Clustering of the Stimuli Affecting Customers' Channel Choice Behavior in the Omni-Channel Retail Platform

Over the past decade, extensive research has been conducted on the factors influencing customer channel selection behavior within the omnichannel retail context. A review of these studies reveals significant variability in findings and a diverse array of methodologies employed. Consequently, a comprehensive study featuring a systematic review is essential to synthesize and categorize the insights from prior research.In this regard, the present study sought to identify and cluster the drivers that affect customer channel selection behavior in the omnichannel retail environment. This research employed scientometric analysis, focusing on all studies indexed in the Scopus scientific repository from 1996 to October 2024, amounting to a total of 5,333 studies. After applying entry criteria that included only English-language articles published in reputable journals, citation data for 738 relevant studies were extracted from the Scopus repository and analyzed using bibliometric software packages in R and VOSviewer.The data analysis indicated that significant growth in publications had occurred since 2013 with the most cited article authored by Abhishek et al. (2016). The United States and China emerged as the leading contributors to this field of research. The clustering of studies had led to the identification of 3 primary clusters: Cluster 1 (red): Customer experience in omnichannel retailing; Cluster 2 (green): Customer channel migration in omnichannel retailing; and Cluster 3 (blue): Configuring the omnichannel distribution system to guide customers.The findings suggested that, to attract and retain customers, retailers had to optimize the omnichannel experience, creating a seamless shopping journey across multiple touchpoints, ultimately enhancing consumer satisfaction.