Because of the digitalization that takes place today, the retailing field has changed dramatically. Customers buy online, mainly because of its convenience. Consequently, brick-and-mortar stores are facing competition from online companies leading to that some brick-and-mortar stores have to file for bankruptcy. The literature states that brick-and-mortar stores now have to focus on what happens inside the store in order to generate a pleasant experience. In this context, three different concepts are crucial namely, omni-channels, retail customer experience and customer value.  A concept that has emerged in order to provide a superior customer experience is Mash-up, which focuses on a mix of offerings in one store. The research question focuses on examining how Mash-up influences retail customer experience and customer value in order to see how Mash-up combined with omni-channels can influence store attractiveness. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews from customers who visited the retail stores O:Hedd and AB Småland. The results show that Mash-up tends to influence retail customer experience and customer value positively. A series of various integrated activities tend to not only have a positive impact on the retail customer experience, but it also tends to satisfy both hedonic and utilitarian value. It also emerged that omni-channels, in terms of click-and-collect, are highly valued by the customers and it indicates that the digitalization has to be taken into consideration. Thus, Mash-up combined with omni-channels will influence store attractiveness positively. Thereby, by adopting Mash-up and considering omni-channels, brick-and-mortar stores will still stand a chance against online companies.

Retail apocalypse has been discussed as a result of the increasing online consumption due to a digitalized society. Many researchers claim that the future of consumption will solely take place digitally, that the physical store won't have an actual function and will eventually get replaced by new appealing meeting places online. Why do companies choose to keep and newly establish physical stores in a digitalized society? Which synergies between online channels and physical stores do companies choose to use in order to create a favorable interface? By implementing qualitative semi structured interviews with five different companies, the answer to the above mentioned questions is therefore that companies that sell high engagement products tend to have a higher need of physical stores despite digitalization. Such companies consider that physical stores and online channels are complements to each other, thus one needs the other in order to perform as well as desired. Another aspect that is more achievable in physical stores compared to online channels is the cross sales aspect. Additionally, companies tend to use transparency and digitalized transitions between their different sales channels in order to achieve the highest desired results.  Therefore, the aim of this study is to add a new knowledge aspect to the already existing research in this field. That is, through shedding the light on the remaining need of physical stores for companies that sell high engagement products. Hence, this study could be summed up with the simple fact that retail apocalypse is not the ultimate truth in all situations. / Butiksdöden har länge diskuterats till följd av den ökande e-handeln som har framkommit i samband med det digitaliserade samhället. Många forskare menar att framtidens handel enbart kommer äga rum digitalt, att den fysiska butiken inte fyller någon funktion och kommer så småningom att ersättas med nya tilltalande mötesplatser online. Varför väljer då företag att bibehålla och nyetablera fysiska butiker i ett digitaliserat samhälle och vilka synergier mellan onlinekanaler och fysiska butiker använder sig företag av för att skapa ett gynnsamt samspel? Genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem olika företag kan ovannämnda frågor besvaras genom att konstatera att företag som säljer högengagemangsprodukter anser att behovet av den fysiska butiken kvarstår trots digitaliseringen. Detta då sådana företag anser att den fysiska- och den digitala verksamheten agerar komplement och därmed presterar den ena inte lika bra utan den andra. Mer försäljningen är ännu en aspekt som sker i den fysiska butiken som inte går att uppnå till samma grad genom e-handeln. Företag tillämpar även en transparens samt digitala övergångar mellan diverse försäljningskanaler för att skapa ett så gynnsamt samspel som möjligt. Syftet med denna studie är således att tillföra en kompletterande kunskapsvinkel till den redan befintliga forskningen inom området. Detta genom att belysa att företag med olika engagemangsprodukter har olika behov av en fysisk verksamhet. Därmed summeras denna studie med att butiksdöden inte är den förutsedda sanningen alla gånger.

Detaljhandeln har förändrats i och med digitaliseringens framfart. Teknikens utveckling tillsammans med en större andel uppkopplade konsumenter innebär nya försäljnings- och marknadsföringskanaler för detaljhandlare. Detta har medfört att detaljhandelsföretag ställs inför krav av att integrera de olika kanalerna med varandra vilket inom forskningen benämns som en omnikanalstrategi. Syftet med studien har varit att, ur ett företagsperspektiv, undersöka hur svenska detaljhandelskedjor arbetar med att integrera digitala och fysiska försäljnings- och marknadsföringskanaler. Detta för att erhålla en bättre förståelse för fenomenet omnikanal och hur företag går tillväga för att integrera kanalerna med varandra. Studien ämnar bidra med kunskap kring hur företag kan skapa en enhetlig upplevelse mellan sina olika kanaler. I studien har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod tillämpats där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med detaljhandelsföretag som arbetar med omnikanaler. De företag som medverkade i studien var Cervera, Elgiganten, Gina Tricot, Kappahl, Kicks, Lyko, Netonnet och Royal Design. Resultatet av studien påvisar flera aspekter gällande hur detaljhandelsföretag kan integrera de digitala och fysiska försäljnings- och marknadsföringskanaler med varandra samt dess utmaningar och möjligheter. En modell har även tagits fram, vilken består av fyra gemensamma grundläggande steg gällande att skapa en enhetlig upplevelse mellan kanalerna. De fyra stegen som identifierats är: nulägesanalys, identifiering av kundresan, skapa konsensus samt integrera system. / The retail industry has changed with the advance of the digitalization. The development of new technology and consumers who are continuously connected online implicate new sales and marketing channels for retailers. This imply that retail companies face the requirement of integrating the different channels with each other, which in research is called an omni-channel strategy. The purpose of the study has been, from a management perspective, to investigate how Swedish retail chains work to integrate both digital and physical sales and marketing channels. This to obtain a better understanding of the phenomenon omni-channel and how companies integrate the channels. The study aims to provide knowledge for how companies can create a unitary experience between their different channels. The study applied a qualitative research method in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with Swedish retail chain companies that has an omni channel strategy. The companies that participated in the study were: Cervera, Elgiganten, Gina Tricot, Kappahl, Kicks, Lyko, Netonnet and Royal Design. The results of the study show several aspects regarding how retail companies can connect their digital and physical sales and marketing channels with each other but also which challenges and opportunities there is. A model has been developed showing four common basic steps to create a unitary experience between the channels. The four steps are: status rapport, customer journey identification, creating consensus and integrating systems.

Background: E-commerce for groceries is growing and growing in Sweden and pure ecommerce companies are constantly entering the market. This study is based on Ica, which for a long time has been successful in the physical market through decentralization and the Ica-idea with individual retailers incollaboration and physical stores. To meet the new type of consumer behavior and competition Ica has developed a number of e-commerce solutions. Including the phenomenon of dark stores that indicates a new type of centralization within the group. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the experienced opportunities and limitations of a retailer-owned franchise organization in the Swedish grocery trade in its development work of e-commerce. A further purpose is to shed light on the interviewees reasoning about whether dark stores are a sustainable solution from a competitive and relational perspective. Method: In this study, a qualitative research strategy is applied in a case study design. The empirical data is generated through semi-structured interviews with managers and retailers from Ica stores in the Stockholm region and the ecommerce manager for Ica Sweden. The empirical data has then been codedand divided into four themes with associated subcategories. Literaturestudy: For the essay a literature study presenting theories and previous research on centralization and decentralization, vertical and horizontal integration, click-and-mortar, omni channels and competition was made. Afterwards it´s used as a basis for the theoretical comparison in the analysis part. Conclusion: Due to the ownership structure, the case organization is facing some unique conditions. Example, the decentralized power promotes quickness and opportunities for local adaptations, but also that a pure e-commerce modelwould be problematic. One solution the head office has developed is a dark stores service that the stores can use, which gives them access to a larger geographic market and leads to higher internal competition between thestores.