The long road to omnichannel retailing: an assessment of channel integration levels across fashion and apparel retailers

Abstract

Despite the increasing interest in omni-channel operation in both academia and business contexts, the understanding and knowledge about the elements of channel integration is still limited. Furthermore, at this moment there are no instruments that facilitate measurement of the level of channel integration, as well as of information about which indicators to use when measuring that level. This study addresses this gap by defining a systematic set of indicators to measure the level of channel integration and categorises the indicators in six different areas along the whole shopping process. The study further tests the measurement instrument with a sample of 22 fashion and clothing and apparel retailers operating in Spain. The proposed measures and the results from this study will help to establish the basis for the application of the measurement instrument in different contexts and, in the last instance, will help companies to improve their omni-channel strategies.