Samenvatting

In this report the current trend of e-commerce companies opening brick and mortar stores was investigated. This phenomenon can be linked to a concept known as omnichannel retail. It appears that many businesses are not aware of the current trends in retail. This leads to a misunderstanding of the modern consumer´s wishes and ultimately to bankruptcies of retail brands. Additionally, this report focuses on computer-driven products that can be connected to the Internet. In this paper omnichannel retail is defined as a new business concept, evolved from multichannel and crosschannel marketing, that focuses on a number of different retail channels which engage with consumers on a one-to-one basis, on multiple devices, both online and offline, and which seamlessly work together to provide the consumer with a personalised brand experience. The central research question that was investigated is: How can successful e-commerce businesses in the technological retail sector benefit from omnichannel retail by opening brick and mortar stores in the Netherlands? After identifying the definition of omnichannel retail, the Consumer Buying Behaviour theory was researched and five experts were interviewed to gather information on the advantages and disadvantages for an online retailer to introduce a physical store. In addition, the business models of Leapp, Coolblue, and Argos were linked to the definition of omnichannel retail to investigate how this is currently being done by large retailers. The five professionals agreed that the primary reasons to create an offline channel for an e-commerce company are building a relationship with the customer and providing them the opportunity to inspect the product before the purchase. The main disadvantages that were highlighted in the interviews are the investment costs and the lack of know-how of an e-commerce organisation to run an offline store. Leapp, Coolblue, and Argos are pursuing an omnichannel strategy. Nevertheless, the brands do not yet offer a personalised shopping experience, which means they cannot be regarded as omnichannel businesses yet. This paper concludes that successful e-commerce companies in the technological retail industry that open up brick and mortar stores benefit from an improved customer relationship. The retailer is able to sell to a new group of customers and interact with them in a way online retail cannot. However, omnichannel retail is still developing itself, since retailers have not yet implemented the concept to its full potential. Online retailers with an offline channel are advised to collect the data of their customers and to provide them with additional services next to the product offerings. Selling through pop-up stores is recommended to smaller retailers.