Supervisor/s: Professor Michael Bourlakis & Dr Farooq Habib
Background
Major operational, organisational and digital transformations in the retail sector have re-shaped the structure and processes of its supply and demand chains, and introduced a new concept of omni-channel, which let customers search for, pay for, receive and return products via various, well-integrated and channels, with full visibility and accessibility.
The nascent literature on omni-channel has been linked with or addressed different topics such as e-commerce, off-line to on-line problems, last-mile delivery models and customer shopping experience. This research field, however, needs further cutting-edge studies to further explore and analyse the omni-channel complications and complexities in practice.
Possible Research Areas
Interested PhD applicants are invited to submit their proposals for a doctoral-level research on omni-channel, which can address the following areas:
- Analytical modelling of physical and virtual flows in omni-channel
- The impact of new technological trends such as disruptive manufacturing on omni-channel structure and operations
- The role and impact of data quality and integration in omni-channel systems
- Omni-channel performance measurement and management
Suggested Reading
Ailawadi, K. L., & Farris, P. W. (2017). Managing multi-and omni-channel distribution: metrics and research directions. Journal of Retailing, 93(1), 120-135.
Daugherty, P. J., Bolumole, Y., & Grawe, S. J. (2019). The new age of customer impatience: an agenda for reawakening logistics customer service research. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 49(1), 4-32.
Wollenburg, J., Hübner, A., Kuhn, H., & Trautrims, A. (2018). From bricks-and-mortar to bricks-and-clicks: logistics networks in omni-channel grocery retailing. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 48(4), 415-438.
Saghiri, S., Wilding, R., Mena, C., & Bourlakis, M. (2017). Toward a three-dimensional framework for omni-channel. Journal of Business Research, 77, 53-67.
Verhoef, P. C., Kannan, P. K., & Inman, J. J. (2015). From multi-channel retailing to omni-channel retailing: introduction to the special issue on multi-channel retailing. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 174-181.
