A cross cultural study of gender differences in omnichannel retailing contexts

Highlights

• The study develops the gender-based shopping mall omnichannel experience model.

• The model is tested and validated in the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates.

• Major gender differences exist in customer omnichannel experience in modern shopping malls.

• Combining personal, physical and virtual environments encounters can improve experience in malls.

Abstract

This research examines gender difference in omnichannel experience in modern shopping malls, combining personal, physical and virtual encounters. It proposes a new theoretical model: the gender-based shopping mall omnichannel experience model. Data was collected using 1139 questionnaires completed by millennial shoppers in the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates. Data was analysed using partial least squares. The results showed a shift in males shopping behaviour as they pay more attention to peer interaction on social platforms, service excellence, convenience, diversity and personalisation in shopping malls than female shoppers, while aesthetics and privacy are more important for female shoppers.

Introduction

Over the years, shopping malls have made a considerable influence on the economic and social welfare of both consumers and communities (Haj-Salem et al., 2016; Katrodia and Soni, 2018). Despite their substantial impact on the economy, there is a major drop in the number of shoppers visiting physical stores at an alarming rate. By 2022, it is expected that one out of every four shopping malls in the United States could go out of business (Sanburn, 2017). This is largely due to the advent of online and mobile shopping which have led to a dramatic change in consumer shopping behaviours and preferences.

In the past few years, shopping malls have been striving to provide unique shopping experiences to respond to the different desires of shoppers (Gong and Janssen, 2015). To counter this change in shoppers’ preferences, shopping malls are shifting to omnichannel retailing. This strategy, named omnichannel retailing, involves the integration of different technologies such as: mobile applications, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and biometrics (Morgan, 2018). The growing popularity of omnichannel retailing in recent years has significantly transformed the retail landscape (Herhausen et al., 2015).

Omnichannel shopping malls bring together the offline and online channels, where a shopper's experience is seamlessly enhanced via the simultaneous use of accessible distribution channels, regardless of the path used to make a purchase (Agius, 2019; Gerritsen et al., 2014). However, the majority of previous studies either focused on the brick-and-mortar shopping experience (offline) (e.g. El-Adly, 2007; Keng et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2015; Merrilees and Miller, 2019) or the online customer experience (e.g. Verhagen et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2019). However, there is a gap in existing knowledge on customer experience in the modern and innovative types of malls, namely: modern shopping malls in which customers enjoy an omnichannel shopping experience, integrating virtual and physical environments. In this type of shopping malls, providing a positive shoppers' experience plays an important role in their sustainability (Gong and Janssen, 2015). In order to provide a positive omnichannel experience to shoppers, marketers need to understand differences between shoppers with reference to different factors namely: gender and cultural differences (Mosquera et al., 2018). Gender has been found as an important factor in the field of marketing and shopping intentions (Walsh et al., 2017). However, there is an absence of theoretical frameworks that examined male and female shoppers' behaviour in omnichannel shopping malls. Additionally, previous studies highlighted the importance of studying cross-cultural differences which can have a significant impact on consumer behaviour (Ameen et al., 2018). Hence, investigating the pivotal role of cross-cultural differences in omnichannel shopping mall experience is important from both practical and theoretical perspectives.

Hence, the main aim of this research is to analyse gender differences among millennials in customer omnichannel shopping malls, combining personal, physical and virtual encounters, in a cross-cultural context. Cross-cultural differences between the United Kingdom (UK) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are evaluated in this study as the two countries are different in their cultural characteristics (Hofstede, 2019). These two countries are different in terms of shopping cultures and behaviours, in addition, both are frontrunners in the adoption of omnichannel retailing and they both have some of the most advanced shopping malls in the world in terms of the integration of technologies in customers’ shopping experiences. Hence, we empirically test the model proposed in this study using customers of two advanced shopping malls in these two countries: Westfield London (UK) and Dubai Mall (UAE).

One of the primary market segments for shopping malls is millennials. Millennials, also known as “Generation Y″, refer to the generational cohort born between 1980 and 2000 (Ferri-Reed, 2010). Millennials are distinct segment that is characterised by their immense purchasing power, their high involvement towards technological innovations, and their aspiration towards personalised experiences (Sepher and Head, 2017). This group of shoppers is unique not only in terms of motivations and behaviours (Thomas et al., 2016) but also is anticipated to have a higher spending power than all previous generations (Fleming, 2016). Shopping through omnichannel shopping malls is rapidly growing among this group of shoppers, thus our study suggests that this segment of customers ‘millennials’ is open to embracing omnichannel retailing more than any other generational cohort.

The study offers theoretical contributions. First, the study proposes a new model: the GSOE model which addresses a gap in the literature in understanding the omnichannel experience for different segments of customers in modern shopping malls. This model is tested in two different countries. Second, it extends knowledge by providing a better understanding of gender differences in millennials customer experiences in modern shopping malls combining personal interactions, physical environment and virtual environment encounters. In addition, the study has practical implications for shopping mall management and retailers since it explains how to connect with this highly attractive segment of millennials via creating unique omnichannel shopping experiences.

Section two offers a background on the theoretical background and conceptual model. Then, a set of hypotheses is presented. Then, the methodology, results and discussion are provided. Lastly, the theoretical contributions, practical implications and limitations and future work are provided.