Omnichannel Retailing and Brand Equity: A New Balance to Achieve

Over the last decades, consumers have started to use different channels and touchpoints at any stage of their shopping journey, and the internet and technologies have become relevant tools to ease their shopping experience. Many devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are increasingly used to search for product information, reviews and prices, to provide feedback and advocacy, to interact with a brand and, finally, to buy online. Consequently, traditional retailing had to gradually adapt itself to a new buying reality, first through the building of a multichannel environment, then through the adoption of an omnichannel approach aimed at providing a seamless shopping experience with the integration of channels and customer touchpoints. Starting from this background, this chapter delves into the shift from a multichannel to an omnichannel approach by retailing companies, and the implications for customer-based brand equity (CBBE). In particular, the chapter presents the main differences between multichannel and omnichannel retailing, then, the main features of the omnichannel approach are shown. The chapter discusses how to build and manage CBBE in omnichannel retailing, especially for luxury fashion companies, and proposes avenues for future research.