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Abstract
Purpose: This research aims to analyze how omnichannel integration enhances customer experience and increases customer satisfaction, ultimately fostering customer loyalty in omnichannel retail.
Design/methodology/approach: Built upon the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) framework, this quantitative research gathered data through an online questionnaire from 283 Chinese consumers with omnichannel purchasing experience. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to analyze the data.
Findings: The research findings indicate that omnichannel integration positively affects both customer experience and customer satisfaction. Specifically, omnichannel integration can significantly enhance the customer experience. Furthermore, in the omnichannel environment, the positive influence of omnichannel customer experience and customer satisfaction on omnichannel customer loyalty has also been confirmed. The improvement in omnichannel customer experience directly contributes to enhancing customer loyalty.
Research limitations/implications: This study was carried out in China, and caution should be exercised when extrapolating the findings to different cultures or retail formats. Additionally, this study employed cross-sectional data to test research hypotheses. Subsequent research could improve the credibility of results by employing longitudinal study designs.
Practical implications: Enhancing the competitiveness of omnichannel retailers.
Originality/value: These findings offer theoretical and managerial implications for formulating marketing strategies for omnichannel retailers.
Keywords: Omnichannel integration, Customer experience, Customer loyalty
1. Introduction
With the increasing use of internet communication, and smartphones, consumers can access product information, compare prices, make payments, and request after-sales services at any time (Gawor & Hoberg, 2019). Social media platforms like Weibo and WeChat have become new touchpoints, allowing consumers to learn about products through multiple sensory experiences and express their opinions (Son et al., 2021). This has changed the way consumers shop, making them more focused on service-oriented consumption. The emerging generation of post-90s and post-95s tends to prefer personalized and convenient shopping experiences (Benfratello & Shigian, 2021). There is a growing number of consumers who engage in cross-channel shopping, moving between physical stores, PC online stores, social commerce platforms, and mobile stores, and they pursue a consistent and fluent purchase experience (Shen et al., 2018). Therefore, retail companies need to integrate channel functions offer a fluent and uniform cross-channel customer experience (Cocco & Demoulin, 2022).
At the same time, traditional brick-and-mortar retail businesses have faced substantial losses attributed to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic (Verhoef, 2021). However, some companies have successfully mitigated...