.  TRENDS IN LOGISTICS IN THE GERMAN E-COMMERCE AND THE PARTICULAR RELEVANCE OF MANAGING PRODUCT RETURNS , 2013 .

[20]  R. Lal,et al.  When and How is the Internet Likely to Decrease Price Competition , 1999 .

[21]  Fang-Fang Tang,et al.  Forthcoming , 2001, Central European History.

[22]  Jo van Nunen,et al.  E-fulfillment and multi-channel distribution - A review , 2006, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[23]  S. Zielke,et al.  Transport-related CO2 effects of online and brick-and-mortar shopping: A comparison and sensitivity analysis of clothing retailing , 2012 .

[24]  Louis W. Stern,et al.  Marketing Channel Strategy: An Omni-Channel Approach , 2019 .

[25]  C. Hill,et al.  A Guide to Conducting Consensual Qualitative Research , 1997 .

[26]  Mary Caravella,et al.  Adding Bricks to Clicks: Predicting the Patterns of Cross-Channel Elasticities over Time , 2011 .

[27]  Daryl E. Chubin,et al.  Is citation analysis a legitimate evaluation tool? , 1979, Scientometrics.

[28]  P. K. Kannan,et al.  From Multi-Channel Retailing to Omni-Channel Retailing: Introduction to the Special Issue on Multi-Channel Retailing , 2015 .

[29]  A. Howard,et al.  Balancing clicks and bricks - strategies for multichannel retailers. , 2008 .

[30]  Carl F. Mela,et al.  Customer Channel Migration , 2008 .

[31]  H. Teo,et al.  The effects of retail channel integration through the use of information technologies on firm performance , 2012 .

[32]  J. Cullen,et al.  Online retail returns management: Integration within an omni-channel distribution context , 2016 .

[33]  V. Kumar,et al.  Who are the multichannel shoppers and how do they perform?: Correlates of multichannel shopping behavior , 2005 .

[34]  M. Holbrook,et al.  The Intellectual Structure of Consumer Research: A Bibliometric Study of Author Cocitations in the First 15 Years of the Journal of Consumer Research , 1993 .

[35]  F. Russo,et al.  A classification of city logistics measures and connected impacts , 2010 .

[36]  S. Balasubramanian.  Mail Versus Mall: a Strategic Analysis of Competition Between Direct Marketers and Conventional Retailers , 1998 .

[37]  Inge Geyskens,et al.  How cannibalistic is the internet channel? A study of the newspaper industry in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands , 2002 .

[38]  Dennis Herhausen,et al.  Integrating Bricks with Clicks: Retailer-Level and Channel-Level Outcomes of Online–Offline Channel Integration , 2015 .

[39]  Herbert Kotzab,et al.  Value-adding partnerships and co-opetition models in the grocery industry , 2003 .

[40]  Howard D. White,et al.  Author cocitation: A literature measure of intellectual structure , 1981, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[41]  Herbert Kotzab,et al.  Foundations of logistics and supply chain research: a bibliometric analysis of four international journals , 2013 .

[42]  Julian Allen,et al.  University of Westminster Eprints , 2006 .

[43]  Emmeline Taylor,et al.  Mobile payment technologies in retail: a review of potential benefits and risks , 2016 .

[44]  Florian Zettelmeyer,et al.  Expanding to the Internet: Pricing and Communications Strategies When Firms Compete on Multiple Channels , 2000 .

[45]  Elliot Rabinovich,et al.  Investigating the Effects of Daily Inventory Record Inaccuracy in Multichannel Retailing , 2013 .

[46]  C. Defee,et al.  Realignment of the physical distribution process in omni-channel fulfillment , 2016 .

[47]  Lanlan Cao,et al.  Business Model Transformation in Moving to a Cross-Channel Retail Strategy: A Case Study , 2014, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[48]  Sean B. Eom.  Author Cocitation Analysis: Quantitative Methods for Mapping the Intellectual Structure of an Academic Discipline , 2008 .

[49]  Eyal Biyalogorsky,et al.  Clicks and Mortar: The Effect of On-line Activities on Off-line Sales , 2003 .

[50]  Norbert Beck,et al.  Categorization of multiple channel retailing in Multi-, Cross-, and Omni‐Channel Retailing for retailers and retailing , 2015 .

[51]  Katherine W. McCain,et al.  Visualizing a discipline: an author co-citation analysis of information science, 1972–1995 , 1998 .

[52]  Herbert Kotzab,et al.  THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATION OF THE JOURNAL OF BUSINESS LOGISTICS AND ITS EVOLUTION BETWEEN 1978 AND 2007 , 2010 .

[53]  Sia Siew Kien,et al.  Hummel's Digital Transformation Toward Omnichannel Retailing: Key Lessons Learned , 2015, MIS Q. Executive.

[54]  Peter J. Williamson,et al.  The new mission for multinationals , 2015 .

[55]  S. Neslin,et al.  Multichannel customer management: Understanding the research-shopper phenomenon , 2007 .

[56]  Barry M. Staw,et al.  What Theory is Not , 1995 .

[57]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[58]  A. Tsay,et al.  Modeling Conflict and Coordination in Multi-Channel Distribution Systems: A Review , 2004 .

[59]  Nicholas Ladany,et al.  Consensual Qualitative Research: An Update , 2005 .

[60]  Maria Madlberger,et al.  European retailing in e‐transition?: An empirical evaluation of Web‐based retailing – indications from Austria , 2001 .

[61]  O. Persson.  The intellectual base and research fronts of JASIS 1986–1990 , 1994 .

[62]  A. Gurumurthy,et al.  Leanness assessment: a literature review , 2016 .

[63]  Barry Berman,et al.  A guide to developing and managing a well‐integrated multi‐channel retail strategy , 2004 .

[64]  Santiago Gallino,et al.  How to win in an Omnichannel world , 2014 .

[65]  Jacquelyn S. Thomas,et al.  Challenges and Opportunities in Multichannel Customer Management , 2006 .

[66]  Glenn B. Voss,et al.  Determinants of online channel use and overall satisfaction with a relational, multichannel service provider , 2003 .

[67]  Patrali Chatterjee,et al.  Causes and consequences of ‘order online pick up in-store’ shopping behavior , 2010 .

[68]  M. Dekimpe,et al.  The Market Valuation of Internet Channel Additions , 2002 .

[69]  Beverley G. Hope,et al.  The Buywell Way: seven essential practices of a highly successful multi-channel e-tailer , 2005, Australas. J. Inf. Syst..

[70]  Sascha Steinmann,et al.  Effects of cross-channel synergies and complementarity in a multichannel e-commerce system – an investigation of the interrelation of e-commerce, m-commerce and IETV-commerce , 2013 .

[71]  Christina Courtright,et al.  Context in information behavior research , 2007 .

[72]  Sascha Steinmann,et al.  Cross-channel integration – is it valued by customers? , 2011 .

[73]  H. Kotzab,et al.  Complementary theories to supply chain management revisited – from borrowing theories to theorizing , 2015 .

[74]  John G. Lynch,et al.  Interactive Home Shopping: Consumer, Retailer, and Manufacturer Incentives to Participate in Electronic Marketplaces , 1997 .

[75]  Andra Angeleanu.  New Technology Trends and Their Transformative Impact on Logistics and Supply Chain Processes , 2015 .

[76]  A. Tsay,et al.  Channel Conflict and Coordination in the E‐Commerce Age , 2004 .

[77]  Li Li,et al.  The Impact of Cross-Channel Integration on Retailers’ Sales Growth , 2015 .

[78]  Peijun Guo,et al.  Product distribution and coordination strategies in a multi-channel context , 2011 .

[79]  D. Tranfield,et al.  Producing a systematic review. , 2009 .

[80]  V. Mahajan,et al.  Consumers in a multichannel environment: Product utility, process utility, and channel choice , 2005 .

[81]  S. Neslin,et al.  Multichannel Shopper Segments and Their Covariates , 2008 .

[82]  Qin Geng,et al.  Production , Manufacturing and Logistics Inventory competition and allocation in a multi-channel distribution system , 2007 .

[83]  J. Kruskal.  Multidimensional scaling by optimizing goodness of fit to a nonmetric hypothesis , 1964 .

[84]  Stephen Mahar,et al.  The value of postponing online fulfillment decisions in multi-channel retail/e-tail organizations , 2009, Comput. Oper. Res..

[85]  Elliot Bendoly,et al.  Online/In-Store Integration and Customer Retention , 2005 .

[86]  Erik Brynjolfsson,et al.  Frictionless Commerce? A Comparison of Internet and Conventional Retailers , 2000 .

[87]  Wojciech Piotrowicz,et al.  Introduction to the Special Issue Information Technology in Retail: Toward Omnichannel Retailing , 2014, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[88]  Barton A. Weitz,et al.  Crafting Integrated Multichannel Retailing Strategies , 2010 .

[89]  Dilip Chhajed,et al.  Direct Marketing, Indirect Profits: A Strategic Analysis of Dual - Channel Supply - Chain Design , 2003, Manag. Sci..

[90]  Christopher S. Tang,et al.  Production, Manufacturing and Logistics A model for analyzing multi-channel distribution systems , 2005 .

[91]  Alexander H. Hübner,et al.  Retail logistics in the transition from multi-channel to omni-channel , 2016 .

[92]  S. Neslin,et al.  Key Issues in Multichannel Customer Management: Current Knowledge and Future Directions , 2009 .

[93]  T. Skjøtt-Larsen,et al.  Complementary theories to supply chain management , 2007 .

[94]  T. Rudolph,et al.  Situation-related tasks for mobile services in retailing , 2009 .

[95]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[96]  David Simchi-Levi,et al.  Handbook of Quantitative Supply Chain Analysis , 2004 .

[97]  O. Persson,et al.  Entrepreneurial Studies: The Dynamic Research Front of a Developing Social Science , 2006 .

[98]  Angus Jenkinson,et al.  Evolutionary implications for touchpoint planning as a result of neuroscience: A practical fusion of database marketing and advertising , 2007 .

[99]  Alec J Dorman.  Omni-Channel Retail and the New Age Consumer: An Empirical Analysis of Direct-to- Consumer Channel Interaction in the Retail Industry , 2013 .

[100]  Stefan Seuring,et al.  From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain management , 2008 .