Fashion’s experiential convergence : reconceptualising the physical store within omnichannel retailing as Experiential retail territories

Alexander, Bethan (2021) Fashion’s experiential convergence : reconceptualising the physical store within omnichannel retailing as Experiential retail territories. Doctoral thesis (PhD by Published Works), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

‘Fashion’s experiential convergence: reconceptualising the physical store within omnichannel retailing as Experiential retail territories’ is a PhD by Published Work that comprises seven published papers, completed over a five year period, and an evaluative commentary. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this body of work, integrates the theoretical antecedents of customer experience, the physical store (and its evolution), omnichannel retailing (physical and virtual places and their convergence), and retail in-store technologies, to offer a reconceptualisation of the physical store in the future. These theoretical antecedents are unified by taking a spatial perspective, essentially extending the territorology construct into the area of retailing, to propose original theorisation of customer-centric boundaryless Experiential retail territories. The thesis contributes new knowledge both in the aggregated contribution of the papers themselves, as well as in their synthesis. Firstly, it chronicles retail types of places and spaces that enable and enhance experience (papers 1,2 and 3). Secondly, it posits temporal perspectives to customer experience management and the customer journey mediated by retail technologies (papers 4 and 5). Thirdly, it advances reimagined conceptions of the role of the physical store within omnichannel retailing (papers 6 and 7). And finally, in its synthesis, the thesis proposes Experiential retail territories as a novel conception in the prognosis of future retail from which two theoretical models that depict its nature, ensue. Firstly, a reimagined holistic retail experience characterisation is presented. Secondly, a retail territories continuum is conceptualised, as a depiction of integrated retail territories. Each circle representing a path on a continuum of convergence orientated towards physical or digital spheres with complete coalescence in the centre. In doing so, augmenting that retail territories are complex colliding, converging and conjunct spatialities and temporalities. Collectively, the two models encompass the fluidity, openness and mobility of retail territories.