Virtually the Same: Understanding Consumer Experience in an Omnichannel Environment

Retailing is heralded as undergoing a sea-change – with consumers touted as moving their purchasing from high-street to digital store. This is evident in industry commentary: Physical retail will no longer be a channel for buying... Rather, these spaces will act as living, breathing physical portals into brand and product experiences. They will become places we go to learn, be inspired, see and try new things, experiment and co-create… My advice to retailers is to stop thinking “stores” and start thinking stories. Stop thinking “product” and start thinking productions. Doug Stephens, 17 June 2018: https://businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/to-save-retail-let-it-die Irrespective of this prophecy’s truth, understanding consumers’ relationships to what is undoubtedly a changing retail landscape, where the digital environment is becoming more central, is critical. Extensive research considers the physical or virtual retail environment. This is variously framed, drawing on themes including: retail atmospherics (e.g. Helmefalk & Hultén, 2017); servicescapes (e.g. Ballantyne & Nilsson 2017); store environments, and the sensory [often stimulus-organism-response frameworks] (e.g. Garaus, 2016; Fujiwara, Resnick, Cassidy, & Brown, 2017). Research in this domain has yet to develop an integrated position on how to comprehend consumer retail environment experiences – particularly when that environment is virtual.