E-commerce, physical stores and new technologies in the evolution of fashion retail business models Open Access

Technological change has become increasingly important in retail in general and clothing retail in particular (Shankar et al., 2021; Sharma et al., 2025). The relationship between e-commerce and physical stores emerges in many business cases in the fashion industry with the recent technology developments (Beckb and Criéa, 2018; Guercini and Runfola, 2015; Ofek et al., 2011; Picot-Coupey et al., 2016). The growth of fashion e-commerce has led to a shift in attention from the physical to the digital channel and can help explain the crisis of traditional commercial formats (Avery et al., 2013; Bhatnagar and Syam, 2014; Hagberg et al., 2016; Siddiqui et al., 2003; Yoganathan et al., 2019; Willems et al., 2017). On the other hand, the evolution, in particular in fashion retail, of omnichannel approaches instead of multichannel ones, has pushed toward an integrated vision between online and offline stages of the customer journey (Fuentes et al., 2017; Gallino and Moreno, 2014; Grewal et al., 2010; Landmark and Sjøbakk, 2017; Roggeveen et al., 2016). More recently, the development of an approach to artificial intelligence (AI), both from a heuristic point of view as symbolic-physical systems and in the use of machine learning and neural networks (Guercini, 2020), has been proposed by various actors in the digital context and may also have an impact in the field of fashion retail (Fuentes et al., 2017; Grewal et al., 2017; Guercini et al., 2018; Guercini, 2023a; Kim and Cheeyong, 2015), including games (Milanesi et al., 2023) and the metaverse (Milanesi et al., 2024).

The special issue we are introducing with this article aims to explore the impact of new technologies on the relationship between e-commerce and physical stores in the fashion retail sector, from different points of view and from a multidisciplinary perspective. To do this, this issue proposes a set of articles with the aim of presenting up-to-date research on how new technologies, such as those related to AI (Guha et al., 2021; Cao, 2021; Otterbring et al., 2016), offer opportunities for new business models in a sector, fashion retail, which is in direct contact with consumption and new trends in society. This cutting edge papers contribute to expanding the frontier of research on the role of new technologies in fashion retail, both empirically and in terms of theoretical implications. The papers consider the role of new technologies and implications for actors and process, suggesting scenarios and contributing to delivering the most updated knowledge about the subject to both scholars and practitioners. This issue takes a multi-disciplinary approach including different perspectives (marketing, management, information and communication technologies, consumer behaviour, entrepreneurship etc.) that draws from academic and theory and practitioners experiences. The aim is to understand the processes underlying the evolution of retail in fashion in the present and the emerging trends for the near future, identifying the evolution of e-commerce and physical stores, anticipating the potentials inherent in the new technologies and highlighted by the avant-garde actors. The point of view of the corporate actors as well as of consumers and customers is of interest, with reference also to the implications for suppliers, competition, influencers and actors in the related sectors.

The rest of the article is structured as follows. In the next section, we examine the conceptual and theoretical aspects referred to in the papers presented in this special issue, which concern the role of new online and offline technologies in the development of business models, with particular reference to fashion retail. The following section presents the research results proposed by the articles published in this special issue, highlighting the different methodological approaches and contributions. Finally, the concluding section offers a summary of the special issue, highlighting the cross-cutting aspects of the various works and the main emerging trends, including those interested in continuing research on the specific topic of our focus.

The recent literature has tended to confirm that the complex set of new digital technologies affecting fashion retail suggests a redefinition of the forms of conceptualisation, design and implementation of customer contact that are more comprehensive than the business model. This phenomenon is not limited to digital retail but also affects physical retail, given the integration between the two environments in the development of the customer journey in an omnichannel model. These new technologies are increasingly integrated with the spread of AI, which supports the automation of marketing processes, integrating with forms of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and extended reality thanks to the potential expressed by integrated digital ecosystems. These new technologies change “retailing exchanges (in a number of ways and in various facets of exchange, including communications, transactions and distribution); the nature of retail offerings (blurred distinctions between products and services, what constitutes the actual offering and how it is priced); retail settings (i.e. where and when retailing takes place); and the actors who participate in retailing (i.e. retailers and consumers, among other parties)” (Hagberg et al., 2016, p. 694).

The literature indicates that the interaction of new digital technologies modifies retail business models rather than reinforcing existing ones (Bocken et al., 2014). Digitalisation in the omnichannel approach does not treat e-commerce and physical retail as separate channels, but as interconnected elements, offering both opportunities and increased complexity that must be addressed in turn through digital and automated solutions. The omnichannel perspective, generated by technology, must also make use of it to address this complexity in a situation where the consumer may not experience a separation of channels but rather a continuity of experience (Grewal et al., 2010).

Alongside its great potential, technology also has some adverse aspects. For example, recent research on the role of robots as assistants in the retail process has highlighted how consumers may develop a certain desire to remain free from service robots, signalling the importance of taking this into account when designing the service (Ha et al., 2025). Therefore, in this context, companies must not limit themselves to adopting new technologies, but must develop the ability to understand their role in the context of the service and customer relations, while maintaining organisational capabilities that may be useful even when there is the possibility of replacement by technology (Guercini and Lechner, 2023). Retailers must therefore maintain and further develop their organisational capabilities, improving operations and consciously balancing the negative and positive aspects of adopting and integrating new technologies. Digitalisation impacts corporate culture and affects decision-making processes, not only at the consumer level, but also at the marketer level (Guercini, 2023a), where human judgement is essential to maintain a comparison of the quality of the decision-making process, even when integrated with technology, as this offers tools with the potential to improve speed but also other aspects of decision quality (Guercini, 2023b).

The way in which digital technologies and circular economy principles interact in the fashion industry is one of the topics of greatest interest for clothing retailers (technology to enable sustainability). The fashion industry is often at the centre of debate regarding its impact on the environment, as it is frequently cited as one of the industries that contributes most to waste production and emissions (Akrout and Guercini, 2022). The fast fashion business model, in particular, has been associated with serious environmental and social problems (Bellandi and Stark, 2025). Recent research suggests, however, that digital technologies can support the pursuit of circular strategies that were not previously available (Coscieme et al., 2022). For example, virtual prototyping allows companies to reduce the number of physical samples with less material waste during product development. At the same time, AI systems can support forecasting and thus reduce inventory and the problem of overproduction and unsold goods, which can also generate increased volumes of special waste (Erdem et al., 2026). More importantly, digital product passports and blockchain systems create transparent records that track products throughout their lifecycle, making it easier for companies to take responsibility for their products and encouraging customers to purchase and use items repeatedly. These examples highlight how digital technologies can enable companies to improve the environmental sustainability of their business model through concrete actions whose effects can be verified and monitored (Agrawal et al., 2021).

Another innovation in terms of sustainability offered by new digital infrastructures is linked to the emergence of “Fashion-as-a-Service” models. In this case, the clothing business model shifts from sales to rental, leasing or managed consumption (Travasi and Musso, 2023). The success of this model depends on digital platforms capable of managing a large inventory, organising logistics so that items can be rented or reused multiple times and recommending products to customers from the available collection of items. This change reflects a broader trend towards platform-based and circular business models, especially among new fashion start-ups that make sustainability a priority from the outset (Ostermann et al., 2021), with a change in the network of partner actors involved in the processes, a phenomenon common to other sustainable innovation processes, as already highlighted in recent studies (Dominidiato et al., 2025).

Digitalisation and AI are already enabling a restructuring of the personalisation economy in fashion retail (personalisation and customer centricity). Personalisation, already a hallmark of the luxury sector, has also been made possible for broader market segments, albeit at a higher cost. The availability of behavioural data and its collection and processing through machine learning algorithms now enable “scalable” personalisation through the simultaneous adaptation of recommendation systems, visual merchandising, pricing strategies and communications. Not only is data on buyer profiles available, but it is also possible to improve conversions and thus reduce marketing costs by using information on profiles and behaviour, starting with transaction data, which facilitates the modelling of customer behaviour (Guha et al., 2021; Davenport et al., 2020), giving concrete form to the customer-centric approach that is the basis for successful modern brand management (Mir-Bernal and Sadaba, 2022).

Virtual fitting room technology is an excellent example of innovation in retail driven by digitalisation. Thanks to these systems, customers can see how a garment will look on them without physically having it available, allowing them to assess their fit preferences even when shopping online, where this can be a problem. The effectiveness of this technology seems to be confirmed by the reduction in returns related to fit (Mohammadi and Kalhor, 2021). Virtual fittings are also an additional source of data that allows companies to learn both technical aspects about people's anthropometry when data is uploaded by users, and about customer preferences and style choices that are not highlighted by actual purchases, which are also influenced by other factors such as spending constraints. This information can help companies make better decisions about which products to create and how to present them. Finally, these technologies make it possible to offer tailor-made and personalised clothing on a larger scale and at lower costs than in the past, strengthening companies' ability to balance mass production with personalised service (Batool and Mou, 2024).

Finally, the use of data produced in the digital environment allows for changes to the business model, even with respect to the physical environment, and overall makes the omnichannel approach a different business model (rethinking the business model through omnichannel). In the new business model, inventory management conditions are changed, and therefore, the possibility of unsold goods, which traditionally affected the profitability of clothing retailers. For a long time, the inventory of physical and digital stores was managed separately, but through unified inventory systems, it is possible to move stock between channels, reducing costs while maintaining product availability and customer satisfaction (Chakraborty and Chung, 2014). Online customer interactions, including those on mobile devices, generate data that helps companies better understand customers in the physical environment as well. When AI analyses this data, companies can offer personalised marketing in real time, adjust prices for different customers and predict inventory needs based on demand (Verhoef et al., 2015). On the other hand, the same technology that enables personalisation also collects sensitive personal data, raising privacy concerns, particularly with regard to biometric information from body scanning and virtual fitting systems and how limits or privacy are managed.

The eight articles collected in this special issue of the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management analyse the profound impact of digitalisation on fashion retail, both online and offline. Through different methodological, theoretical and conceptual approaches, these studies broaden and enrich the analytical framework of fashion retail, promoting a better understanding of the transformations taking place in an increasingly hybrid and dynamic sector.

These works highlight how digital innovations, changes in consumer behaviour and organisational decisions converge to shape the contemporary retail ecosystem in the fashion industry. A wide variety of fashion market segments are addressed, ranging from luxury to mass market, from second-hand to children's clothing, highlighting the cross-cutting nature of digitisation processes. Similarly, different geographical contexts are examined, from Spain to the Nordic countries, from China to the United Kingdom, in a sector that has long had a strong global vocation, offering a comparative view of the current state of fashion retail, including the different speeds and forms taken by digital transformation in individual markets.

Alongside the consumer perspective, the specificities of different organisations and both front-end and back-end processes emerge. In terms of consumer experience, the studies presented highlight the multiple possibilities offered by digital technology in enriching interaction with brands, the experiential dimension and the engagement and entertainment aspects of retail. In terms of organisational processes, these studies highlight how technology is redefining key areas of the fashion value chain, from logistics to point-of-sale management, while offering both opportunities and challenges in terms of management and organisation. However, the importance of maintaining consistency across channels and touchpoints is emphasised, ensuring that technological innovation does not compromise the clarity of the value proposition.

This special issue also reflects the latent dilemma between the human and the technological in fashion retail. While some contributions take a more sceptical view of the limits and risks of excessive technologisation, others emphasise the transformative potential of technology and the achievements that can be made when it is integrated strategically and in a balanced way with the human factor.

From a methodological point of view, this special issue presents a range of varied and complementary methods of analysis. Two main types of approach are combined. On the one hand, empirical-quantitative studies, with original experiments and statistical analyses, focused in some cases on the consumer and in others on brands. On the other hand, qualitative studies with systematic reviews of the literature or with interview techniques and focus groups with key players. All these methods also involve different ways of approaching retail research that enrich the vision of the area.

Further details can be provided by presenting the eight articles in this issue one by one. The first in order of presentation is that of Cenizo (2026) entitled “From online to offline: How web-based brand stimuli shape the physical store experience in omnichannel fashion retail”. The article focuses on the omnichannel experience in fashion retail, examining how digital personalisation and the online sensory brand experience affect the perceived value of interactions in physical stores. The results are drawn from a sample of 445 participants who underwent an experiment combining a simulated digital shopping journey, in-person exposure and the administration of a standardised questionnaire. The results show that the value of the store is not automatically inherited from the online channel: sensory and aesthetic consistency between the two conditions of the experience. Furthermore, in the online channel, the study tempers enthusiasm for algorithmic personalisation, showing that it is not universally positive; the key is to design digital experiences that maintain emotional and sensory consistency with the store, rather than assuming that “more personalisation” always generates more value. From a more theoretical point of view, this paper expands on consumer experiential value theory and expectation-disconfirmation theory, showing that digital personalisation is not universally beneficial and that sensory consistency between channels is a key condition in omnichannel contexts.

In “From rule to intelligence: A review of algorithmic heuristics in fashion retailing”, Abeysooriya et al. (2026) offer a comprehensive review of the literature on the digitisation of retail back-end processes, including the introduction of AI. The article summarises how heuristics and AI models are applied to dynamic pricing, demand forecasting, inventory management, recommendation systems and product visualisation, increasing personalisation and improving decision-making in highly volatile environments. The first figure presented in the article as a summary of the findings is a good starting point for future research in this area. This work shows how assortment, pricing and merchandising decisions in physical stores are increasingly informed by these systems and visual intelligence technologies, which enable applications such as smart mirrors and point-of-sale recognition, connecting algorithmic capabilities with in-person experiences.

Another review of the existing literature is presented in “The rise of live shopping and immersive technologies in fashion retail: from an exploratory literature review to a conceptual framework”, where Capurro et al. (2026) focus on retail and its entertainment aspect. The study conceptualises live shopping streaming (LSS) as a format that combines entertainment, social interaction and real-time shopping, turning the online experience into “shoppertainment” and reproducing some of the relational qualities of the physical store in the digital space. It explains how LSS, combined with AI, AR and VR, reduces perceived risk, increases confidence, reinforces social presence and encourages impulse purchases through tactics such as “fear of missing out” (FOMO). In the offline sphere, the article shows that these technologies can be integrated into omnichannel strategies to design hybrid experiences, in which physical stores function as nodes in an interactive ecosystem where live interaction data, immersive content and customer service processes feed back into each other.

Focussing on payment methods, Sestino et al. (2026) present a study on cryptocurrencies in fashion retail. In their paper, entitled “How would you like to pay? Consumers' reactions to crypto vs. traditional e-payment for luxury vs. mass-market fashion products”, the authors contribute to signalling theory and the literature on brand credibility by conceptualising the payment method as a sign of credibility and technological sophistication. Their study, conducted with an experiment involving a fictitious brand and 1,362 international participants, shows that accepting cryptocurrencies acts as a sign of credibility and technological sophistication, increasing purchase intent, especially in the luxury vs. mass-market segment, where brands that adopt these methods are perceived as more reliable and innovative. By conceptualising the payment method as a visible element of the customer journey that communicates reliability and differentiates the brand within e-commerce, this work extends the functionality of the payment method beyond mere transactional infrastructure. This approach may also present opportunities for retail by reinforcing brand credibility and opening the door to the use of blockchain for traceability and anti-counterfeiting. In fact, the paper suggests opportunities to protect product authenticity across the ecosystem, integrating benefits in both physical stores and digital channels.

Dissanayake et al. (2026) address the phenomenon of second-hand goods, its logistical and resource challenges, emphasising the role of digital technology in making this growing model viable within the framework of sustainability. Based on semi-structured interviews with 15 second-hand companies in the Nordic region, their article entitled “Enabling re-commerce business models in secondhand fashion retail: Logistics challenges and resource demands” shows the complexity of this type of business, as the uniqueness of each garment requires the design of intensive photography, description and classification processes at the item level, making the digital platform the operational core of the business. The paper explains that technologies such as AI, RFID, photographic automation and automatic description generation are essential resources for scaling these processes and sustaining platform, integration and white-label models. The study links the physical operations of collection, classification and reverse logistics with the promise of online service, explaining how the location of these processes and decisions about operating models (direct re-commerce, outsourced, platform integration, white label technology) define the way in which shops, warehouses and collection points are inserted into the digital value proposition.

Also featuring interviews with brands in the children's sector in Spain, Elizaga's “Retail under pressure: Omnichannel distribution realignment in Spanish children's fashion” focuses on distribution as a central strategic variable in omnichannel configuration (Elizaga, 2026). Focussing on the children's fashion sector in Spain, in a context of strong demographic, economic and digital pressure, his research introduces classifications of the movements of wholesale models towards hybrid configurations that define omnichannel strategies. His conclusions highlight a tension between physical stores and the wholesale channel: specialised brands, historically dependent on wholesalers, are seeing this base eroded and are forced to reconfigure their presence at points of sale without diluting their symbolic identity. In this context, digitalisation and the direct-to-consumer model are seen as strategic capabilities for regaining control over prices, brand narrative and customer relations, although these are conditioned by falling birth rates, price sensitivity and the entry of large omnichannel players that enjoy economies of scale.

The influence on purchase intention in the fashion industry remains a topic of interest, especially when AI-generated influence formulae are introduced. In any case, the study by Chen et al. (2026), entitled “Human or AI? The Role of Social Approval Source and Privacy Protection in AR Shopping”, shows that human recommendations remain more reliable and generate more purchase intent. Through three experiments with fictitious brands conducted in China, they discovered that in this context, perceived privacy protection is a crucial condition for consumer trust. These findings have important practical applications for brands, both in their recommendation strategies and in the use of privacy communication.

Finally, the article entitled “Biases and heuristics in chatbot enabled everyday fashion rental in the UK” combines several of the aspects highlighted in the previous articles: consumer interviews, sustainable fashion (in this case, rental), influence on purchasing and the use of technology throughout this process. The authors, Beech, Elaine, Anderson and Ali, Z., also provide a conceptual clarification of phenomena such as nudges, sludge and boosts and their relationship to consumer behaviour. The paper offers a framework for using these technologies to promote sustainable consumption, thereby broadening the focus of nudge theory to shape consumer heuristics and decisions. A complete list of articles in this special issue is provided in Table 1.

If we consider technology and digitalisation as the common denominator of this special issue, the eight articles it contains can be organised coherently within a conceptual framework comprising three interdependent dimensions: (1) customer experience, (2) technological infrastructure and (3) strategic transformation of the business model (see Figure 1).

This first dimension (customer experience and consumer psychology) brings together studies that examine how consumers perceive, evaluate and respond to digital and omnichannel stimuli. Cenizo's work shows that the omnichannel experience does not depend solely on the simultaneous presence of channels, but on the sensory and aesthetic coherence between them, tempering enthusiasm for algorithmic personalisation (Cenizo, 2026). Capurro et al. (2026) expand this perspective by conceptualising live shopping as a hybrid format that combines entertainment, social interaction and real-time shopping, reinforcing social presence and reducing perceived risk. Chen et al. (2026) show that, even in augmented environments, human recommendations remain more reliable than those generated by AI, especially when privacy protection is perceived as insufficient. Finally, Sestino et al. (2026) demonstrate that the payment method, including cryptocurrencies, can serve as a signal of credibility and innovation, influencing purchase intention, especially in the luxury segment. In this sense, technology acts as a mediator of trust, value and meaning.

The second dimension (technological infrastructure and operations) refers to the technologies that enable the evolution of physical and online retail. Among the papers published in this special issue, Abeysooriya et al. (2026) highlight the role of AI in critical decisions such as dynamic pricing, inventory management and recommendation systems. Their analysis shows how back-end digitalisation becomes a key factor in enabling both personalisation and efficiency. Another paper, by Dissanayake et al. (2026), analyses the operational challenges of re-commerce in fashion, highlighting the fundamental role played by technologies such as RFID, photographic automation and AI in managing processes that also require precision and efficiency, albeit in different ways. Both articles reveal that technological infrastructure is the backbone that makes omnichannel experiences possible and, therefore, the effectiveness of new business models.

The third dimension (strategic transformation and emerging business models) addresses how companies are reconfiguring value propositions and cost-effectiveness in an environment where digitisation is accompanied by increased competitive pressure. In this case, Elizaga's article (2026) shows that children's fashion brands in Spain are forced to realign their distribution in the face of wholesale channel erosion and the need to strengthen their omnichannel presence without diluting their symbolic identity. The work of Beech et al. (2026), on the other hand, analyses clothing rental as an emerging model that combines sustainability, technology and behavioural psychology, suggesting that chatbots and nudges can be used to encourage more sustainable decisions among customers. These two studies show that the omnichannel strategy is not just a technological issue, but a structural decision that redefines the relationship with the customer, the evolution of the value chain and brand identity.

Both organisations and consumers experience the framework offered by the introduction of new technologies and digital transformation in an integrated manner with other challenges, such as those of sustainability and circularity, the search for satisfaction in service experiences, as well as performance growth and skills development in the organisational sphere. In particular, new technologies raise a number of ethical issues that companies must address responsibly. At the same time, algorithms used for pricing, product recommendations or fraud detection can, even unintentionally, reinforce biases, leading to unfair treatment of certain groups. Taken together, these issues highlight the need for transparency, accountability and ethical design to ensure that technological innovation in the retail sector benefits consumers, brands and workers. The findings of this study indicate that digitalisation and technological infrastructure are now fully integrated into retail practices in the fashion industry, shaping operating models, consumer engagement and strategy in fashion business models.

Rather than functioning as supplementary or differentiating elements, digital technologies now seem destined to form the reference context for contemporary retail systems. As a result, the analytical distinction between “digital” and “traditional” retail is becoming increasingly untenable and, in perspective, anachronistic. The continued use of the term “digital retail” risks obscuring this structural integration, as it implies an exception rather than the prevailing norm. Consequently, fashion retail should be conceptualised as inherently digital, suggesting that the explicit attribution of “digital” is no longer analytically necessary to describe current retail phenomena.

In conclusion, technology is not just a tool for fashion retail, but is changing the way companies work. New technologies create new ways to create value, connect with customers and create sustainable practices that were not possible before. Understanding these transformations requires an interdisciplinary approach that takes on different perspectives as a necessary element to advance research and improve the decisions of organisations engaged in the fashion retail sector.