Omnichannel is a term that aims to clarify the customer perspective by integrating processes so the customer can interact through all available channels seamlessly. Common channels used are such as physical stores, websites or apps, where the integration of multichannel systems strives for a friction-free and a seamless shopping experience.  The purpose of this study was to examine and discuss how IKEA:s e-commerce has developed from an omnichannel perspective by describing the logistical processes for physical distribution. This was carried out using a qualitative method containing interviews, a webinar and secondary data to compose the empirical findings and was carried out as a case study.  The result displays that IKEA:s approach to omnichannel and logistical processes is in a procedure of change and adaptation to the growing e-commerce. The transformation is done to maintain flexibility and accessibility towards their consumers. The study notice that IKEA have had to deal with the increase of e-commerce by using rapid actions to be able to manage the logistical challenges, which sometimes cause long-term solutions to be de-prioritized to secure customer orders. Finally, the results show that IKEA:s delivery system is a flexible and customer centric part of their logistical processes.  Keywords: Omnichannel, E-commerce, Distribution-system, Order-system, Delivery-system / Omnichannel är en term som syftar till att förtydliga kundperspektivet genom att integrera processer för ett sömlöst flöde i alla tillgängliga kanaler. Kanalerna kan bland annat vara fysiska butiker, hemsidor eller appar, där integreringen av flerkanalssystem eftersträvar en friktionsfri och en sömlös köpupplevelse.  Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka och diskutera hur IKEA:s e-handel har utvecklats ur ett omnichannel perspektiv genom att beskriva vilka de logistiska processerna är för fysisk distribution. Studien genomfördes som en fallstudie med en kvalitativ metod innehållande intervjuer, ett webbinarium samt sekundärdata som empiriskt underlag.  Resultatet visar att IKEA:s strategi för omnichannel- och logistiska processer är i en förändring och anpassning till den växande e-handeln. Omställningen genomförs för att bibehålla flexibilitet och tillgänglighet gentemot sina konsumenter. Vidare noteras att IKEA har hanterat ökningen av e-handel genom att på kort sikt agera för de logistiska utmaningarna, vilket emellanåt har fått långsiktiga lösningar att bortprioriteras för att säkra kundorders. Slutligen visar resultatet att IKEA:s leveranssystem är en flexibel och kundcentrerad del av deras logistiska processer.  Nyckelord: Omnichannel, E-handel, Distributionssystem, Ordersystem, Leveranssystem

Nowadays, a hyper-connected consumer is not satisfied with using only one channel of everything the brand offers, but rather looks for the diversity of options to make their purchase. This research seeks to analyze how the customer experience is during the purchase process developed in the omnichannel strategy of the department store. The study used qualitative research methods to data gathering and analysis. To best capture customer experience, semi-structured interview, using open-ended questioning, was suited to data gathering. The participants were 13 customers who consented to be interviewed. Recruitment of participants concluded when data saturation occurred. It was evident how the omnichannel strategy works in a synchronized and positive way in the department store, without any interruption to consolidate the purchase.

Background  In the past, consumers would go to physical stores to gather information and end their shopping there, with physical stores being one of the few sources of product information. Today, with the coming of the digital age, there are gradually more and more channels to gather information. The development of e-commerce, social media, and entertainment type of Internet has diversified the ways of consumption, thus triggering a change in retail channels. By integrating multiple channels and enhancing the consumer's sense of consumer experience, the retail industry is gradually moving toward omnichannel. Consumers tend to combine information from physical stores with information from multiple data sources to search, compare and buy, which gives rise to omnichannel shopping behaviour.  To provide consumers with a smoother shopping experience, omnichannel improves the functional limitations of cross-channel in multi-channel retail, allowing consumers to choose the channel and method they prefer and are accustomed to. This process breaks down the constraints of time and space and provides consumers with a more comfortable shopping experience. Therefore, this paper will focus on what affected consumers’ acceptance and use of omnichannel system.  Purpose  The purpose of this study is to consider omnichannel retail as a complete commercial system, and study what are key drivers for consumers to accept and use this system. Method  This thesis takes a qualitative research analysis by conducting 10 semi-structured interview of respondents who live in Sweden. 237 initial codes were used to analyse the data by using template analysis, and thematic coding was performed through categorization and structured layer-by-layer coding.  Conclusion  The determinants of customer behaviour in omnichannel retailing in the Swedish clothing industry are: perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived safety, perceived enjoyment, social influence, price value, and personal choice, and interaction was observed between these factors. These factors act synergistically on consumers' shopping intention and then influence consumer behaviour.

Det finns mer integrerade inslag av digital teknik i fysiska butiker inom detaljhandeln. Tidigare forskning har visat att inslagen har primärt resulterat i en positiv inställning hos konsumenter. I denna kvalitativa studie undersöks hur konsumenters köpbeteende förändras utifrån den ökade digitala integrationen. Vi kan visa att integrationen av digitala inslag i butiker har lett till ett förändrat köpbeteende där konsumenter använder olika försäljningskanaler under köpprocessen. Analysen baseras på en modell som undersöker den potentiella relationen mellan köpbeteende, tid, inställning, upplevelse och tillgänglighet. Studien visar också att tillgänglighet har störst betydelse för konsumenters köpbenägenhet. Resultatet har lett till en revidering för framtida studier där vi har föreslagit att addera faktorn kontext till modellen.

Purpose - This thesis aims to describe the strategies employed by omnichannel experts in Swedish retail shops during the Covid19 pandemic. Furthermore, the integration of the physical and online channels is studied to describe the methods used to increase sales, especially in the online channels. Methodology – The study applies a qualitative method where semi-structured interviews were conducted with omnichannel experts from retail businesses. Findings – The aim of the retail shops during the Covid19 pandemic has been to perform in- store and online shopping despite the partial restrictions. Retail shops had to adapt to the changes in the Swedish market and the consumer behavior. The challenge of maintaining sales and remaining competitive has shown that Swedish retail shops have remained resilient and that adaptation has been key to their business strategies. Practical Implications – Retail businesses worldwide were forced to close their business except for their online services. However, Sweden is a particular case where retailers had to find solutions to their physical and online retail operations. Partial restrictions allowed them to carry out business activities in the Swedish market. Therefore, the current pandemic has influenced Swedish retailers to help them identify business strategies to boost their sales, especially online sales. As well as the data collection and literature findings, both cases suggest that adapting to new technologies is the key to increasing sales in all channels. Therefore, retailers should introduce new ways of working with the help of technological tools to become more competitive and provide excellent service to an increasingly demanding and technologically savvy customer. Contribution – This study contributes to the area of research that looks at how omnichannel retail structures can be improved to increase sales. And how they adapt to change market situations that influence consumer behavior.

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With the emergence of digital channels, new technologies and increased data availability- omnichannel strategy has increasingly been viewed as crucial for retailers to meet evolving consumer expectations and drive firm performance. Channel integration is a key element of this strategy, which refers to the degree to which retailers coordinate various channel functions to provide a seamless customer experience across various channels. With emerging capabilities in the industry inevitably raises consumer expectations, consumers perceive value only beyond a certain degree of channel integration. While higher degrees of coordination help meet elevated consumer expectations, these are endogenous to coordination costs. These coordination costs are not evident beforehand and can steeply rise to sabotage the presumed strategic dividends associated with channel integration. In addition to the degree of channel integration, retailers face decisions about the speed of omnichannel adoption given the entrenched competitors and strategic benefits associated in terms of securing a dominant market position and accelerated organizational learning. This dissertation contributes to the marketing channels and coordination literature with (a) a systematic review of the multichannel marketing literature by synthesizing current knowledge, its evolution, and future directions; and (b) Two theory-driven empirical research studies that provide new insights and novel implications to enrich our understanding of omnichannel integration decisions, and certain characteristics of coordination costs can derail the strategic dividends from channel integration. Together these research studies contribute to a growing literature that has outlined the complex nature of these coordination costs but few of which explain their role in determining the outcomes of omnichannel retailing. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Omnichannel retailers coordinate their online (e-commerce, mobile) and offline distribution channels (physical stores, catalogues) to provide value to customers, enabling seamless transition across various channels. With emerging capabilities in the industry inevitably raises consumer expectations, which the retailers cannot fulfill without a higher degree of channel coordination. Additionally, retailers facing competitive pressures must decide how quickly to implement a higher degree of channel coordination, which can steeply drive-up coordination cost. So, the effectiveness of retailer’s channel coordination efforts and its speed of implementation is not clear. I investigate these issues first with a systematic review of multichannel marketing literature and then examine marketing strategy factors that impact the effectiveness of channel coordination efforts. Building a unique dataset of U.S. retailing firms and using various analytical techniques, I develop two theory-driven empirical studies that reveal that channel coordination and its speed can deliver value to customers and help drive firm performance, however certain characteristics of coordination costs can undermine the benefits.

A experiência dos clientes no ambiente varejista, seja físico ou virtual, ganha destaque na literatura e nas discussões de marketing devido a seu importante papel nos delineadores do comportamento de compras, influenciado por inúmeros fatores, entre os quais as próprias experiências. O estudo das características do varejo experiencial visa compreender as técnicas contemporâneas para a criação e o gerenciamento de experiências atraentes e marcantes para os clientes. Proporcionar experiências positivas de consumo é um dos atuais desafios da gestão de marketing, seja em âmbito estratégico ou operacional, proporcionando diferenciais de mercado perante os concorrentes. Apesar de a literatura apresentar teorias seminais sobre as experiências do consumidor desde a década de 1960, o assunto ganha mais relevância quando as ofertas são comoditizadas; as empresas devem apresentar propostas de valores diferenciadas. O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar como as dimensões da integração dos ambientes off-line e on-line estão presentes no gerenciamento da experiência do cliente, sob a perspectiva de varejo supermercadista. Ressalta-se que se realizou o estudo a partir da perspectiva do varejista, abordando suas implicações gerenciais em um relevante segmento da economia e do cotidiano dos clientes. Essa perspectiva envolve características culturais, capacidades dinâmicas, orientações estratégicas e dificuldades operacionais para integrar os diferentes canais disponíveis aos clientes. Realizou-se uma pesquisa exploratória, com método qualitativo, tendo o estudo de caso como estratégia de pesquisa. Coletaram-se os dados por meio de entrevistas com roteiro semiestruturado, utilizando o modelo de projeto de gerenciamento de experiências dos clientes de Schmitt (2004). Realizou-se o estudo de caso no maior varejo supermercadista do Brasil, considerado o valor de faturamento, com entrevistas da diretora de marketing da operação brasileira e com um diretor de operações de hipermercado. Após as transcrições, os dados foram codificados, gerados atributos específicos também codificados, o que possibilitou a análise de conteúdo. Os resultados foram apresentados seguindo a codificação dos atributos e as etapas do modelo mencionado. Encontraram-se balizadores na literatura e na pesquisa empírica que permitiram confirmar os dois pressupostos iniciais do estudo: (1) a integração dos canais físico e virtual tem levado o cliente a mudar seus comportamentos e (2) o varejo deve agregar serviços às atividades no ambiente físico para melhorar a experiência de consumo. Também apresentou-se um novo constructo envolvendo o gerenciamento das experiências especificamente no varejo supermercadista. Esta concepção implementa o constructo de Terblanche (2018) e, por isso, é nomeada de constructo da experiência ampliada do cliente no supermercado, com uma dimensão adicionada: a integração das operações off-line e on-line. Essa nova dimensão congrega o acesso ou conhecimento dos clientes no canal físico do supermercado, integrando recursos, tecnologias e características do ambiente digital, tendo abrangência de operações dos canais sob a concepção omnichannel. Os principais objetivos desse constructo são: implementar as experiências do cliente no ponto de venda e fornecer vantagem competitiva ao varejista. O trabalho apresenta implicações acadêmicas e contribuições gerenciais que possibilitaram sistematizar aspectos da gestão de varejo, considerando o gerenciamento das experiências dos clientes. / Customer experience in the retail sector, whether physical or virtual, gains prominence in the literature and marketing discussions because of its important role in the delineators of shopping behavior, influenced by many factors, including experience itself. The study of the experiential retail characteristics aims at understanding contemporary techniques for creating and managing attractive and striking customer experiences. Delivering positive customer experiences is one of the current challenges of marketing management, whether strategic or operational in scope, providing market differentials. Although the literature has presented seminal theories on customer experience since the 1960s, the issue becomes more relevant when deals are commoditized; companies must submit differentiated value propositions. The objective of this study was to identify how the dimensions of off-line and online environments integration are present in the management of customer experience, from a supermarket retail perspective. It should be emphasized that the study was carried out from the perspective of the retailer, addressing its managerial implications in a relevant segment of the economy and the customers\' daily lives. This perspective involves cultural characteristics, dynamic capabilities, strategic orientations and operational difficulties in integrating the different channels available to clients. Exploratory research was carried out through a qualitative method, with a case study as a research strategy. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, using Schmitt\'s (2004) customer experience management project model. The case study was carried out in the largest supermarket retailer in Brazil, considering the billing value, with interviews of the marketing director of the Brazilian operation and an operations director of a single hypermarket. After the transcriptions, the data and the specific attributes generated were coded, which enabled content analysis. The results were presented following the coding of the attributes and the steps of the mentioned model. We have found indicators in the literature and empirical research that allowed us to confirm the two initial assumptions of the study: (1) the integration of the physical and virtual channels has led clients to change their behaviors and (2) the retailer must aggregate services to the activities in the physical environment in order to improve consumer experience. We also presented a new construct involving the management of experiences specifically in the supermarket retail. This conception implements the Terblanche (2018) construct and, therefore, is named the expanded construct of customer experience in the supermarket, with an added dimension: the integration of offline and online operations. This new dimension brings the access or knowledge of the customers together in the physical channel of the supermarket, integrating resources, technologies, and characteristics of the digital environment, covering the operations of the channels under the omnichannel conception. The main objectives of this construct are to implement customer experiences at the point of sale and provide a competitive advantage to the retailer. The study presents academic implications and managerial contributions that enabled systematizing of aspects of retail management, considering the management of client experience.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to present to the reader a comprehensive overview on how the characteristics of grocery products and apparel products influence the customer behavior and the choice of an offline or an online sales channel within an omnichannel marketing strategy. This thesis takes a company’s point of view in order to investigate the reactions and the resulting marketing and channel strategies the different retailers apply while taking into account the varying customer behavior. In order to fulfill this purpose, we formulated and presented two research questions and three propositions that helped to investigate the chosen subject matter of this thesis. The research philosophy of this Master’s thesis is based on an interpretivist epistemological perspective and a subjectivist ontological view. The research conducted within this thesis has an exploratory nature. In addition, the deductive approach is used to study the research questions, while adopting a qualitative research method. The practical method employed in this thesis in order to fulfill the purpose is based on conducting multiple semi-structured, non-standardized interviews. The respondents and the companies they represent are divided according to the industry they belong to, namely the apparel retail or the grocery retail, and the geographically located in Europe. The final results are then gained by the combination of the primary data, yield from the interviews, and secondary data, collected during a literature search and an undertaken literature review. The contribution of this Master’s thesis is represented by an analysis that combines the theoretical perspectives and empirical findings. They provide an overview on how do the characteristics of products influence the customer behavior and the choice of an offline or an online sales channel within an omnichannel marketing strategy while focusing on apparel and grocery retailers in Europe. In addition, the findings also provide an overview on how the apparel and grocery retailers react on the varying behavior of their customers and based on this, what marketing and sales strategies they employ.

The dissertation project consists of four papers. Two papers are concerned with multichannel customer behavior: (a) drivers of competitive webrooming and (b) profitability effects of offline channel additions. The remaining two papers deal with consumer reactions towards different website cookie notifications.