As fashion and distribution companies have increasingly turned to implementing marketing activities that use omni-channel strategies, it is imperative to explore consumer-oriented evaluations of omni-channel shopping for fashion products. Through contributing to the growing research flow of consumer behavior within omni-channel contexts, the current study explores consumer motivations for omni-channel fashion shopping and their impacts on the decision-making stages of fashion products. The authors first performed in-depth interviews with six Korean consumers and confirmed the four types of consumer motivation for omni-channel shopping, and how decision- making processes react to fashion companies’ omni- channel marketing strategies. These findings were used to set survey items for the main study. Based on the results and findings of previous literature, an online survey was conducted with 300 participants who had actual experience with omni-channel shopping for fashion products. The statistic results from the survey revealed the following: First, the in-depth interviews allowed the authors to confirm four factors of omni-channel shopping motivation (ubiquity, efficiency, convenience, and impulsiveness). Second, the survey showed the authors that among the four factors of omni-channel shopping orientation, impulsiveness had the greatest effect on consumer behaviors at the preand on-purchase stages, while the ubiquity factor had the greatest effect at the post-purchase stage. As such, the study empirically tested the omni-channel-specific factors of shopping orientation and motivation. In addition, it showed the effect of omni-channel marketing on various stages of the decision- making process and the study’s limitations and implications were discussed.

Since the arrival of omni-channel retailing, which promotes seamless experience for consumers and zero effort commerce, channel integration has been a big issue in both the domestic and the international retail industry. Some researchers have identified problems that can occur in the process of channel integration, such as cannibalization and channel conflict (Coelho & Easingwood, 2003). However, many studies on channel integration report its positive impact on a firm’s revenue growth through improved trust (Schramm-Klein & Morschett, 2006), higher consumer conversion rates (Neslin et al., 2006), and greater cross-selling opportunities (Berry et al., 2010). Regarding the issue of effectively establishing channel integration in order to bring positive synergy to a company, the present study intends to identify a solution within a company’s internal factors. This study aims to provide a strategic perspective on channel integration formation of domestic fashion retailers by identifying some of the key organizational components that drive a firm’s channel integration in this omni-channel era, when the boundaries between online and offline markets are disappearing. This study predicts that organizational structure and strategic orientation are the key components of a fashion retailer’s channel integration implementation in an omni-channel environment. As shown in previous studies, channel integration has a positive impact on a firm’s performance through active and innovative transformation of the organization’s hardware and software (Cao & Li, 2015; Yan, Wang, & Zhou, 2010). In particular, this study introduces channel (extension) strategies (number of different types of channels in both online and offline markets) into channel integration as one of the crucial variables, in addition to the two existing variables. The data were collected through a survey targeting mid-level executives or above, within a business unit of Korea’s fashion companies with over $10 million revenue. Through this selection, a total of 120 samples were used in the final analysis. Hierarchical regression modeling was used to prove the study’s hypothesis. The revenue size of a parent company and SBU was used as a control variable in the level 1 model; channel strategies in the level 2 model; organizational structure in the level 3 model, and organization strategic orientation in the level 4 model, which was used as an independent variable. Integrated back-end system and integrated human resource management, which are the highest levels of channel integration (Cao & Li, 2015; Oh, Teo, & Sambamurthy, 2012), have been used as dependent variables. The main findings of this study are as follows: In a back-end system integration model, organization strategic orientation was identified as the highest level when the organizational structure becomes more centralized, whereas the system integration level is the highest when the model is competitor-oriented and innovation-oriented. In the human resource management integration model, the human resource management integration level is at its highest when the organizational structure becomes formalized and specialized, and organization strategic behavior becomes more competitor-oriented and innovation-oriented.