L’adoption d’un Drive par le client : une approche interactionniste par la socialisation organisationnelle et le rôle du personnel en contact

Customers' adoption of a Drive: an inter-actionist approach through the organizational socialization and the role of the staff in contact While the role of the sales staff has been significantly reduced in the most recent point-of-sale format innovations, this article analyzes its role in the process of learning and adopting a Drive by customers. The qualitative study carried out shows that this process is fostered by the interaction between the employee and the customer. This interaction allows customers to develop their organizational socialization towards the Drive and thereby strengthen their relationship with the point-of-sale, even in this minimal interaction context. In other words the human factor remains fundamental when learning a retail business innovation, even when it incorporates an important digital aspect. Indeed, the analysis of the interviews conducted with 74 customers and non-customers shows that this interaction enables customers to develop their organizational socialization which contributes itself to the adoption of the new retailing format. Such results allow: (1) identifying the actions to be taken to promote the learning and the adoption of this sales format, and (2) more gene- rally, highlighting the role of the staff in contact, in terms of the value creation strategy. In addition, they provide mana- gers with food for thought, encouraging them to support customers in their learning efforts through concrete actions.