The Impact of the Multi-channel Retail Mix on Online Store Choice: Does Online Experience Matter?

Abstract

More and more grocery retailers are becoming multi-channel retailers, as they are opening an online alternative next to their traditional offline supermarkets. While the number of multi-channel grocery shoppers is also expanding at a fast growth rate, there are still large differences in online shopping frequency, and as a result, in the levels of experience with buying in the online grocery channel. This study wants to (i) identify the underlying drivers of online store choice and (ii) explore if and how these drivers change when multi-channel shoppers gain online grocery shopping experience. We investigate this question with an online store choice model using purchase data of an extensive UK household panel over a two-year period, covering all multi-channel retailers in the grocery market. Our results show that multi-channel shoppers, at the start of online grocery shopping, tend to select the online store belonging to the same chain as their preferred offline store, especially when the online store is strongly integrated with the offline store in terms of assortment. When online grocery shopping experience increases, multi-channel shoppers' focus shifts from a comparison within a chain across channels to a comparison across chains within the online channel, resulting in an increasing importance of online assortment attractiveness and online loyalty when choosing an online store.

A Bigger Slice of the Multichannel Grocery Pie: When Does Consumers’ Online Channel Use Expand Retailers’ Share of Wallet?

“…(1) and (2), we acknowledge two issues. First, a household's decision to shop online with a particular chain is not exogenous; households tend to choose the online store hosted by the chain that they prefer offline (Melis et al 2015). A potential self-selection thus arises, because the dependent variable influences this explanatory variable, which could lead to biased estimates.…”

Clothing Retail Channel Use and Digital Behavior: Generation and Gender Differences

“…Multi-channel clothing shoppers may initially search for information at online stores and then shop at a brick-and-mortar store, or vice versa (Melis, Campo, Breugelmans, & Lamey, 2015). Thus multi-channel retailing has evolved into omni-channel retailing, in which online and offline channels are integrated to provide consumers with seamless shopping experiences.…”

Feeling Close From Afar: The Role of Psychological Distance in Offsetting Distrust in Unfamiliar Online Retailers

“…However, the lack of consumer trust often associated with online retail represents a significant barrier to such customer acquisition (Benedicktus et al 2010;Schlosser, White, and Lloyd 2006). Consumer distrust of online vendors is particularly problematic for first-time purchases, because consumers have no direct experience with which to assess the retailer's trustworthiness (Melis et al 2015;Schlosser, White, and Lloyd 2006;Singh and Sirdeshmukh 2000;Yoon 2002). The challenge faced by online retailers in establishing trust online is highlighted by survey research that found 60% of US Internet users are extremely or very concerned about scams and fraud related to online shopping, which represents a six percent increase in that figure from two years prior (Microsoft 2014).…”