Wield the Power of Omni-channel Retailing Strategy: a Capability and Supply Chain Resilience Perspective

Abstract

Omni-channel strategy can be a powerful mechanism through which successful implementing organisations achieve higher levels of resilience to better survive disruptions. However, such potential benefits have been overlooked in existing literature with limited discussions on how omni-channel strategy can be exploited for uncertain business environments. We conduct an in-depth case study on a leading UK-based fashion retailer, Next, to explore the role of omni-channel strategy in helping organisations respond to the challenging retail landscape. Our results reveal that Next’s ability to achieve vitality even during the COVID-19 pandemic is largely attributed to its well-executed omni-channel strategy, which enhances its supply chain resilience (SCRES) by maintaining a dynamic fit between the internal information processing capacity and the changing information processing needs induced by external conditions. Our study contributes to the omni-channel and SCRES literature and provides practical insights on how omni-channel strategy can be wielded for both stable and turbulent environments.