Getting the most from E‑commerce in the context of omnichannel strategies

E-commerce in the context of sales and distribution strategy has become a most used channel and companies need to correctly manage it in integration with the variety of other online and offline channels. Coming from the literature, two factors are recognized as relevant for the elaboration of a conceptual framework able to explain the actions undertaken by leading companies to effectively get the most from an e-commerce strategy in integration with the overall omnichannel strategy. The two factors are: main distribution channel (direct/indirect) and product’s value density (high/low). Through the analysis of four case-studies (Luxottica, Henkel, Ikea, Ferragamo), we show that such factors determine different benefits and challenges that companies face when embracing e-commerce. We analyze these benefits and challenges considering both the Marketing and the Supply Chain Management viewpoints.