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From the invention of the worldwide web in 1989 to where stand now, digital technologies have profoundly changed the way we work, think, communicate, learn, etc. But most inevitably, it has changed the way we shop. The ever-changing world of retail had to adapt and the fashion sector makes no exception.
Nowadays, brands that want to strive have to focus on their customers in a sustainable and scalable way by realising a full integration of digital technologies as part of their digital transformation. More than ever before, the customer experience needs to be immersive, personalised and interactive.
But what role do digital technologies actually hold in this landscape and how do they enhance the customer/user experience? This work aims at answering this question, both for in-store and online experience.
The first part will start by examining the context with fashion retailers and the fashion retail market in figures. E-commerce drivers and barriers will also be reviewed along with Belgian consumers expenditures in fashion retail. Then, we will review the academic literature dedicated to customer experience, omnichannel retailing and digital technologies.
In the second part, the aim is to take a closer look at the situation with the use of case studies. The first chapter of this section will give an overview of the most avant-garde actors in the fashion retail industry all over the world by showcasing one pure player (ASOS) and one omnichannel retailer (H&M) that are currently using state-of-the-art technology. We will also list other actors identified during this research that are using technology to improve the customer experience. As for the remainder of this part, we will consider a promising digital technology: 3D body scanning.

customer experience --- digital technologies --- omnichannel --- fashion retail --- 3D body scanning --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Marketing

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The luxury journey was and still remains about immerging the clients into the brand’s own universe, they just had new tools to achieve this. Dominated by the mono-brand and multi-brand stores, the online channels quickly made a place for themselves in the luxury market, giving customers the option of having their experience offline or not. The sector never stopped growing over time, attracting more clients and countries each year. With the globalization, luxury brand had to find a way to stay relevant. That’s where the omnichannel approach came through: proposing a seamless experience to the customers where all channels are connected and deliver the same services. The pandemic that occurred in 2020 forced many luxury brands to tap into their digital side, unlocking some new ways of selling the products and many opportunities to thrive online thanks to their social media and websites. But the future of physical stores became a concern for many luxury brands. In this thesis, we will analyze if the offline channels in the luxury industry could continue to thrive in this digital era.

E-commerce --- luxury --- fashion --- physical stores --- brick-and-mortars --- omnichannel --- covid-19 --- channels --- digital --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Multidisciplinaire, généralités & autres

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Omnichannel was a fashionable word in the retail a few years back and in 2014, 71% of the
retailers had engaged in an omnichannel strategy and 24% were working toward it (Oracle
retail, 2014) : the phenomenon keeps growing rapidly. Nowadays, the customers require to
have a flawless experience throughout all the channels, whether it is for information research,
for purchase or any others actions the customers may want to take with the retailers. And
those who would not satisfy their customers might lose them forever.
Moreover, the eCommerce and digital technologies steadily take a greater importance in the
retail world. In Belgium, 61% of the 16-64 years old own a smartphone (Digimedia, 2016).
We might therefore think that eCommerce and the mobile devices, to a lesser extent, would
completely replace the traditional brick-and-mortar shops and that those would eventually
disappear.
But it is absolutely not the case : people still love physical stores and the mobile is not their
main tool to purchase and it is not indented to become so. People are social creatures and love
face-to-face interactions. They also want to touch, fell and try the products when buying a
product. This is where the concept of in-store digital experience appeared : the use of digital
technologies inside a physical store.
This concept can delight every consumer : there is still the physical side for the most
conservative ones but they can also use their smartphones inside the store to help them in the
purchasing decisions. This technique improves consequently their in-store experience and
then, the customers tend to buy more. Indeed, improved shopping experience can grow
revenue by 5% to 10% over a span of three years and 75% of people have spent more with a
company because of a history of positive customer experiences (VisionCritical, 2016).
MediaMarkt asked me what they would have to do to develop their mobile strategy and this is
the conclusion I reached, especially in the consumer electronics and home appliances sector
where the customers still shop in store the most. Moreover, MediaMarkt will be the first to
develop its mobile strategy and improving its in-store experience compared to its Belgian
competitors who do not even have a mobile application. With this development, MediaMarkt
will confirm its position as a leader in the Belgian market.

omnichannel --- mobile strategy --- click-and-mortar --- in-store experience --- mobile-in-store --- MediaMarkt --- customers’ expectations --- smartphones --- shopping journey --- digital technologies --- physical stores --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Marketing

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Méca-Fluid is a company providing equipment such as industrial valves and pneumatic components. In a more and more digitalized environment and a world ruled by new
technologies, the company realized the importance of an active online presence. By wishing
to launch an e-commerce, the company pursues three main goals: first, the company wants to
offer a brand new sales channel and quality services to its consumers, then it wishes to
increase its visibility and develop this new prospecting and sales channel and finally to
develop and strengthen its brand awareness and brand image as a specialist.
In order to suggest a strategy to fulfill these goals, I carried out a business model of the
company. It allowed me to discover how important the quality of the relationships the
company maintains with its consumers is.
Then, I conducted a benchmark analysis which showed me that only one competitor of
Méca-Fluid actually sells its products online. This brought me to the realization that an ecommerce represents a real growth opportunity for the company.
After that, I carried out a customer survey which, among others, made me realize how
customers are attached to the quality of services provided by Méca-Fluid, that only a few of
them spend time on social medias during business hours whereas lots of them use search
engines and some of them show interest in an industrial blog and newsletters.
Since the company has a limited budget, it can’t afford to implement all the digital marketing
tools I suggested. This is why I ranked the tools to implement first to offer a great service
quality for consumers on the website, to increase company’s visibility on search engines and
to develop the company’s brand awareness and brand image.
Finally, after launching its website, I advise the company to carry out a user testing and
implement websites analytics tools in order to get precious information about its audience and
its behavior.

digital marketing, --- omnichannel, --- business model, --- benchmark, --- website --- user survey --- Search Engine Optimization --- Search Engine Advertising --- chat marketing --- mobile users --- native apps --- web apps --- responsive design --- content marketing --- blog --- webinar --- curation --- email marketing --- social networks --- user testing --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Marketing

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The purpose of the Special Issue “Quantitative Methods in Economics and Finance” of the journal Risks was to provide a collection of papers that reflect the latest research and problems of pricing complex derivates, simulation pricing, analysis of financial markets, and volatility of exchange rates in the international context. This book can be used as a reference for academicians and researchers who would like to discuss and introduce new developments in the field of quantitative methods in economics and finance and explore applications of quantitative methods in other business areas.

Coins, banknotes, medals, seals (numismatics) --- omnichannel (omni-channel) sales --- sales funnel --- cost of sales --- customer relationship management (CRM), Big Data --- robo-advisor --- financial innovations --- diffusion --- exchange traded funds --- stock index futures --- stock index options --- stock market indexes --- business finance --- earnings management --- EBIT --- financial modelling --- homogeneity --- stationarity --- time series methods --- unit root --- loan pricing --- RAROC --- loan origination --- exchange-rate risk --- long-range dependency --- wavelets --- multi-frequency analysis --- AUD–USD exchange rate --- π-option --- American-type option --- optimal stopping --- Monte Carlo simulation --- economic security of companies --- valuation of intangible assets and intellectual property --- International Valuation Standards (IVS) --- legal disputes over intellectual rights --- time series --- prediction --- exchange rate --- artificial neural networks --- radial basis function --- multi-layer perceptron --- seasonal fluctuations --- global economy --- omnichannel (omni-channel) sales --- sales funnel --- cost of sales --- customer relationship management (CRM), Big Data --- robo-advisor --- financial innovations --- diffusion --- exchange traded funds --- stock index futures --- stock index options --- stock market indexes --- business finance --- earnings management --- EBIT --- financial modelling --- homogeneity --- stationarity --- time series methods --- unit root --- loan pricing --- RAROC --- loan origination --- exchange-rate risk --- long-range dependency --- wavelets --- multi-frequency analysis --- AUD–USD exchange rate --- π-option --- American-type option --- optimal stopping --- Monte Carlo simulation --- economic security of companies --- valuation of intangible assets and intellectual property --- International Valuation Standards (IVS) --- legal disputes over intellectual rights --- time series --- prediction --- exchange rate --- artificial neural networks --- radial basis function --- multi-layer perceptron --- seasonal fluctuations --- global economy