Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate key success factors of a business model for digitally enhanced and demand driven manufacturing of personalised apparel products. Through the investigation of a questionnaire and two focus group discussions the research outlines the co-creation of customers and the company when personalising an apparel productafter individual requests. Furthermore, it examines the relationship and impacts of service experiences towards the customer journey of value-adding personalisation. Methodology: This study is based on a mixed-method design. The empirical data weregathered through an online questionnaire, which reached out to 183 participants. Furthermore, the data were collected from two focus group discussions with seven students in total. The  discussions were transcribed, coded and analysed using a comparative analysis approach. The main limitations of the research are the limited amount of questionnaire participants and focus groups as well as the focus on personalisation services regarding apparel products. Findings: The findings of the analysis point out that in order to establish a beneficial demand driven business model for the personalisation of apparel products, a company has to adopt factors such as raising awareness, ensure value-adding integration, ideal information sharing, straightforward operation, incorporate customer’s knowledge, customer satisfaction, enablevaluable personalisation as well as consider customer’s emotion. Additionally, the results illustrate that service experiences have an impact on the customer journey of a personalisation. Contribution: This paper contributes to the academia by investigating a framework for ther elationship between a customer journey and the service experiences while co-designing a product with a company. Practical contributions are made by investigating key success factors for digitally enhanced, demand driven manufacturing of personalised apparel products and by giving new insights in the integration of customers when using the service of personalisation. The generated framework and the key success factors can be principle guidelines for entrepreneurs and established businesses as well as for future investigations.

Företag tenderar att leverera meningsfulla kundupplevelser genom användning av kundresor. En kundresa föreställer ett händelseförlopp som innefattar kundens hela livscykel, från förköpsfas till efterköpsfas. Inom kundresor utgör företagsägda kontaktpunkter en central del, eftersom det är via dessa som företag och kunder utbyter information sinsemellan genom hela kundresan. Rätt information är A och O för att företag ska kunna kommunicera med de rätta kunderna, vid rätt tidpunkt och med relevant budskap, oavsett vilken kontaktpunkt som kunden än väljer. Rätt information förutsätter tillgång till relevanta och kvalitetsrika data samt kräver adekvata åtgärder för att möjliggöra ett entydigt och komplett informationsflöde. Detta är lättare sagt än gjort. Faktum är att det i dagsläget saknas tydliga riktlinjer för hur företag bör integrera kontaktpunkter för att säkerställa ett avbrottfritt informationsutbyte. Inom tidigare forskning saknas studier av faktiska fall. Därför har denna studie genomförts som en fallstudie med syfte att undersöka hur en enskild verksamhet inom biltillverkningsindustrin, integrerar egna kontaktpunkter. Studiens resultat tyder på att det finns negativa faktorer som försvårar informationsutbyte och samtidigt utgör ett hot mot positiva faktorer som innefattar verksamhetens kärnprocesser för att effektivisera informationsutbyte. För att upprätthålla ett effektivt informationsutbyte och för att skydda verksamheten mot negativa faktorer, bör positiva faktorer vara synkroniserade. Lösningen förutsätter en gemensam IT-arkitektur, som innefattar system och verktyg som är lämpade för kundinteraktion samt som kan sammankopplas med verksamhetens kärnprocesser. / Companies tend to deliver meaningful customer experiences by using customer journeys. A customer journey represents a sequence of events that include the customer's entire purchase cycle, from pre-purchase phase to post-purchase phase. In these journeys, company owned touchpoints constitute a key part, as it is through these touchpoints that companies and customers share information with one another throughout the entire customer journey. Accurate information is imperative for the companies to communicate with the right customer, at the right time and with a relevant message, regardless of which touchpoint the customer chooses. Accurate information requires access to relevant and high quality data, as well as adequate measures to enable unambiguous and complete flow of information. In fact, this is easier said than done. There are currently no clear guidelines on how companies should integrate touchpoints to ensure an uninterrupted information sharing. In previous research, there is a lack of studies conducted on factual cases. Therefore, this study has been conducted as a case study, which aim is to study an automobile company’s approach to integrate its touchpoints. The result of this study indicates that there are negative factors that hamper the information sharing, and at the same time pose a threat to positive factors that include core business processes to streamline information sharing. To maintain an effective information sharing, and to protect the business against negative factors, positive factors should be synchronized. This solution requires a corporate IT architecture, which includes suitable systems and tools for customer interaction, and which can be linked to the core processes of the business.

Fastighetsmäklarbranschen befinner sig i en utveckling mot ökadekrav och förväntningar från potentiella köpare, säljare ochsamhället i stort. Detta har skapat ett behov av kunskap kringframgångsfaktorer och visualisering med målet att förbättraframtidens förmedlingsprocess. Syftet med föreliggande studie harvarit att fylla en kunskapslucka för studiens begrepp win-win-windär fokus har varit på hur man balanserar så alla parter det vil lsäga säljare, köpare och mäklare går vinnande på bostadsaffären.Den metodologiska design byggdes på kvalitativ empiritriangulerad från de tre perspektiven med intervjusvar från 3säljare, 3 köpare och 7 fastighetsmäklare med tillägg från densvenska myndigheten för registrering, tillsyn och disciplinnämndför fastighetsmäklare, Fastighetsmäklarinspektionen (FMI). Varjepart fick ge sitt utlåtande för vad som skapar värde i processen. Ettvetenskapligt tänkande antogs utifrån fokus på kvalitetsteknik ochverksamhetsutveckling. Systematiska analyser av intervjuernapresenterades i en processkarta över fastighetsmäklarensverksamhet. Resultatet visade att den röda tråden genomförmedlingsprocessen är att sätta värdeskapande i centrum och attge det lilla extra. Slutsatsen blev att framgångsfaktorerna utgörsav; emotionell intelligens, flexibilitet, kundförståelse, långsiktigakundrelationer, trygghet och överträffa förväntningarna. Slutligenfinns ett behov av vidare forskning kring långsiktighet, attöverträffa även framtidens förväntningar på fastighetsmäklare, i enbransch som genomgår ständiga förändringar. / Real estate agency as a business field is under development formeeting increasing demands from potential buyers, sellers andsociety overall, creating a need for knowledge of success factorsand process visualisation to improve future agency opportunities.The purpose of the study has been to cover a knowledge gap of awin-win-win situation for long lasting customer relationships,where the agent can find winning aspects illuminating co-creationof value in use together with potential clients. The methodologicaldesign was built on qualitative data triangulation from threeperspectives with interview answers from 3 buyers, 3 sellers and 7real estate agents with additional answers from the addition of theSwedish estate agents inspectorate. A scientific approach wasadopted focusing on the quality management and businessdevelopment field. Systematic analyses of the interviews have beenpresented in a process map from the real estate agents’ business view. The main themes were summarized from new insights intosuccess factors. Results showed the importance of illuminatingvalue creation and to give a little extra. The conclusions turned outin value creation success themes consisting of emotionalintelligence, flexibility, customer knowledge. longterm customerrelationships, trust and exceeding expectations. Left for futureresearch from a quality management perspective is to keeppursuing this avenue to meet upcoming expectations on the realestate agent, in this business field undergoing constant change. / <p>2021-06-06</p>

Le management de l’expérience client est un terrain d’étude trop peu exploré en marketing (Lars Grønholdt et al., 2015; Lemon et Verhoef, 2017) et de nombreux professionnels décrivent les enjeux stratégiques, plus spécifiquement, de la conception de parcours client ainsi que la complexité managériale à les concevoir en situation de cross-canal.Notre but, dans une visée prescriptive et normative de la recherche, est d’améliorer, à travers la création d’un outil de gestion, les capacités marketing des managers de parcours client. Nous limitions notre travail doctoral au secteur de la distribution française en cross-canal. La thèse suit la méthodologie de Design Science (Romme, 2003) visant à concevoir un artefact, c’est-à-dire un outil de gestion dont les professionnels peuvent s’emparer pour réduire la complexité du management de l’expérience client. Trois études empiriques qualitatives sont conduites : deux séries d’entretiens individuels et une étude de cas pour tester l’outil conçu.L’artefact développé dans cette thèse comprend un ensemble de concepts, une méthode de travail ainsi que sa réalisation effective appelée instanciation, fondée sur les résultats des deux premiers terrains. Nous montrons que le choix théorique de considérer le parcours client comme une coproduction de ressources et de fonder la conception de parcours sur une structure modulaire permet d’améliorer les capacités marketing et d’en développer de nouvelles, contribuant ainsi au savoir managérial mais aussi académique car notre recherche explore, d’un point de vue théorique, les ressources engagées par le client et l’entreprise, ainsi que les capacités marketing nécessaires pour le manager et leurs dynamiques. / Customer experience management is less explored in marketing (Lars Grønholdt et al., 2015; Lemon and Verhoef, 2017) and many practitioners describe strategic issues, and specifically, the managerial complexity to design of customer journey in cross-channel location.Our goal in our prescriptive and normative research, is aiming to improve, through the creation of a management tool, managers’ marketing capabilities. We restrict our doctoral work to French cross-channel retail. The thesis follows the Design Science Methodology (Romme, 2003) aimed at designing an artifact, which is a management tool that professionals can take to reduce the complexity of customer experience management. Three qualitative empirical studies are conducted: two series of interviews and a case study to test the artifact.The artifact developed in this thesis includes a set of concepts, a method and its effective realization called instantiation, based on the results of the first two interviews. We show that the theoretical choice to consider the customer journey as a co-production of resources and the design of customer journey as a modular structure allows to improve actual marketing capabilities and develop new ones, thus contributing to managerial knowledge but also academic because our research explores, from a theoretical point of view, the resources committed by the customer and the company, as well as marketing capabilities for the manager and their dynamics.

Staging experiences and providing optimal customer experience has become the new battlefield within the marketing segment, since the introduction of experience economy. The modern customer has multiple devices, channels and touchpoints to interact with the organization and with rapidly changing digital technology, where the product or service information are available online 24/7, he/ she is in-charge of his/ her own experiences. This multitude of options pose great challenges for the organization to understand customer needs, expectations, and behavior, and predict and manage customer experience. Despite numerous studies and streams of literature, several authors, scholars, and practitioners have developed fragmented frameworks and models that partially addresses this multidimensional construct of customer experience. Furthermore, things get complicated when these fragmented constructs are used by the luxury travel industry to design, develop, and manage customer experience. Therefore, in order to address this broad concept and provide the organization with a holistic framework that can be leveraged for providing customer experience, we conducted a qualitative multi-case study, that included 14 semi-structured interviews from various actors within the supply- chain of the luxury travel industry. Using thematic analysis, the rich empirical data from the interviews were analyzed and transformed into sub-themes and themes. Keeping these themes as the foundation, we propose an integrated conceptual model that captures a firm integrating customer and co-creation perspectives to provide customer experience. This integrated model consists of five building blocks, Organizational Factors, Design, Delivery and Management of customer experience, Co-Creation, Customer Experience Insights / Metrics and Moderating Factors, that coupled together should influence customer experience. Using this conceptual model, we analyzed how different actors within the supply-chain provide customer experience. Subsequently, we also develop a customer journey map (from a customer perspective) consisting of customer needs, channels, and touchpoints to understand the critical touchpoint that act as the primary contributors for providing customer experience. And finally, we highlight the driving factors and barriers for providing customer experience within luxury travel industry.

Rapid digital transformation, accelerated by covid-19 and a younger, more digital workforce, has changed the B2B sales environment affecting customer behavior, business practices and technologies. To adapt to this change B2B companies need to create new endeavors that connect marketing and sales activities, and identify how these can be efficiently enhanced by technology and digital tools. There is a need to identify effective tactics in different phases of the marketing and sales process. Consequently, more academic research is needed to investigate critical issues that technology may have in the B2B buying process. This paper thereby aims to establish a framework for B2B companies on how to optimize the customer journey by supporting the sales process with digital inbound marketing. This is examined by looking at how B2B companies can optimize the sales process by targeting customers’ needs with relevant actions throughout the customer journey with the help of technology and digital means. The results of this exploratory single case study demonstrates that the customer journey is complex with several touchpoints, and to create optimized processes, the customer journey must be adapted to each specific customer segment. Further, the study also contributes to the literature by demonstrating the importance of the marketing and sales departments being integrated and working together to create efficient processes. The presented framework for a customer journey can be used by managers to visualize the sales process, and identify at what stages the process can be made more efficient by digital means.

The modern retail landscape is experiencing a continuous change due to digitalization. With the growing number of available channels, consumers' consequent behavior within the fashion retail environment are becoming ever more complex. Which thus poses a challenge for fashion retailers in trying to not only understand them, but how to serve them best. Along this evolution of retail due to digitalization, physical retail stores have closed down due to the increasing competition from e-commerce, although it remains the biggest distribution channel. The role of the physical store is thus experiencing elements of an existential crisis. In this, Generation Z remains an ambiguous consumer segment whose importance will only increase as the generation comes into its purchasing prime. But, Generation Z is not yet well understood as limited research exists on the subject. And as they’re the digital native generation, where retail omnichannel strategies are commonplace, seeking to understand their attitudes, preferences and perceptions of omnichannel retailing, but also the physical store, is thus essential moving into the future. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to distinguish and explore the value of the physical store in the eyes of Generation Z in an omnichannel strategy, within the context of fashion retailing. RQ: What is the role of physical fashion stores within omnichannel strategy, in regard to Generation Z? In order to answer the research question, the method of choice was a qualitative one. The consequent empirical findings were gathered from seven semi-structured interviews, six from Generation Z respondents and one from the CCO of Gina Tricot, yielding a managerial perspective. Thus, allowing for triangulation opportunities. Moreover, besides the empirical findings, we present a proposed framework which illustrates how and why Generation Z’s behavior, preferences and perceptions have ultimately altered the role of physical stores to be one of increasing complementarity within the context of an omnichannel strategy. In describing this evolution, multiple characteristics of Generation Z are distinguished. Finally, this thesis provides a deepened knowledge on how retailers may use their physical store within an omnichannel strategy to better serve Generation Z consumers in order to enhance customer experience and satisfaction. The empirical findings exhibit the physical store as an essential part for consumers within the context of other available channels online. Where multiple aspects otherwise not satisfied through online channels, serve an important purpose for Generation Z consumers. This thesis may thus offer value for retailers in how to balance various appreciated aspects of the physical store, whilst incorporating some of the desired elements of online, to increase the customer experience of physical stores.

Digitaliseringen har blivit en av de viktigaste pågående omvandlingarna som sker i nutida samhället och denna utveckling är viktig inom specifikt detaljhandeln samt modebranschen. Då modebranschen befinner sig på en global marknad har de utvecklat olika försäljnings-strategier på olika plattformar, för att bemöta konsumenters efterfrågan till digitala lösningar. Digitaliseringen har därmed spelat en stor roll inom modebranschen och efter internets uppkomst har digitala transformationer blivit alltmer synligt inom modebranschen. Därmed har denna kvalitativa studie undersökt hur konsumentens kundresa påverkar organisationer till att genomföra digitala transformationer inom modebranschen i Stockholm. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur företag digitaliserar samt utvecklar sin verksamhet i form av att implementera digitala teknologier för att utveckla marknadsföringsstrategier samt digitala plattformar för att bemöta konsuments behov. För att undersöka studiens forskningsfråga har forskarna använt sig av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod som består av semistrukturerade intervjuer, av totalt fem respondenter från tre olika företag. Ytterligare har tre fokusgruppsintervjuer genomförts där konsumenter bosatta i Stockholm och tillhörande generation Z har deltagit för att berätta kring sina kundresor och hur dessa påverkas av olika företag. En desktopstudie som analyserar ett företags digitala transformation har genomförts. Resultatet visa att konsumenter har en stor efterfrågan på digitala lösningar från företag samt att företag har genomfört digitala transformationer för att bemöta dessa behov. De har utvecklat nya digitala plattformar samt marknadsföringsstrategier för att bemöta konsumenternas önskemål, allt från att skapa samarbeten med influensers till att samarbeta med andra externa partners för att exponeras på fler digitala kanaler och plattformar. Konsumenter kan därmed anses som deltagare utöver kund i företags arbetssystem. Därmed kan slutsatserna dras att digital transformation är essentiellt för alla företag inom modebranschen för att kunna stötta konsumenter i dess kundresa hela vägen. / Digitization has become one of the most important transformations taking place and this development is important in the retail- and the fashion industry. This is due to the fashion industry being located on a global market where different sales strategies have evolved for different platforms, to respond on consumers demand for digital solutions. Digitalization has therefore played a major role in the fashion industry and with the origin of the internet, more companies in the fashion industry have implemented digital transformation. Therefore, this thesis has examined how the consumers’ customer journey affects organizations to implement digital transformation in Sweden’s fashion industry. The purpose of the present study was to examine how companies have digitized and developed their business, by implementing digital technologies to enable development of marketing strategies and digital platforms to meet consumer needs. To answer the thesis research question, the researchers used a qualitative research method consisting of semi-structured interviews, containing a total of five respondents from three different companies. In addition, three focus group interviews were conducted consisting of consumers living in Stockholm and belonging to generation Z. The participants spoke of their customer journey and how it is affected by different companies. The researchers also performed a desktop study consisting of a company’s digital transformation. This has led to the result that consumers are demanding digital solutions from companies as well as companies having to implement digital transformations. They have developed new digital platforms and marketing strategies to meet consumers’ needs. Companies have created collaborations with influencers and with other external partners to be exposed on more digital channels and platforms. Therefore, the studied consumers can be considered as participants in addition to being consumers in companies’ work systems. This has led to the conclusion that digital transformation is essential for companies in the fashion industry to be able to support consumers in their customer journey.

Returer är ett ämne som fått stor uppmärksamhet i dagens modeindustri på grund av ökad medvetenhet om hållbarhet och för att returer utgör en risk för företags lönsamhet. I takt med att e-handeln växt har antalet returer ökat och det blir därför viktigt för företag att rikta resurser mot att förebygga returer. Ett problem företag stöter på är den ökade kostnaden när det kommer till returer då det är svårt att förutse hur stor volym som kommer att returneras. När det kommer till tidigare studier angående returer har dessa fokuserat på returpolicys, returhantering samt hur konsumenters returbeteende ser ut. Däremot finns det inte tillräckligt med forskning om hur företag kan styra konsumenter i returprocessen och hur kommunikationen om returhanteringsprocessen ser ut. Syftet är därför att undersöka hur modeföretag styr konsumenten i returprocessen för att få fler insikter om hur företag kan påverka sina konsumenter att göra färre returer. Det teoretiska perspektivet som undersökningen utgår ifrån är institutionell teori, där begreppen legitimitet, isomorfism och frikoppling har använts som analysverktyg. Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där materialinsamlingen bestod av semistrukturerade intervjuer och observationer på fyra e-handelsföretag inom modehandeln och sportvarubranschen. Resultatet identifierade tre områden; förebyggande åtgärder, två olika returprocesser samt att returprocessen ger information till köpprocessen som underlättar för konsumenten att ta olika beslut. Vi har i resultatet även analyserat detta i ett fjärde område, vilket är utifrån institutionell teori. De olika förebyggande åtgärder som företag ägnar sig åt är storleksguider, tydlig kommunikation om produkterna, kundrecensioner och returkostnader. De två olika returprocesserna som identifierats är en pappersbaserad returprocess och en digital returprocess, där resultatet visar att företag går mot en mer digitaliserad process. Vi kan även se att returprocessen är ett verktyg många företag använder för att samla in information om sina konsumenter genom olika aktiviteter för att utveckla och underlätta köpprocessen. I diskussionen förklarar vi hur vår forskning är unik i relation till tidigare forskning inom returprocessen. Detta diskuteras utifrån tre olika områden som baseras på resultatet av studien. De tre områdena är; pappersbaserade returprocesser blir digitala, returprocessen underlättar köpprocessen och att förenklade returprocesser leder till fler returer. Slutsatsen med studien är att returprocessen och köpprocessen hänger ihop och kan beskrivas som ett cirkulärt flöde. Detta kan bidra till att företag kan få ökad förståelse av hur viktig returprocessen är för att samla information och lära känna sina konsumenter, vilket ökar lönsamheten för företagen. / Ecommerce returns is a subject that has gained a lot of attention in the modern fashion industry due to the increasing awareness of sustainability and to the fact that returns are a tangible risk to a company's profitability. As the ecommerce is growing, the return margins increase accordingly, and therefore it is important for companies to direct their resources in order to prevent additional returns. A common problem companies encounter is the increased costs when it comes to returns, since it is hard to predict the volume of the returns. When it comes to former studies regarding returns, the focus has been on companies' return policies, the managing of returns and the general behavior of customers when making returns. However, there is not enough research material regarding how companies can guide their customers into making fewer returns, and what the communication about the return process looks like. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine how companies guide their customers throughout the return process to get a better insight into how companies can influence their customers into making fewer returns. The theoretical perspective in this study is based on institutional theory, where the concepts of legitimacy, isomorphism and decoupling were used as analytical tools. The study uses a qualitative research method where the data collection consisted of semi structured interviews and observations from four different ecommerce companies within the fashion industry and sports retail industry. The result of the study identifies three areas of importance; preventive actions, two different types of return processes and finally that the return process gives the companies information about the consumer that is useful to develop the buying process which will, in turn, help the customers decision making. The result also includes an analysis on the three themes with the perspective of institutional theory. Preventive measures that companies use are size guides, communication about the products, customer reviews and return fees. The two different types of return processes that are identified are a paper based return process and a completely digital return process, where the result shows that most companies strive for a digital return process. We can also determine that the return process is a valuable tool for companies regarding collecting data about their customers through different activities for developing and facilitating the buying process. The discussion explains how this study is unique compared to former studies regarding the return process. This is discussed based on three areas regarding the result of the study; paper based returns are becoming digital, that the return process aids the purchase process and that simplified return processes lead to more returns. Our conclusion is that the return process and the purchase process are interrelated and can be described as a circular process. This may contribute to companies' increased knowledge regarding how important the return process is for gathering information about their customers, and getting to know them better, which in all may increase profitability for the companies.

Detta examensarbete undersöker användningen av mobiltelefoner som verktyg under användares beslutsprocess i en omnichannel-kundresa med fysisk och virtuell interaktion. Syftet är att identifiera både möjligheter och problem som kan uppstå vid användning av mobilen i en sådan interaktion, med fokus på fenomenet Webrooming. Studien belyser vikten av interaktionsdesign och tjänstedesign för att skapa en sömlös och positiv kundupplevelse i omnichannel-detaljhandeln. Examensarbetet undersöker tidigare forskning inom området, analyserar befintliga exempel på omnichannel-strategier samt undersöker användares beslutsprocess med mobilen som verktyg. Studien tar insikter från Cultural Probes som metod där användare dokumenterar en Webrooming-resa med olika medel där mobilen är i fokus. Intervjuer genomförs för att komplettera eventuella kunskapsluckor och öka förståelsen för deltagarnas inlämnade kit. Vidare analyseras insamlade data via Affinitetsdiagram samt Customer Journey Maps. Genom att tillhandahålla en djupgående analys av den nuvarande situationen inom användarens beslutsprocess, kan detta examensarbete bidra till en ökad förståelse för hur användaren använder mobilen som verktyg under den fysiska och virtuella interaktionen med ett företags olika tjänster under en webrooming-resa. Studiens resultat visar att mobilen används genomgående under hela kundresan för beslutsfattande, informationssökande, jämförelser och rekommendationer. Den slutsats som dras från studien är att mobilen används för beslutsfattande på ett flertal punkter och är ett viktigt verktyg under användarens beslutsprocess. Trots vissa utmaningar med mobiltelefonen som verktyg, såsom små skärmar och problem med mobilwebbsidor, upplevs mobiltelefonen som ett lättillgängligt och smidigt verktyg. / This thesis examines the use of mobile phones as tools during users' decision-making process in an omnichannel customer journey with physical and virtual interactions. The purpose is to identify both opportunities and issues that may arise when using the mobile phone in such interactions, with a focus on the phenomenon of webrooming. The study highlights the importance of interaction design and service design in creating a seamless and positive customer experience in omnichannel retail. To achieve this, the thesis examines previous research in the field, analyzes existing examples of omnichannel strategies, and investigates users' decision-making process using the mobile phone as a tool. The study employs insights from Cultural Probes as a method, where users document a webrooming journey using various means with the mobile phone at the center. Interviews are conducted to fill any knowledge gap and increase understanding of participants' submitted kits. Furthermore, collected data is analyzed through Affinity Diagrams and Customer Journey Maps. By providing an in-depth analysis of the current situation within the user's decision-making process, this thesis can contribute to a better understanding of how users use the mobile phone as a tool during the physical and virtual interaction with a company's various services during a webrooming journey. The findings of the study show that the mobile phone is consistently used throughout the entire customer journey for decision-making, information-seeking, comparisons, and recommendations. The conclusion drawn from the study is that the mobile phone is used for decision-making at multiple points and is an important tool during a user's decision-making process. Despite certain challenges with the mobile phone as a tool, such as small screens and issues with mobile web pages, the mobile phone is perceived as an accessible and convenient tool.