Choosing the delivery and return method in purchases: the effect of situational factors in omni-channel contexts

Even though retailers have engaged in many efforts to offer and integrate new alternatives for delivering and returning consumers’ purchases, it is not clear what motivates consumers to choose one option or another. Although most consumers are already familiar with options such as home delivery or pick-up locations, situational factors determine their choice among the different alternatives; no study has, however, addressed this topic before. To fill this gap, this study identifies 15 different situational factors to examine their influence on the selection of delivery and return options and the effect of consumers’ demographic characteristics. The empirical analysis is based on an online questionnaire distributed to 650 respondents (266 valid responses). In addition, this study uses MANOVA and ANOVA to determine the relationship between each situational factor and consumer characteristics. The results show that 13 situational factors have a significant impact on consumer decisions, and among them time pressure, the distance to the store and channel spill-over are the most influential factors. The results also show that situational factors significantly rely on individual characteristics. For instance, getting help from an employee is significantly more important for consumers who are under 25 years of age. The study reveals some valuable implications for retailers.