Interactive In-Store Technologies And Customer Experience:Key Success Factors In The Fashion Industry

The scope of this thesis is to analyse the major trends which are transforming how people connect and how they make buying decisions, which are also affecting the evolution of retail environments. In order to continue to be relevant for customers, retailers have started to introduce in traditional stores new technologies which are believed to provide a more enjoyable in-store experience and to create an integration between the online and the offline world.By analysing forty companies in the fashion industry and with the support of fifteen qualitative interviews, the main objective of this thesis is to identify which are the interactive in-store technologies able to actively engage consumers in the fashion industry. Furthermore, opportunities and key success factors to deliver great customer experience, by leveraging on the potential opportunities provided by these new technologies, will be recognized.What emerged from this analysis is the idea that experiences are enriched only when consistency between the use of in-store technologies and the value proposition of the brand is ensured:if luxury brands should focus more on exploiting the informative content provided by the technology to support the shopping experience, on the contrary, mass retailers should focus on creating amusing and memorable experiences by leveraging on entertaining technologies, in order to differentiate from competitors, create and sustain a competitive advantage.