During the last decades, fashion brands and retailers in Sweden have experienced the effects of technological advancement and changes in customer behaviour, which have opened up new ways of doing business. Customers expect online and offline marketing and sales channels to be integrated through instant interaction, which have made the concept of omnichannel retailing, gain momentum. This thesis explores this concept in relation to four small Swedish fashion brands based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Using a qualitative method, in-depth interviews have been made with the companies in order to understand what these companies are focused on and in what way omnichannel strategies are encouraged in their business. A solid theoretical framework was collected in the early stage of the process and has worked as a foundation for relating previous studies to current developments. This research presents a literature review that is based on topics such as brand identity, omnichannel marketing and customer experience in order to investigate this topic further. The findings in this research  shows that these small fashion brands are integrating channels through working with a few media channels and do not put significant attention on data analyses. Their focus has proved to be on finding a few, right channels and enforce the brand values in all activates, which creates a connection between channels, rather than on creating technologically advanced solutions between online and offline channels.

Omnichannel is the latest shift in retail which is driven by new technological advancements and changes in customer behaviors. In order to stay competitive retailers are required to integrate their sales and communication channels and deliver a seamless shopping experience to the customers. To create the omnichannel experience both organizational change and consolidation of several ICT components are required, which put a lot of pressure on the retailing organizations. This study examines the current omnichannel development of the Swedish fashion retail industry and explores the different attitudes and challenges towards this transformation. The market development was assessed through a field study where 54 omnichannel parameters was observed at 25 selected multi-channel retailers. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the development and the attitudes towards omnichannel retiling, a survey followed by semi-structured interviews was conducted with a selected number of retailers. The results showed that the Swedish market is still in the early stages of the omnichannel development and that most focus in the development has been on the front-end capabilities. The lack of digital maturity within the organization was seen as the largest challenge towards further development. It was also found that inherent characteristics of the fashion industry have made the retailers more reluctant when it comes to the use of data and analytics which is a key aspect of the omnichannel development. Finally more data driven business decisions and analytics about customer behaviors and buying patterns was seen as the largest improvement points for the retailers as the development progress. / Detaljhandeln står inför en av det största förändringarna någonsin. I dagens digitaliserade samhälle har konsumenternas köpresa förändras från att ha varit statisk och direkt till att involvera en mängd olika kanaler och kontaktytor innan ett köp slutförs. Dessa förändringar i kundbeteenden gör att återförsäljare måste anpassa sig och erbjuda en enhetlig och sömlös upplevelse över alla tillgängliga kanaler för att hålla sig konkurrenskraftiga på marknaden. Det nya kundbemötandet kallas omnikanal och sätter stor press på återförsäljare inom en mängd olika områden från organisatoriska förändringar till integration av informations och kommunikations system. Denna studie undersöker omnikanalutvecklingen inom den svenska modebranschen samt återförsäljarnas åsikter och utmaningar med förändringen. Utvecklingen på marknaden undersöktes genom en fältstudie där 54 olika omnikanal parametrar studerades hos 25 utvalda företag. Fältstudien följdes av en enkätundersökning samt intervjuer med utvalda återförsäljare för att få en djupare insikt i återförsäljarnas inställning till omnikanalhandel och deras största problemområden inom utvecklingen. Resultatet visade att de svenska modeåterförsäljarna fortfarande är i ett tidigt skede av utvecklingen där störst fokus hittills har legat på utveckling av front-end funktionalitet samt på e-handel. Brist på intern digital mognad ansågs som den största utmaningen till förändringen på grund av utbredningen av informations och kommunikationsteknologier inom organisationen. Inneboende karaktärsdrag hos modebranschen har också påverkat utvecklingen och gjort återförsäljarna mer försiktiga när det kommer till användningen av kunddata och datadrivna beslutsunderlag vilket ses som ett nyckelområde till utvecklingen. Detta område är dock något som återförsäljarna vill förbättra och ser som en av det viktigaste punkterna i den fortsatta utvecklingen.

Omnichannel retailers have received considerable attention from academics and professionals in recent years; however, its impacts on purchase intention and the results of the relationships between its variables are still unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the relationship of three components of the consumer's omnichannel shopping experience, such as integration, consistency and transparency, in respectant of purchase intention. The methodology of the study will be quantitative and the data will be collected through an online survey with 400 usable responses. The findings will indicate whether the components mentioned previously have a direct and significant impact on purchase intention. Finally, these findings will provide important scopes for theoretical discussions of future academics and research works. / Omnichannel retailers have received considerable attention from academics and professionals in recent years; however, its impacts on purchase intention and the results of the relationships between its variables are still unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the relationship of three components of the consumer's omnichannel shopping experience, such as integration, consistency and transparency, in respectant of purchase intention. The methodology of the study will be quantitative and the data will be collected through an online survey with 400 usable responses. The findings will indicate whether the components mentioned previously have a direct and significant impact on purchase intention. Finally, these findings will provide important scopes for theoretical discussions of future academics and research works. / Trabajo de investigación

El conocimiento sobre la experiencia del cliente dentro de un contexto omnicanal es clave para determinar el nivel de compromiso del usuario hacia la empresa. En base a ello, el presente estudio abordará el omnichannel customer experience como la variable de interés principal analizando sus dimensiones para poder identificar su relación con el engagement. Asimismo, se adaptará a la realidad peruana en la industria que potencia la venta retail: los centros comerciales. Se realizará un estudio cuantitativo correlacional con 400 usuarios mediante el uso de encuestas online. Los resultados tendrán análisis bivariados y multivariados a través el programa estadístico SPSS y SmartPLS respectivamente. / Knowledge about the customer experience within an omnichannel context is key to determine the level of user engagement towards the company. Based on this, this study will focus on the omnichannel customer experience as the main variable of interest by analyzing its dimensions in order to identify its relationship with engagement. Likewise, it will be adapted to the Peruvian reality in the industry that boosts retail sales: shopping malls. A quantitative correlational study will be adopted with 400 users using online surveys. The results will have bivariate and multivariate analysis through the statistical software SPSS and SmartPLS respectively. / Trabajo de investigación

En la actualidad, los avances en la tecnología hacen que los consumidores exijan información en tiempo real, es decir, en el momento y lugar que ellos lo requieran. Por este motivo, el comercio minorista se ve en la necesidad de adaptarse a estas exigencias y con este objetivo se ha venido desarrollando la estrategia omnicanal. Sin embargo, esta estrategia es reciente, por lo cual los pasos para su implementación, así como los efectos y beneficios que tiene para el minorista y consumidor aún son poco claros. De este contexto surge el enfoque del presente trabajo para el cual se realizó la revisión de 30 estudios aplicados a minoristas de distintas industrias, como la moda, la editorial y los alimentos, en los últimos seis años. El propósito de este proyecto es describir el significado de la estrategia omnicanal, los beneficios, riesgos y desafíos que presenta para el minorista y su efecto en el consumidor, y se busca responder a la pregunta ¿Es la estrategia omnicanal el camino por seguir para lograr el éxito minorista? Como resultado de la revisión bibliográfica se pudo evidenciar que los beneficios y riesgos de la estrategia omnicanal que muestran los autores deben ser evaluados según la realidad y capacidad financiera de cada minorista para así tomar la decisión de transitar o no hacia la omnicanalidad. / Nowadays, technological advances are making demanding customers of real time information, that is, when and where they require it. Because of this, retail commerce is seen in the need to consider these requirements, and with this objective, the omnichannel strategy has been introduced. However, this strategy is recent, so, the steps for the implementation, its effects and benefits on the retailer and the consumer are still unclear. For this reason, a revision of thirty studies applied to retailers from different industries, such as fashion, publishing, and food, corresponding to the last six years, was carried out. The purpose of this study is to describe the meaning of the omnichannel strategy, its benefits, risks and challenges in the retailer and its effect on the consumer. This research seeks to answer the question, is Omnichannel strategy the way forward for retail success? As a result of this bibliographic review, it can be concluded that the authors show the benefits and risks of the omnichannel strategy, which must be evaluated according to the reality and financial capacity of each retailer and thus make the decision to move or not to omnichannel. / Trabajo de investigación

In recent years there has been a remarkable distribution of the omnichannel environment, which has emerged as a significant factor in the fashion industry. Today's society is characterized by customers who possess extensive knowledge and easy access to information online, with the added convenience of constantly available e-commerce. As consumer awareness has escalated, it has become imperative for businesses to understand how customers' needs, pain points, and desires impact their customer journey in an omnichannel environment. Consequently, the aim of this research is to gain a comprehensive understanding of how Generation Z customers' needs, pain points, and desires influence their behavior throughout the customer journey within the fashion industry's omnichannel landscape. This study aims to contribute new and crucial insights to the existing body of knowledge, given the lack of recent research on this topic from the consumer perspective. To achieve these research objectives, empirical data was collected through a qualitative multi-method study comprising five focus groups and five semi-structured interviews, with a total of 25 participants. The participants consisted of individuals of Swedish origin who were born in, and belong to, Generation Z. The collected data was afterwards analyzed and discussed, which meant comparing and contrasting the results with previous research on the topic. The conclusion of this thesis reveals remarkable observations about Generation Z in Sweden, where this study has identified the most common combinations of different channels in omnichannel atmospheres. Overall, this study highlights a clear preference among female participants to use the services provided by e-commerce, while male participants show a propensity for physical, traditional commerce. In addition, this report sheds new light on the information search and evaluation process, which constitutes the initial stage of the consumer's decision-making process. Finally, needs, pain points and desires based on each step in the customer journey are identified, as well as how the problems can be resolved with initiatives from the companies.

[pt] A pandemia do Covid-19 mudou hábitos do consumidor, o distanciamento social e o lockdown motivaram as pessoas a buscarem formas mais convenientes e seguras para satisfazerem suas necessidades. Lojas físicas precisaram se adaptar ao online para seguir faturando e o e-commerce se desdobrou para atender a toda demanda de forma eficaz. A omnicanalidade, então, se tornou um tópico ainda mais relevante nos maiores varejistas do país. Essa integração de canais tornou-se necessária, para obter ganhos de produtividade, acelerar o crescimento e progredir na experiência e no relacionamento com o cliente. Sendo uma pesquisa de caráter exploratório, o objetivo deste estudo foi identificar os desafios da estratégia omnichannel implementada em um grande varejista brasileiro, a Americanas S.A.. A metodologia adotada foi o estudo de caso, com dados coletados através de: 1) entrevistas em profundidade com cinco gestores, utilizando roteiro semiestruturado, à luz do modelo de criação da experiência do cliente de Verhoef et al. (2009). e 2) arquivos e apresentações publicados pela empresa, notícias na imprensa e artigos sobre a companhia. Os principais resultados evidenciaram que, dentre os esforços de integração do online com o offline, empoderamento do cliente e conveniência são a essência do planejamento estratégico adotado pela empresa atualmente. / [en] The Covid-19 pandemic has changed consumer habits, social distancing and the lockdown have motivated people to seek more convenient and safer ways to satisfy their needs. Physical stores have adapted to online sales to move forward and e-commerce has progressed to meet demand effectively. Omnichannel, then, became an even more relevant topic in the largest retailers in the country. This channel integration has become necessary in order to obtain productivity gains, accelerate growth and progress in customer experience and relationships. Being an exploratory research, the objective of this study was to identify the challenges of the omnichannel strategy implemented in a large Brazilian retailer, Americanas S.A. The methodology adopted was the case study, with data collected through: 1) in-depth interviews with five managers, using a semi-structured script, in the light of Verhoef et al. (2009). and 2) files and presentations published by the company, press releases and articles about the company. The main results showed that, among the efforts to integrate online with offline, customer empowerment and convenience are the essence of the strategic planning adopted by the company today.

Background - Generation Z is the future larger group of consumers. Members of thisgeneration are key in the strategy of brands to remain competitive in the long-term. Buttheir loyalty is more difficult to get compared to other generations. It is assumed that itis linked to their specific expectations and the way brands handle them. Thus, theobjective of this study is to determine the real influence of these particular expectationson the two dimensions of Gen Z brand loyalty, attitudinal and behavioural.Method - Several hypotheses about the relationships between attitudinal loyalty,behavioural loyalty, ethical position, omnichannel experience, value for money,entertaining content and authenticity have been made. To confirm them, a questionnairetargeting French Gen Z and focusing on fashion brands has been sent via social mediaand answered by 150 respondents.Findings - The results of linear regressions show that value for money has a positiveinfluence on both attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. Also, omnichannel experienceinfluences behavioural loyalty positively while entertaining content influencesattitudinal loyalty positively. On the contrary, entertaining content has a negative impacton behavioural loyalty. So attitudinal loyalty as a moderating effect as its influence onbehavioural loyalty is positive. Ethical position and authenticity did not show anysignificant results.Conclusions - Value for money, omnichannel experience and entertaining content areespecially important to consider when it comes to Gen Z loyalty. Quite the reverse,ethics and authenticity are not as essential as suggested by many researchers andmarketers. Beyond this, the study contributes to knowledge by proving that brandloyalty should not be considered as a unit but as a multi-dimensional concept. Gen Zexpectations do not have the same influence on attitudinal and behavioural loyalty somarketers should be aware of that when building their strategy.

[pt] O conhecimento ou reconhecimento da marca é conceituado de acordo com um modelo de memória associativa e ocorre quando o consumidor está familiarizado com a marca, tendo em mente um conjunto de associações favoráveis. O alinhamento das estratégias de branding garante que as premissas do posicionamento da marca sejam identificadas pelo cliente. A partir da revisão de um referencial teórico multidisciplinar e de pesquisa de campo com entrevistas semiestruturadas, pretendemos compreender o conhecimento organizacional a partir da gestão pelo design, buscando a integração de competências transdisciplinares, a fim de garantir o alinhamento das diretrizes de branding no varejo de moda omnicanal. Inicia-se, assim, um ensaio sobre a geração do conhecimento organizacional transdisciplinar, baseado nas diferentes práticas de design, incluindo a projeção e avaliação de seus impactos, e garantindo a transformação contínua desse conhecimento para a manutenção de uma política de branding. / [en] Brand knowledge (or recognition) is conceptualized according to an associative memory model and occurs when the consumer is familiar with the brand, holding a set of favorable associations in mind. The alignment of branding strategies ensures that the brand s positioning assumptions are identified by the customer. Building on a review of a multidisciplinary theoretical framework and field research using semi-structured interviews, we aim to understand organizational knowledge from a design management perspective, enabling the integration of transdisciplinary competencies to ensure alignment of branding guidelines in omnichannel fashion retail. Thus, an essay begins on the generation of transdisciplinary organizational knowledge based on different design practices, including the projection and evaluation of their impacts, and ensuring the continuous transformation of this knowledge for the maintenance of a branding policy.

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