Getting the most from E-commerce. A case-based study on the opportunities and threats for supply chain management processes in the context of Omnichannel Strategies

This paper aims at identifying the conditions upon which “brick and mortar” companies can take advantage from the omnichannel strategy. Building on the literature concerning the implications of this strategy from the marketing and logistic viewpoints, we developed a research framework according to which two variables can explain the actions undertaken by leading companies to effectively pursue the omnichannel strategy: main distribution channel of the company (direct, indirect); product’s value density (high, low). Through the analysis of four case-studies we showed that such conditions can influence the benefits achieved from the marketing viewpoint and main challenges to address in logistics.