The Evolution of Corporate Innovation in the O2O Model—Case Studies in the Chinese Jewelry Retail Sector

Abstract

The latest craze of new retailing has required the traditional jewelry industry to cope with it head-on. The aims of this article are to discover how the jewelry retail companies can innovate and evolve in the current wave of new retailing and understand how they use relevant technologies in their omni-channel operations. The selected methodology is a qualitative explanatory multi-case study. Four types of enterprises of the jewelry retail sector were selected. We find that there are four corporate innovation types in the jewelry retail sector, including: price-driven, service-driven, technology-driven, and demand-driven models. Case enterprises have established their own innovation approaches with regard to the adoption of omni-channel technology. This study advocated that different types of enterprise have different channel resources and assets, so they should set up customized omni-channel strategies in accordance with the advantages of their resources and the needs of target customers.