Channel integration and retail business performance in the pandemic covid-19: The mediating role of strategic agility

Abstract

Along with the Covid-19 pandemic, unprecedented changes have occurred in customer shopping experiences arising from time constraints, insufficient stock, and social distance. Up till now, some retailers have become more resilient to crises, and some have even attained more growth in such a turbulent atmosphere. What the retail industry learned deeply from public health threats is that multi-channel interoperability builds up retailer resilience and creates some opportunities while fostering strategically agile behaviour and hence better performance in times of crisis. In this line, the present study here examines whether online-offline channel integration improves strategic agility and retail business performance during the pandemic outbreak of Covid-19. The data obtained from Turkish clothes retailers confirms the mediator role of strategic agility in the relationship between channel integration and retail business performance. This study provides the first evidence for the performance-enhancing effect of channel integration through strategic agility in the struggle with the pandemic.