Customer journey design in omnichannel retailing: Examining the effect of autonomy-competence-relatedness in brand relationship building

Omnichannel shopping habit development

“…Recognizing monitoring, crafting, and managing customer experience as fundamental to an omnichannel firm's competitiveness (Gahler et al, 2023), the customer experience stream identifies the variety of experiences customers seek during their buying journey (Cuesta-Valiño et al, 2023;Kacprzak & Hensel, 2023;Zhang et al, 2024;Zheng & Li, 2024). Existing studies emphasize the role of digital and physical touchpoints (e.g., Cui et al, 2022;Nguyen & Tran, 2023;Yang & Hu, 2024).…”

“…In-store employee interactions comprise two key aspects: task competence, reflecting employees' knowledge about the product/service, and interaction competence, focusing on employees' communication skills during customer interactions (Lucia-Palacios et al, 2020). Previous research (Cui et al, 2022;Zheng & Li, 2024) underscores the significance of personal interactions with service personnel in the omnichannel customer journey, contributing substantially to customers' perceptions, satisfaction, and behavioural responses. Particularly in complex purchasing decisions, customers often seek guidance from in-store employees.…”

“…Consequently, it should be scrutinized as a pivotal element influencing customer experience within omnichannel platforms (Silva et al, 2024). This study defines digital interactions as customer perceptions of a retailer's capability to facilitate mutual interaction, actively engage them, and evoke responses within an online channel, such as a website or mobile application (Cui et al, 2022;Ho et al, 2022;Zheng & Li, 2024). Digital interactions comprise three primary aspects: active control, which involves consumers' perception of the online channel's capacity to enable them to voluntarily participate in communication and assert their influence; two-way communication, which revolves around the reciprocal exchange of communication between users and the online channel; and responsiveness, which refers to the speed at which consumers receive responses to their inquiries or questions from the company's online channel (Cui et al, 2022;Liu & Shrum, 2002).…”

“…Fatima et al (2020) in their study on Australian consumers, concluded that positive emotions, such as pleasure and arousal, can result from these interactions and influence decision-making. When employees demonstrate high levels of expertise and are responsive to customer needs, customers feel cared for and are more likely to develop a sense of belonging and a positive relationship with the company (Zheng & Li, 2024). Thus, the following hypothesis is formulated: Hypothesis H1d.…”

“…To comprehensively grasp the dynamics shaping the development of omnichannel shopping habit, an analysis of interactive customer experiences across digital and physical touchpoints becomes imperative. Drawing on recent research findings (Cuesta-Valiño et al, 2023;Silva et al, 2024;Zheng & Li, 2024), this study delves into the realm of customer interactive experiences and the associated realm of customer engagement, recognized as closely intertwined with customer experience, and a paramount determinant of consumer behaviour.…”