1Research Scholar (UGC-JRF), Department of Studies and Research in Commerce, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri-574199, India
2Professor, Department of Studies and Research in Commerce, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri, India
The exponential growth of online retailing is eating away the sales of traditional retail stores. However, as far as India is concerned, online stores are not going to replace the traditional brick-and-mortar stores in the near future. The Indian population is characterized by a mix of tech-savvy, newbie and technically challenged customers. This feature of the population exhibits the fact that the majority of customers still prefer offline retail stores over online stores. However, the customers these days are more interested in having a unified shopping experience across channels. To meet this demand of the customers, the retailers are integrating their channels to provide a seamless experience to the customers. In this regard, omni-channel retailing is a latest trend in the Indian retail industry. This allows the convergence of all possible retail channels. The present study aims to identify the pros and cons of both online and offline stores and thereby highlight the need to shift towards omni-channel retailing.
Bricks-and-mortar, online stores, click-and-brick, unified experience, omni-channel, seamless interaction
