Online retailing across e-channels and e-channel touchpoints: Empirical studies of consumer behavior in the multichannel e-commerce environment

This research contributes to broadening understanding of online retailing across electronic channels (e-channels, e.g., mobile devices) and e-channel touchpoints (e.g., mobile shopping apps) from a consumer perspective. Based on the multichannel retailing approach and theoretical considerations, the authors suggest an enhanced perspective on the online retailing environment and validate this multichannel e-commerce perspective by conducting both an online survey (N = 502) and an experimental study (N = 126). The results indicate that online retailing can be classified into four e-commerce categories that entail individual e-channel touchpoints, emphasizing the need for a more differentiated consideration of “the online channel.” This work advances marketing research and practice by illustrating that both technology-related quality and context-related situational benefit affect consumers' utilization of e-channels. Further findings show that retailers can enhance consumers' shopping experiences by providing alternative e-channel touchpoints (i.e., specific digital shopping formats) that contribute differently to the online customer journey.