The omnichannel strategy in Portuguese companies: an overview

Abstract

The consumer's profile and behaviour have undergone drastic changes in recent years, as a result of rapid technological developments associated with the proliferation of the Internet, which have boosted the growth of e-commerce. Retail needed to adopt new strategies to respond to new consumer demands leading to the development of omnichannel. The omnichannel strategy is centred on the consumer and aims to offer him/her a unique, consistent, and quality experience, through any contact point and wherever the consumer wants. However, most Portuguese retailers still opt for a multichannel strategy, where the physical shop and the online shop operate independently from each other. Although there are already some successful cases in Portugal, it can be considered that the use of omnichannel is still at an early stage. More publicity is needed so that retailers are aware of the concept and above all recognise the advantages of this new strategy. Before disclosure it is important to understand why companies work with both online and offline channels and do not opt for an omnichannel strategy. This study aims to analyse Portuguese companies that have not yet adopted an omnichannel strategy, to understand the barriers that make them unwilling to adopt this strategy. To this end, a quantitative research was carried out through the application of surveys to companies in different districts of Portugal to understand their position in relation to omnichannel and the reasons for not moving to this structure. The results obtained made it possible to describe the importance of omnichannel as a commercial and distribution strategy and analyse the reasons why its use by companies in Portugal is still extremely low. The lack of knowledge about the structure and management issues emerged as the biggest barriers.