An Exploratory Study of Omni-Channel Retailing Strategies in the Drugstore Industry: The Case of B Company in Taiwan

Abstract

In recent years, O2O was becoming an important channel strategy actively explored by major companies. This new O2O model was an important marketing development trend, especially within the retail industry. The drugstore industry in Taiwan should also consider using this strategy. However, Philip Kotler emphasized in Marketing 4.0 that the mobile and community era was at hand, represented by the concept of “Mobile Community Marketing,” which could be interpreted as bringing businesses and consumers together to connect virtual and physical networks. The current study utilized a case method and selected B company as the research object. Several in-depth interviews with multiple senior management directors were conducted. The study findings indicated that omni-channel retailing strategies were becoming more popular and the case company will continue to implement this kind of retailing strategy. The results of this paper could generalize some practical marketing suggestions for the drugstore industry.