Only during the last decade, shopping behaviour has changed dramatically. The many interactions between retailers and consumers include online and offline stores, smartphone applications, social media platforms and mass communication. Shoppers can interact anywhere with a retailer, both inside and outside a store. They expect to shop seamlessly across these interactions, leading retailers to develop omnichannel strategies focused on integrating such interactions.

Fascinated with consumer behaviour   
In her thesis One size fits all”? Understanding shopper responses towards integration acitivities in omnichannel retailing, Angelica Blom investigates shopper responses linked to sales and brand-related outcomes towards these integration attempts. More specifically she seeks to determine if they are dependent on four aspects in the shopping situation: type of purchase, how well-planned the purchase is, the shopper’s smartphone shopping expertise and the location of the shopper.  

"I have always been fascinated with shopping behaviour. What leads consumers to make a decision or even more interesting, what leads them not to make a decision? Digitalization has had a great impact on shopping behaviour which makes my field of research very exciting," says Angelica Blom.

No, one size doesn’t fit all
Empirical results from five articles consisting of eight experimental studies indicate that a one-size-fits-all integration strategy is not universally applicable. The overall pattern demonstrates that retailers will gain more by focusing on integration activities targeted towards shoppers who purchase utilitarian products, make planned purchases, have less experience in using smartphones while shopping, and are located outside the store.

"My findings demonstrate that a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to integration is not advisable. Integration decisions should be made with an understanding of the specific shopper and shopper journey, and with the knowledge that the most beneficial integration decisions can vary across situations and retailers. I hope my findings will be used as a guide for retailers in the design of their integration activities," says Angelica Blom.

Some benefits more than others
As a more concrete example, retailers selling consumer electronics may benefit more by moving towards an omnichannel retailing strategy than fashion retailers. In general, shopping for consumer electronics products could be categorised as a more utilitarian type of purchase. Shoppers that make a more utilitarian type of purchase want their shopping journey to be quick and simple and integration seem to facilitate that. Shopping for fashion products could instead be categorized as a more hedonic type of purchase where the shopper is seeking a shopping experience – in which the journey itself is the destination.

Shoppers seem to have different mindsets in these two shopping situations which makes them respond more or less postivitely towards integration activities. This could be one of the explanations why retailers selling products categorized as utilitarian can gain more, in the form of strengthened shopper responses, than retailers selling products categorized as hedonic.

"This was a surprising finding, especially since retailers selling utilitarian type of products don’t seem to have come as far in the implementation of an integration strategy compared to retailers selling hedonic type of products. However, according to my results retailers selling utilitarian type of products seem to be those retailers that could gain more from implementing this type of strategy. In other words, there is great potential for these retailers!"

Next step: help consumers shop sustainably
Angelica Blom has recently started her post-doc project on how to integrate shoppers’ digital shopping traces in order to help shoppers make more sustainable shopping decisions.

"I am looking forward to intertwining the contemporary shopping behaviour aspect with a more sustainable approach," says Angelica Blom.

Interview by Emilie Eliasson Hovmöller. Photo: Nicklas Gustafsson.