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Multichannel versus omnichannel: a price-segmented comparison from the fashion industry

Susana C. Silva (Católica Porto Business School, CEGE – Research Centre in Management and Economics, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal)
Paulo Duarte (Department of Management and Economics, NECE - Research Unit in Business Sciences, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal)
Anel Sundetova (Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal)

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management

ISSN: 0959-0552

Article publication date: 9 April 2020

Issue publication date: 14 April 2020

4528

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore and compare how fashion and apparel brands are using the multiple available channels to increase the number of touchpoints with clients by evaluating the use of multichannel and omnichannel strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

To determine the differences between fashion and apparel brands in terms of marketing channel used, a multiple case study approach was selected based on a sample of nine well-known and successful fashion brands from three different price segments. The research was carried out by analysing the online and mobile presence of the brands, company reports, news, magazines, and other types of articles.

Findings

The results illustrate that fashion brands tend to act in the same way and have only slight differences concerning the number of channels and features available to clients despite the price segment they belong. The findings indicate that the brands under study have good channel integration, order tracking, on-line communication, and social media. Overall, the findings allow concluding that irrespective of the price segment, all fashion brands act almost in the same way and present only slight differences between the number of channels used and features available.

Originality/value

The current study provides an innovative price-segmented comparison on channel use and integration by fashion brands' and additional valuable information about channel strategy that can be used to guide new comparative research and helps new brands defining points-of-parity and points-of-difference with regard to market standards.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank to NECE – Research Unit in Business Sciences funded by the Multiannual Funding Programme of R&D Centres of FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under the project UID/GES/04630/2019 and to CEGE – Research Centre in Management and Economics, funded by the Multiannual Funding Programme of R&D Centres of FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under the project UIDB/00731/2020.

Citation

Silva, S.C., Duarte, P. and Sundetova, A. (2020), "Multichannel versus omnichannel: a price-segmented comparison from the fashion industry", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 48 No. 4, pp. 417-430. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-07-2019-0232

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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