”THE EXPERIENCE IS THE BRAND” : A qualitative investigation of how e-commerce managers in the retail industry create brand experience, through the tools and features of e-servicescape

Sammanfattning: “The experience is the brand” - is a quote which accurately conveys the current transition in today's society towards the so-called experience economy. The current business environment is becoming increasingly saturated with more brands - which in turn are growing more similar and compete on more or less the same terms. In order to stand out from the competition, firms must adapt contemporary and efficient branding strategies. Moreover, firms must also account for the implications of the experience economy, which has seen customers gravitating towards holistic experiences, instead of commodities. The concept of brand experience has become one of the most contemporary and beneficial measures for firms to stand out from the competition, while simultaneously adhering to the progression of the experience economy. Traditionally, brand experience has been facilitated through the physical servicescape and its associated tools and features - in physical stores. However, during the last years, e-commerce has seen an immense growth, which together with the implications of Covid-19 has seen customers deviate from shopping in traditional stores. This pertains to the current situation where e-commerce managers now are faced with the challenge and situation of finding accurate tools and features for facilitating brand experience through the e-servicescape. Moreover, the role of brand experience in the digital customer journey must also be regarded and analyzed by e-commerce managers as well, since it appears more complex online compared to in physical stores.  Previous research has stressed importance and need for future research to investigate how to practically work with brand experience in a digital setting. Moreover, many scholars have also expressed the need for researchers to provide more of a standardized conceptualization as to what the e-servicescape constitutes, and which associated tools and features exist for e.g. e- commerce managers to utilize. The importance of studying the brand’s influence on the entire digital customer journey, as opposed to only the purchase situation, has also been readily established. Previous research within the field of brand experience has investigated how physical stores can be utilized for facilitating brand experience, as well as the physical customer journey. However, there is no previous research with the ambition to investigate how brand experience is created in an online setting. Following the implications of the experience economy and the emergence of e-commerce, there is an evident need for studies contributing to this research gap. Thus, the purpose of this study is to provide a practically and theoretically grounded framework as to how e-commerce managers create brand experience through the tools and features of the e-servicescape. As well as providing insights as to when during the digital customer journey these brand experiences are of importance.  Our study answers the following research question; “How do e-commerce managers within the retail industry create brand experiences, through the tools and features of the e-servicescape - and when during the different stages of the digital customer journey are these brand experiences of importance?”. In order for us to answer the aforementioned research question and purpose, we have undertaken a qualitative study, where we have conducted four in-depth interviews with e-commerce managers or professionals working closely with them, from the retail industry. Our findings in this study provide instrumental, practically and theoretically grounded answers and implications as to how e-commerce managers create the brand experience through the tools and features of the e-servicescape. As well as providing clear answers as to when these brand experiences are of importance in the digital customer journey. Throughout the study, a theoretically grounded conceptual framework has been utilized and guided our research. The conceptual model has then been revised and calibrated to fit our findings from both a theoretical and practical point of view.