What kind of in-store smart retailing for an omnichannel real-life experience?

Abstract

Smart retailing is currently presented by many consultants and some researchers in innovation as the solution for generating an omnichannel experience that benefits customers and retailers alike. But does the type of in-store technology promote different forms of omnichannel experience? Are retailers able to control the omnichannel experience of their customers by acting on the experiential context of their stores? Based on 107 bibliographic references in marketing, innovation, and information systems, this synthesis highlights four forms of omnichannel experience, depending on whether they are triggered by the customer or controlled by the retailer and perceived as integrated in terms either of marketing or of technologies. When the retailer tries to exert too much control over the various forms of omnichannel experience, some of them cease to be truly omnichannel and are reduced to little more than a single-channel (store or website) experience.