Strategic Integration Of Multi-Channel Retailing In The Softgoods Sector

The development of the Internet as a marketing channel represents an unprecedented innovation in the retailing industry. The current research explores levels of multi-channel integration among major U.S. retailers (N = 74) in the softgoods sector from an Organizational Diffusion of Innovations perspective. A network of hypotheses examining Internet innovation across retail formats is empirically tested using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Findings indicate significant differences among retail formats in the degree that marketing executives have integrated a multi-channel focus into their current and/or future strategic agendas. Outcomes reveal important multi-channel opportunities and considerations for domestic softgoods retailers among specialty apparel, footwear, and general merchandise formats. (C) 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.