The development of omnichannel strategy in Italian SMEs. The case of fashion industry.

The digital transformation has empowered today increasingly informed consumers to decide how, where and when having their shopping experience. As a consequence, organizations aim at adapting to these changes by developing the omnichannel strategy, which depicts the integrated management of multiple interaction channels. Therefore, this strategy provides customers with the opportunity to freely shift between online and offline channels without interrupting their transactions. Focusing on Italian fashion industry, the aim is understanding both whether and how SMEs are approaching this strategy. The thesis is divided in four different chapters. The first part deals with digital transformation, in which the stages for achieving the development of omnichannel strategy are described. After the definition of business model concept, the second chapter depicts the implications of omnichannel strategy on firms’ business model, implying the organizational integration of both retailers’ primary and secondary activities. Then, the third section analyzes the fashion industry and the evolution of the retailing formats. Lastly, the empiric chapter investigates and compares the approach of two different SMEs of Nord East of Italy operating in the fashion industry, Siloe Srl and Xacus Srl, to omnichannel strategy.