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Holistic hybrid (Omni-channel) approach to retailing and customer experience: A review, conceptual framework and future research directions
Full text linkThe manner in which customers shop is evolving and there has been an increase in customers shopping online and in physical shops using a multi-channel approach (Hsiao, Yen & Li, 2012). Customers now shop using mobile phones, tablets and have access to shopping sources 24 hours a day. Multi-channel shopping is where customers use multiple channels such as online, in-store, catalogues or mobile devices to purchase products or services (Zhang et al., 2010). Research has shown that multi-channel strategies enhance customer’s satisfaction and retailer loyalty (Wallace, Giese & Johnson 2004). With the advances of technology and the internet there has been an increase in customers shopping online. More than 80% of US retailers sell merchandise through multi-channels and 94% of the “winners” (best financial performance) are multi-channel retailers (Zhang et al., 2010). Multi-channel retailing generates more sales and profit compared to a single-channel approach (Kim, Park & Pookulangara, 2005). Retailers use multi-channel approaches to engage with customers and can maximise profit compared to a single-channel approach. Where customers shop across multiple product categories they are more likely to shop via multi-channels and more likely to migrate to a new channel (Kumar & Venkatesan, 2005).
However having a multi-channel strategy does not automatically mean an integrated marketing approach. Retailers can face channel conflict and difficulties in integrating processes (Kim, Park & Pookulangara, 2005). There is a distinction between multiple channels and channel integration (Friedman & Furey, 2003).
There is a growing priority to improve customer experience in both academic literature and by retail managers, as the emphasis on experience is more prominent and is gradually replacing service quality (Grewal, Levy & Kumar, 2009; Klaus & Maklan, 2013; Verhoef et al., 2009). With a more customer centric focus there is an emphasis on the company-customer interaction across multiple channels (Klaus & Maklan, 2013). The multi-channel approach is used with the aim to attract and retain new customers through sustaining and meeting various expectations through these channels, i.e. customers will have different expectations and demands when shopping online vs. in-store. In addition, customers will also have a different expectation when combining a multi-channel shopping experience (Shainesh, 2012). However there is a lack of empirical research on the effect of customer satisfaction between multi-channel performances (Birgelen, Jong & Ruyter, 2006).
There is lack of academic research on what the effect of an Omni-channel approach has on customer experience. The importance of what effect a holistic hybrid approach could have on a customer’s satisfaction and how this approach could affect important outcomes such as build loyalty and satisfaction for a retailer needs exploring (Klaus & Maklan, 2013). Due to the lack of academic research on an Omni-channel approach, this research will therefore identify factors from the multi-channel approach that can affect a customer’s experience and investigate how a holistic hybrid (Omni-channel) approach to retailing can improve customer experience
Customer Services on Facebook: An Investigation into the UK Banking Sector
Full text linkThe file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.This research aims to present insights into customer services on social media. There is rich literature on traditional customer services, which approach customer services different perspectives including (a) interactions with service providers (as human and remote interactions), (b) service environment and (c) interactions with other customers (for example through word-of-mouth communication). With the emergence of social media platforms, many businesses extended their service provision to include social media. According to industry sources, 80% of companies were planning to use social media for customer service by the end of 2012. Social media customer service is likely to reshape the provision of services between firms and their customers. However, there is very limited empirical research on the effectiveness of social media platforms as a customer services channel. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to address this gap by focusing on the UK banking sector and analysing their use of Facebook to provide customer services
Consumer Perceptions towards Radical Innovation: Autonomous Cars
Full text linkThe file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.This study aims to investigate consumer perception towards radical innovation in order to provide practitioners with an understanding of consumer behaviour with a particular focus on the correlation between consumer resistance to innovation and intention of adoption. Such knowledge is likely to provide guidance to organisations for the upcoming launch of their radical innovation, and hence to reduce the innovation failure rates. Technological developments over the years have changed how consumers manage their lives. Nowadays consumers’ lives are getting “smarter” stimulated by the development of “smartphones”, “smart homes”, “smart offices” and most recently “smart cars”. In this paper, autonomous cars have been selected as radical innovation due to its unique status as a widely discussed and globally promoted product but still in the pre-launch stage. Our survey identified financial, tradition and norm as major barriers for consumer resistance towards radical innovation. In comparison, image and status associated with driving an autonomous car were perceived to be a highly valued factor
Bad Outcomes from Good Practice within Emergent Negative Online Engagement
Full text linkSocial media is a complex, interactive and co-creative environment where marketers seek to promote brand values. The construct of online consumer engagement (OCE) has emerged as a key metric of social media marketing outcomes. Research has focused on positive OCE resulting and there is limited insight into the critical drivers of negative OCE. This paper draws on both Practice Theory and Justice Theory to identify a range of customer and organisational interaction practices during episodes of negative OCE within the customer services Facebook pages of retail banks. Results indicated instances of where “good” customer services practices have turned “bad” when applied to the social media context. The empirical work advances the theoretical concept of OCE to suggest that it may be targeted at a broader network of actors than has been conceptualised
Does brand familiarity have any impact on repairing trust between a company and customer in the time of crisis?
No full textExtant research has shown trust to be damaged between a company and customer if a crisis or violation occurs. Prior research has focused on examining what the best course of action would be for a company to take in a crisis, and how best to repair the trust afterwards. However, there has been scant investigation into whether repairing that trust is directly linked to how familiar a customer is with the brand. This paper presents a review of the existing literature on trust, trust repair and brand familiarity, and conducts two research studies to examine the implications of repairing trust after a crisis or violation for a familiar brand and an unfamiliar brand. 256 questionnaires were collected and analysed using SPSS, with questions centred on how a crisis affects a customer’s perception of trust, loyalty and forgiveness based on their familiarity with a brand under three conditions – denial, admittance and prior knowledge of the crisis. results show that brand familiarity does impact upon repairing trust between a company and customer, and their ability to forgive and remain loyal to the familiar brand, as respondents are shown to be less forgiving and are thus unlikely to trust them post crisis. By admitting and apologising for the crisis, a familiar brand is more likely to be able to regain trust. Respondents place great emphasis on the role of the media, with most respondents likely to adopt the media portrayal of the crisis. The paper concludes with future research directions suggested
A Matter of Trust: The Impact of Trust on SMEs Banking Relationships in the UK
No full textThe file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.Banking relationships are largely researched in the context of retail banking. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in reviving the economy. However, there is limited research on SME-bank relationships, and it is under-researched whether the key relationship components that are used in retail banking are adequate to understand SME-bank relationships. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of key relationship components (which are identified as trust in the relationship partner, customer satisfaction and buyer-seller bonds) on customer loyalty and share-of-wallet in the context of SME-bank relationships.
By taking a quantitative approach, a survey was designed targeting SMEs in the UK. We have identified similarities between B2C and B2B marketing as well as some differences. The findings of this research can be used by financial services marketers looking to build relationships with their SME customers, and may also help to inform future research
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