A research on showrooming and webrooming buying behaviors in the context of omni-channel marketing

Today's retail environments are changing significantly with the development of technology and the spread of online and mobile channels. The form of retail that emerged with this change is called omni-channel retailing. With the researches, it is seen that the consumers as well as the retailers change in this process, and it is important for the retailers to develop and implement omni-channel marketing strategies in order to meet their changing expectations. Understanding the consumer, which is the focal point of this form of retail, is at the core of successful strategies for omni-channel retailers. Consumers show webrooming behavior by purchasing products in the physical store after researching them in the online channel, and showrooming behavior by purchasing them from the online channel after researching them in the physical store. These two forms of shopping are common among consumers with omni-channels and understanding them is very important for retailers. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of antecedents of consumers' attitudes and intentions towards showrooming and webrooming behaviors that they commonly display in the omni-channel retail environment, and to measure whether the intention towards showrooming and webrooming behaviors has an effect on omni-channel satisfaction with a research to be conducted in the apparel industry. In the study, data were collected from 507 participants by questionnaire method. The model discussed in the study was tested with PLS-SEM. Research results show that price advantage and savings, sales staff assistance and socialization have a positive effect on attitude towards showrooming; socialization, low online search cost, and accessing online reviews have a positive effect on attitude towards webrooming. In addition, it has been determined in the study that attitudes towards showrooming and webrooming positively affect intentions towards showrooming and webrooming, and intention towards webrooming has a positive effect on omni-channel satisfaction. Based on the results of the research, recommendations were made to the clothing industry retailers and researchers.