The Case Study of Multichannel Marketing Used in Sports Direct

the Multi-Channel Marketing and Business Expansion: a case of Sports Direct
The Case study of Multichannel Marketing used in Sports Direct
Student Name-NISHANTH VENU
Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfilment of the reuirement of the degree of
MBA
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DECLARATION
I Nishanth Venu Student of Dublin business school Student Number 10505923 declare that that
the dissertation submitted to for the award of MBA Marketing is the result of my own
investigation except stated otherwise, where it is clearly acknowledged by references.
Furthermore, my work is not submitted to any other University, institution diploma or degree.
Signed- Nishanth Venu
Student Number-10505923
Date-06 January 2020
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Acknowledgement
First all I really appreciate my supervisor Dr Sharon Harris Faculty of Dublin Business School
for all the support and motivation and valuable guidance and advice and her contribution will be
forever valued
Furthermore, I would like to appreciate all my friends, partners colleagues and everybody who
motivated me with their care and encouragement through this hard journey.
Also, I would like to thank all the employees of Sports Direct and their grateful customers to
help me during the research
And lastly, I am very thankful to my parents and family who encouraged me and motivated me
during the whole course and always gave their love, care and support without expecting anything
in return.
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Abstract
Multi-channel marketing is grounded upon the actuality that buyers involve greater options than
before with respect to attaining resourceful information related to products. Moreover, the
advancement of the available marketing networks, taking in the progress of email, social media
and mobile, has made marketing divisions to enhance their existence on such channels for
developing their customer relationship management (CRM) endeavours. The research aims to
understand the significance of the multichannel marketing strategy and analysis the same from
the perspective of business development of the organisation in a competitive market. This
research is a combination of both primary as well as secondary data. Firstly, the primary data
was collected through surveys and interview. There were 50 participants from different
designations. Among them, the majority i.e. 27 were working as a sales executive in different
outlets and 18 as marketing executives. 3 participants are designated as an operational executive
and 2 as the manager for the firm. Further, secondary information was gathered from library, past
studies, magazines, newspapers, online journals, textbooks etc. The research findings highlight
aspects and perceptions related to the notion of multi-channel marketing strategy and the manner
in which it helps business organisations in achieving higher success through more effective
marketing expertise.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction:...................................................................................................................4
1.1 Overview................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Aim of the Research..............................................................................................................4
1.3 Research Objective................................................................................................................5
1.4 Research Question:................................................................................................................5
1.5 Research Rationale................................................................................................................5
Chapter 2: Literature Review...........................................................................................................6
2.1 Introduction:..........................................................................................................................6
2.2 What is Marketing Channel?.................................................................................................6
2.3 Characteristics of the Marketing Channel.............................................................................6
2.4 Evaluating channel performance:..........................................................................................7
2.5 Types of Marketing Channels................................................................................................8
2.6 Significance of Multi-Channel Marketing:..........................................................................10
2.7 Analysis of the Impact of Multi-Channel Business on Consumer Behaviour.....................10
2.8 Development of an Effective Multi-Channel Strategy:.......................................................12
Chapter-3 Methodology.................................................................................................................13
3.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................13
3.1 Research Outline..................................................................................................................13
3.2 Research Philosophy............................................................................................................14
3.2.1 Justification for selecting the philosophy of interpretivism.............................................15
3.3 Research Approach..............................................................................................................15
3.3.1 Justification for selecting the deductive approach............................................................16
3.4 Research Design..................................................................................................................16
3.4.1 Justification for selecting the explanatory research design..............................................17
3.5 Data collection method........................................................................................................17
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3.5.1 Justification for selecting the primary data collection method.........................................18
3.6 Sampling technique and size...............................................................................................18
3.6 Data analysis tool.................................................................................................................18
3.7 Research timeline.................................................................................................................18
3.8 Ethical consideration...........................................................................................................19
3.9 Research limitation..............................................................................................................20
Chapter 4. Finding and Analysis...................................................................................................21
4.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................21
4.2 Finding.................................................................................................................................21
Demographic Analysis...............................................................................................................21
Survey:.......................................................................................................................................25
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations...........................................................................38
Reference List................................................................................................................................41
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Chapter 1: Introduction:
1.1 Overview
To start with, the buyers in the present day have several preferences with respect to from where
they purchase their products. Few buyers at all times prefer viewing the product at retail outlets
prior to making any purchase. Others may search the particular product on applications and make
the decision. Still other buyers might go through some advertisement and decide to buy the
product. Moreover, there will be still other buyers who decide to purchase the particular product
from some exhibition. In such a situation, cross-channel advertising has progressed steadily and
considerably as a means for reaching the buyers (Rosenbloom, 2007). Television, the Internet as
well as other means are utilized collectively for marketing products. Additionally, search
engines have transformed the manner in which individuals search for information. Moreover,
online advertising is advancing speedily and taking away budgets from traditional marketing
networks (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Additionally, the Internet doesn’t operate in
isolation, nevertheless and discussion about its spread shouldn’t overlook the roles other means
should perform (Arikan, 2008). Moving ahead, coincidental with the development in digital
ecosystem, a number of different marketing approaches are moving from passive approaches in
communicating with buyers towards higher proactive ones with involvement in manifold
communication networks. Even though, several marketers are laying higher focus upon online
advertising being an option, it still needs to reach its complete ability within the marketing mix (Kotler
and Keller, 2009). Thus, in such a case paid listings making use of search engines frequently aren’t
the foremost aspect of that media mix.
Moving ahead, there are a number of buyers out there and every buyer has a favoured purchase
channel. Gone are the days at the time when corporations attempted to target buyers by means of
just one marketing channel i.e. Retail (Arikan, 2008). However, the present era is basically of
Multi-channel or Hybrid Marketing and this approach proves highly effective for brands
(Rosenbloom, 2007). Moreover, as the name signifies, multi-channel marketing supposes that
there are diverse buyers purchasing the same items from diverse channels. As a result, they
develop their communications and message for different channels and also, strategize for
different channels (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Thus, their marketplace
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potential becomes bigger and they are more expected to experience a greater level of sales as
compared to corporations targeting just one or two channel.
Multichannel marketing refers to the practice by which companies interact with customers via
multiple channels, both direct and indirect, in order to sell them goods and services (Chaffey and
Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Companies use direct channels, or ones in which the company
proactively reaches the customer – such as physical stores, catalogs or direct mail – or indirect
ones in which they push content via websites or social media, also known as inbound marketing.
Other means of reaching customers with multichannel marketing include via mobile devices, text
messaging, email, company website, social media, search engine optimization (SEO) or GPS to
track customers' proximity to goods and services. Multichannel marketing combines the practices
of inbound and outbound marketing with the goal of reaching customers on the channel of their
choice. In this way, the buying process is more controlled by the customer than the marketer
(Rosenbloom, 2007).
Moving ahead, multi-channel marketing is grounded upon the actuality that buyers involve
greater options than before with respect to attaining resourceful information related to products
(Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Moreover, the advancement of the available marketing
networks, taking in the progress of email, social media and mobile, has made marketing
divisions to enhance their existence on such channels for developing their customer relationship
management (CRM) endeavours (Rosenbloom, 2007). The previous marketing methods, like
making use of print sources, broadcasting on radio and TV or telemarketing are no more the only
emphasis of marketing divisions. Such techniques are present even now, nevertheless are fraction
of a wider approach, which involves new media and evolves along with altering buyer
preferences and communication means. Companies in the present day, attempt to build analytics
for determining which buyers receive which messages grounded upon their demographic data
along with other conducts (Kotler and Keller, 2009). Apart from understanding who exactly the
buyer is and what he/she actually requires, corporations attempt to comprehend which marketing
channel a specific buyer prefers for maximizing the prominence of their messages (Arikan,
2008). This allows corporations to target the correct buyers with the appropriate content for
facilitating sales.
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Additionally, for ensuring success within multichannel marketing or some other digital
marketing approach, corporations attempt to develop campaigns, which cover various channels
effortlessly (Gensler, et al., 2007). As expecting buyers to become accustomed with the
corporation’s favoured means is an impractical hope, corporations cater to the buyers and
customize campaigns to ensure that they are in line with multiple marketing networks (Chaffey
and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Other objective of corporations is knowing, exactly which
campaigns on which channels result in maximum sales, making possible for them to decide the
efficiency of their endeavours and computing the return on investment of their existence on
every relevant channel (Melis, et al., 2005). Corporations could easily coordinate their online as
well as offline marketing endeavours for optimizing both (Rosenbloom, 2007). For instance,
keyword testing from online marketing could very well notify the efficiency of particular
campaigns before they are actually converted into print adverts or some other advertisements.
Taking a step ahead, the concept of multichannel marketing could prove to be highly beneficial
for companies today (Kotler and Keller, 2009). Through maximizing marketing endeavours by
promoting a message by means of several different channels, corporations hold the ability of
collecting feedback from diverse buyer segments. Complete performance could be decided by
means of this feedback and enhancements could be done through crowdsourcing data (Arikan,
2008). By making sure that the resources are being employed efficiently and effectively, the
operational cost goes down. Moreover, a highly visible message helps in attracting more
customers for any corporation. Through focussing efforts towards any one channel, the potential
of reaching the highly prospective buyers is decreased (Kotler and Keller, 2009). Corporations
could utilize their presence on several different networks for building a personalized image,
which could help in developing a strong consumer following and improve loyalty and retention.
At the time when corporations gather feedback from buyers, they could effectively comprehend
what exactly is expected by the customer segment and ways of improving product as well as
service offerings. Corporations could after that enhance marketing endeavours and recognize
which particular channels work most effectively for specific buyer segments and strategize for
satisfying the requirement of that specific buyers’ group (Rosenbloom, 2007). Additionally,
corporations struggle for centralizing objectives and understanding aspects such as computing
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the message's frequency or reach at the time when developing multichannel approaches.
Moreover, issues arise from the incapability of coordinating the message across different
divisions along with brands for ensuring that it is unswerving on every channel (Kotler and
Keller, 2009). Because of an absence of common technique for satisfying each channel,
employees as well as IT support is also highly essential in devising multichannel campaigns
(Arikan, 2008). Common issues corporations face when devising the overall CRM like obtaining
a single repository for buyer data, is also seen as being a limitation of multichannel marketing.
There are different kinds of marketing models available to the organisation and the organisation
must understand the market scenarios before choosing the appropriate one. There are broadly
three kinds of marketing channel strategies namely omnichannel, multichannel marketing
strategy and cross channel marketing strategy. The omnichannel marketing strategy is the key
focus over here for this research. The term omnichannel marketing strategy can be defined as the
implementation of the same kind of sales strategy in different platforms where each platform is
completely separated from the other. This marketing model is helpful for the company as it is
maximizing the opportunity to interact with all the consumers (Verhoef, et al., 2015). To
structure an effective multichannel marketing plan the organisation must focus on some of the
basic elements, which are helpful in the development of better communication with the
customers in terms of their product offering, view offers and other details. Different
communication channels which are often used by the companies in the multi-channel marketing
strategies include websites, catalogues, physical stores, e-mail marketing strategy, text message
for promotion, blogging and so on (Verhoef et al., 2015). One of the key parameters that act like
a success parameter for the multichannel marketing model for any organisation is integration.
Some of the key points that must be included in a multichannel marketing plan include
A detail customer profiling
Design relevant communication profile for each customer
Design SMART objective
Designing proper tactics with a specific inbound focus (Jeanpert and Paché, 2016)
The key focus of this research is to understand how the multichannel marketing strategy will
help Sports Direct when it is planning to expand its business in nations such as Ireland and
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whether it is necessary to change the strategy from multichannel marketing to opt for other
option or not.
SportsDirect
Sports Direct is a British retailing company which was founded by Mike Ashley in the year 1982
in the United Kingdom and currently operates 670 stores across the globe. It is under the name of
Fraser group PLC formerly known as Sports Direct PLC. All the major sporting Brands are
traded under the sportsdirect.com brand. Low margins are the operational strategy of Sports
direct and how it beats its competition(Millar, 2013). Sports direct is listed on the London Stock
Exchange and it is the constituent of the FTSE 250 index. The various subsidiaries of Sports
Direct is SportsDirect.com House of Fraser Flannels Slazenger Lillywhites USC Everlast
Lonsdale Eastern Mountain Sports Game. SportsDirect Approximately consists 29400 people
working in the organization. For the year 2019 Sports Direct had a group revenue of £3,701.9m.
Today Sports Direct is UK largest sports retailer in terms of revenue
1.2 Aim of the Research
The research aims to understand the significance of the multichannel marketing strategy and
analysis the same from the perspective of business development of the organisation in a
competitive market.
1.3 Research Objective
The research objectives are:
Evaluation of multi-channel marketing strategy from the organisational perspective
Critical analysis of the impact of this strategy on consumer behaviour
An impact of the strategy for expansion in Ireland
1.4 Research Question:
How Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy helping the business organisations to achieve
marketing expertise
How the multi-channel marketing strategy controls consumer behaviour
How Sports Direct is using Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy?
How it can use the Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy to expand business in the
Ireland Market?
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1.5 Research Rationale
There is no doubt in the fact that Internet has transformed commerce, introducing buyers to an
unparalleled amount of data along with an effective interaction means amid companies and
buyers globally. Presently, emerging techniques are improving this collaboration further.
Nowadays, there prevail higher options than before for customers and businesses to interact and
carry out business with prospective buyers. Moreover, multichannel marketing offers buyers
with more than one means of completing any sales transaction, like by means of a retail outlet, a
web page on the Internet, or via smartphones. In addition, it very well identifies that diverse
buyers not just favour particular channels, but may commonly use multiple channels throughout
the purchasing process—for instance, through locating useful data on some web page,
nevertheless actually making the purchase at a physical store. Additionally, as the world gets
highly linked via mobile technology and Internet, multichannel communications will turn out to
be a standard facet of commerce instead of being an exception. While several buyers still prefer
interacting with one channel, incrementing numbers make use of multiple channels during their
purchasing procedure and those who do buy around 30% higher. The concept of multichannel
marketing requires augmenting the contact points with buyers and reaching further buyer
segments through offering access points, which they prefer. For being efficient, it is vital that the
business work for coordinating its message and data.
In addition, promotions in print, TV, direct mail (and email), radio, Internet adverts and other
means should offer steady brand experiences. At the time when diverse agencies are contracted
for these ways, building a steady message could certainly prove to be difficult. Likewise, buyers’
experiences by direct sales, websites, call centers and retail surroundings must also be in line
with the steady brand. Then, it is extremely significant that diverse channels synchronize their
information. Sales done via website or call-center are likely to gather higher buyer information
as compared to ones made within a retail outlet. Storing such data within diverse databases (one
utilized through the call center, one utilized through the website and others) denies a corporation
of several prospects to customize any buyer experience. When the information is combined
across different means, new prospects proliferate. For instance, direct marketing lists could be
highly targeted and modified for including particular data; an extremely customized mailer might
be two times more expensive than the print, nevertheless creates five times the reaction rate.
Companies could also make use of information for creating follow-up prospects. For instance, a
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buyer looking for information online on some website, nevertheless who does not make any
purchase at that time might receive a follow-up from call-center. Incorporated data also upsurges
the service, which could be offered at the time when the buyer initiates contact, like via a
customer service number or some online chat option.
In organisations like sports direct, multichannel marketing is the key to success as the firm is
following this model only for a long period. However, the model associated with the modern-day
business has been changing as organisations are following omnichannel and cross channel-
marketing models as well where all the marketing approaches are more or less integrated. In
organisations such as Sports Direct, multichannel marketing is still helping the firm to achieve
business success. The rationale of the research is to understand how this particular research
model is helping to gather information about consumer behaviour and based on the same, how
the firm is changing its business strategy to make sure that it can continue to enjoy the
competitive edge in the market. Besides, the research is also emphasizing on the fact that
whether the employees are agreed with the fact that to expand the business, is it necessary for the
company to follow an updated model or whether it can go with the existing multichannel
approach while its expansion plan for Ireland.
Multichannel marketing is turning out to be highly essential since the buyers are altering the
manner in which they gain as well as share the information related to any product. In traditional
marketing, promoters developed the plan and buyers gained data from some one-way media like
direct mail and advertisements. In the present day, buyers research data online and consider the
various views of other buyers on product review websites, social networking websites and
forums. Also, they expect corporations to offer information, which they could easily access
through smartphones or some other mobile means. For being effective, one needs to hold a sound
presence within all the channels through employing a multichannel marketing approach. Even
though, the buyers interact through several different channels, it’s not vital to utilize all available
channels for each marketing campaign. Through examining the manner in which the buyers
interact with the corporation or react to the marketing messages, one could easily recognize their
channel favorites and customize the communications as per individual requirements. One could
also consider the initiative and ask buyers how exactly they prefer receiving information from
the company.
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Additionally, through taking part in social networks and motivating buyers to interact with the
company via two-way means, one could utilize the multichannel marketing approach for
building relations with buyers and strengthening their faithfulness. The data one receives via
two-way communication means also offers company valuable information related to buyers’
product requirements and likings. The company could utilize that information for creating
personalized communications intended towards individual buyers, reinforcing the relation even
more. Moreover, a multichannel marketing approach provides diverse options for the purpose of
selling products. The company might presently sell to buyers through some sales team or a chain
of distributors or retailers. Within a multichannel marketing approach, one could provide buyers
the option of ordering products through means of additional channels like call center or website.
This perks up the convenience for buyers and might also decrease the sales and distribution
expenses. For being efficient, the multichannel marketing requires being supported through
sound supply chain management models, to ensure that the particulars and products prices are
constant across diverse marketing channels. It may also be assisted through comprehensive
examination of the return on investment from every diverse marketing channel, evaluated with
respect to buyer reaction and sale conversion. The contribution that every channel offers to sales
could be easily evaluated through attribution modeling or Marketing Mix Modeling. Few
corporations target specific channels at diverse demographic sections of the marketplace or at
diverse socio-economic sections of the buyers. Multichannel marketing makes possible for the
retailer to reach its current or prospective buyer in a channel of his/ her preference.
Further, the particular research study takes in several chapters i.e. Introduction, Literature
Review, Research Methodology, Data Analysis & Findings and finally, Conclusion and
Recommendations. To start with, the current chapter i.e. ‘Introduction’ mirrored the research aim
along with all the research questions related to this research study. Then, ‘Literature Review’
chapter defines and explains all the key terms and concepts associated with the research by
making use of different secondary data sources. This is considered as being one among the
highly significant sections of the research study since it helps in fabricating a backbone of the
research grounded upon the past research studies and available data. After that, ‘Research
Methodology’ section focuses on the research approaches, methods and techniques considered
for collecting data for the study. It also throws light upon the ethical challenges, which would be
considered during data collection stages. This research is a combination of both primary as well
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as secondary data. Firstly, the primary data would be collected through surveys and interview.
There are 50 participants from different designations. Among them, the majority i.e. 27 are
working as a sales executive in different outlets and 18 as marketing executives. 3 participants
are designated as an operational executive and 2 as the manager for the firm. Further, secondary
information would be gathered from library, past studies, magazines, newspapers, online
journals, textbooks etc. Furthermore, ‘Data Analysis & Findings’ section focuses on analysing
data and attempts to deal with the stated research aim and questions by making use of all the
collected primary and secondary information. Further, the ‘Conclusion and Recommendation’
section then highlights the important points and summarizes the findings. It also summarizes the
whole study and highlights the key learning points. The section also lists the research limitations
along with possible respects where future study could prove to be beneficial.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction:
The objective of this chapter is to understand what various researchers and reports associated
with the same topic consider and discussed over time and how the same can contributes to the
success of the project. To manage the overall research, the researcher must consider all the key
reports, which are playing an important role in the process of developing a final overview of the
concerned research topic appropriately. The focus of this chapter is to discuss the ideologies and
concepts associated with the research topic and then correlate the same with the organisation
linked with the research.
2.2 What is Marketing Channel?
Marketing channel is one of the core processes, which help the organisation to manage and reach
out to the consumers with their product and services. According to the definition of Watson IVet
al. (2015), it is considered as a set of different people, activities, and the conciliator
organisations, which often plays a major role in the process of transferring the possession of
the goods or services from the starting point. The starting points are the point of production or
manufacturing and it ends at the point of consumption or the consumers.
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2.3 Characteristics of the Marketing Channel
Some of the key characteristics associated with the marketing channel include:
The overall marketing channel can be direct or indirect.
The process of a marketing channel can be dependent or independent.
Marketers often consider using any particular business channel to promote their business
operations so that the ideology of the business can be managed properly.
Often there is an exclusive marketing channel associated with the business process,
which involves mainly the smaller business players as the business operation of those
firms is restricted to target a handful segment of people from business industry (Watson
IVet.al, 2015).
2.4 Evaluating channel performance:
Evaluation of channel performance is one of the critical aspects associated with the overall
business model of the organisation. Evaluating channel performance is essential for the dynamic
supervision of the multiple sales channels, and it involves a clear perceptive about the
consumer’s overall channel preferences. About channel performance, two of the key components
that are associated with the overall model and those are
1. The degree of existing customers’ intrinsic loyalty level to a meticulous and specific
channel and
2. The capacity of the channel has to attract switching customers from other organisation to
improve business performance (Watson et al., 2015)
Evaluating the performance of any business channel has been done by four different phases, and
these include defining the overall business sales objectives, determination of the overall channel
performance metric, setting the proper target for the channel partner and managing channel
performance.
Define the objective of the sales: This is the first step for the evaluation of the channel
performance of any organisation. All the objectives of the organisations are discussed in detail
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among the sales channel and the marketing team to ensure that there is no communication gap
among the team members of the organisation (Chung et al, 2015)
Determination of the Channel Performance Metrics: Evaluating the performance of the overall
distribution channel is largely dependent on performance activities measured with the help of
different kinds of performance metrics of the business organisation. Selecting the right kind the
business evaluation metric is necessary from the organisational perspective as the firm can
monitor the overall business performance and at the same time ensure the improvement of the
channel business partners of the organisation (Kozlenkova et al., 2015). The selected metrics are
the performance measuring tools, which helps in understanding how well different business
partners, as well as marketing platforms of an organisation, is performing to achieve its overall
business target.
Setting Channel Parameter Targets: The top management is inclined towards dividing the target,
once the core business goals are set. It is helpful in the establishment of proper alignment with
the overall business objective of the organisation. A well-set business target is helpful for the
organisation to ensure that there is a benchmark available to measure the performance of channel
partners, their success as well as monitor any drawback associated with the business strategy
associated with any of the channel partners (Kozlenkova et al, 2015).
Managing Channel Performance: This is the final stage associated with the measurement of the
business channel performance. According to the review of Cao and Li (2015), this phase uses the
reference of business goals set business targets as well as selected business metrics to consider
which multi-channel business evaluation regularly and identify the shortfall of the organisation
(if any). This phase of measuring channel performance is helpful for the top management of any
organisation to understand what are the key strength and weaknesses associated with the channel
partner’s business models.
2.5 Types of Marketing Channels
In the modern era of business operation, there are various forms of marketing channels
associated with the business process and organisations across the sectors select the most
appropriate one keeping in mind the target market as well as their product as well as a business
strategy.
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In the modern era of business operation, most of the organisation prefers three basic forms of
marketing channels to support business growth namely omnichannel business, cross-channel
business and multi-channel business strategy. Here is the brief review of all the three forms of
marketing channels associated with the business process:
Cross Channel Marketing: Cross-channel marketing involves several channels to send products
to consumers. It is an extended version of the idea of the mix a brand channel to ensure
smoother customer delivery of the products. For example, click and collect place their order in
the online portal and collect the same from the stores, which is near to their home. Likewise,
sometimes customer see and like a product in any of the stores then they come back at home,
compare the prices at the different online portal where the same product is available and compare
the price from those portals along with other features( payment options, any add-on benefits,
delivery time, replacement and so on). Based on the same and after a detailed analysis, the order
can be placed (Verhoef et al, 2015).
Omni Channel Marketing: Omnichannel marketing is more or less similar to that of the cross
channel marketing process but the only difference is, consumers compare the advertisement of
the brand performs simultaneously. In most of the cases, presently, customers prefer to use two
different channels simultaneously while making any purchasing decision. Watching the online
survey before making any decision about the product purchase by using their mobile phones or
tablets in the store often helps the customers to get a clear picture before making a clear
purchasing decision. According to the review of Payne et al (2017), the omnichannel marketing
strategy is helpful for the consumers as it helps them to get access to real-time information about
the product, its quality while making the purchasing decision. The consumers can make a
comparison of the pricing as well which is one of the key factors associated with the marketing
process.
Multi-Channel Marketing: It is the most modern form of marketing strategy. From a general
perspective, the ideology associated with multi-channel marketing is to contact consumers more
than one time with the help of various kinds of marketing models and approach to ensure that
they can remember the product in detail and their purchasing decision get affected accordingly.
The multi-channel marketing strategy is based on the ideology of not focusing on a single form
of advertising type and instead of that includes different kinds of approaches to reach out to the
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consumers to sell their products (Jeanpert and Paché, 2016). The review of Fornari et al. (2016)
reveals the fact that the idea of multi-channel marketing was the process when consumers started
to use any one of the available brand channels available for them to purchase any particular
product or services. There are several channels that an organisation nowadays following to reach
out to the prospective as well as their existing client base. It includes in house, mobile app order,
on-line purchasing seen an advertisement in the print or digital media and purchase any product
and so on. None of these channels is connected as these entire sales platforms are considered by
the business organisation as a separate entity; hence, they rarely share any information among
themselves. Often these channels are in completion among themselves to gain customers and
generate maximum sales volume for the organisation itself (Tenfold, 2019).
According to Tenfold (2019), this ideology of multichannel marketing strategy in the modern
era is vital as these repetitions or ‘contact points’ are considered essential. The customer is likely
to remember the product when needed and visit the company’s store or website to purchase it;
contact points enable the customer to continue the buyer’s journey toward an eventual purchase.”
2.6 Significance of Multi-Channel Marketing:
In the modern era of business operation, most of the business organisations are slowly shifting
towards the implementation of the multi-channel marketing approach to ensure that it can
maximize its profits and at the same time reach more number of customers. The modern
competitive world requires a large scale of new customer acquisition along with maintaining a
loyal customer base with the firm. To do the same, most of the firms are taking the help of the
multi-channel marketing strategy as a different advertisement and promotion medium is helpful
for the companies to make sure that companies can compete with its rivals in the business sector
where it is operating. Some of the key facts associated with the multi-channel marketing are
discussed below which supports the ideology for why most of the firm are preferred to go for
multi-channel marketing in the modern era:
The process of multi-channel marketing and selling approach helps the organisation to
increase its business revenue by 38%, 120% and 190% in every additional business
channel.
Cup, she invested $50 million to boost its performance in the development of social sales.
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After ORO La start sales process through social platform Instagram, the Month on Month
revenue of the organisation increases by 29.3% (Tenfold, 2019)
2.7 Analysis of the Impact of Multi-Channel Business on Consumer Behaviour
While designing the marketing strategy, one of the critical aspects to consider is consumer
behaviour. It is necessary to understand the pattern associated with the same and based on that
the organisation must design its marketing strategy.
The ideology of consumer behaviour can be defined as a process by which people make their
purchasing decision associated with any particular product. The consumer behaviour is
depending on the needs of the individual, what they are planning to buy and so on.
Understanding the ideology of consumer behaviour is significant as most of the proactive
organisations often use the model of consumer behaviour to analyses, understand the
requirements of the customers, and increase their business performance by prior anticipation
about the change in the consumer demand (Pappas, 2016).
There are various theories associated with the consumer research, and some of the common ones
include EKB Model Theory (Engell-Kollet-Blackwell), Motivation-Need theory, Hawkins Stern
Impulse Buying, etc. In this report, two of the main theories, EKB model and Motivation Need
theory are discussed to understand how the consumer behaviour theory is associated with the
process of purchasing decision making of the consumers.
Motivation-Need Theory: It is one of the key theories for the organisation to understand how
the consumers have made the purchase decision about a particular product. According to
Maslow’s theory, there is a hierarchy of needs for every individual that controls the decision of
purchasing of goods and services of the consumer associated with the product or service that the
firm is producing. Companies, which are good in marketing, not only develop awareness about
the product but also at the same time place the product in one of those different hierarchies so
that they can reach the maximum number of people. This theory most of the time is used by the
organisations to develop a kind of artificial need among the consumers and create hype or
demand about the product in the market by promoting the same through various business
channels. The multi-channel marketing in this scenario will help the organisation to reach the
20

maximum number of people where this need of those people, which are created artificially by the
firm (Hamid and Kuppusamy, 2017)
EKB or Engell, Kollet and Blackwell Model: It is a five-way process associated with the
purchase of any product or service by the consumer. These steps are input (gathering information
by the customers from different sources), processing of the information (in this phase all the
inputs are compared with the experience of the customer about the product or the same kind of
product and what kind of expectation is there). The third phase is the thought-process, where the
decision associated with purchase has been made by the consumer based on rational insight. The
overall process of variables as well as the external influences controls the decision making from
the customer’s perspective. In the last phase, the consumer buys the product (Wan, et al, 2016).
Correlating the multi-channel marketing approach with this theory, one can suggest the fact that
it is the impact of media, advertisement and promotions are very much important concerning the
overall business performance of the organisation. About multi-channel marketing, it is necessary
to make sure that the organisation is analysing the media and advertising effectiveness
successfully. It will help the firm to understand how the consumers are reacting towards various
media as some of the business media are presenting performing the dual role of promotion and
sales such as e-commerce platform, mobile application orders, and sales through the website and
so on.
With the growing popularity of multi-channel marketing, the organisations across the business
sectors started to use the promotion of their business with the help of advertisement and
promotion in various multichannel platforms. It is helpful for the company to achieve a large
scale of synergic business results for the company as well simply because the organisation is
started to get responses from across the business verticals (Wang, 2016).
2.8 Development of an Effective Multi-Channel Strategy:
To develop the multi-channel marketing strategy, any business organisation must follow an
effective process, which is the key to achieve success in business. The process of developing an
effective multi-channel business strategy involves 5 different phases namely
Integrate the data
Understand consumer behaviour
21

Evaluating all the available business channels
Proper resource allocation across the business channels
Coordinate the overall business strategies
Keeping all this parameter into consideration, an organisation can develop its multi-channel
marketing approach and focus on improving the business. The overall literature reviews
categorically discuss how multi-channel marketing is helping any organisation to develop its
business and to what extent consumer behaviour is helping companies to understand the process.
The review also reveals the fact that this new multi-channel approach is the key for the
companies to reach more people by using the various medium at one point in time.
22

Chapter-3 Methodology
3.0 Introduction
The research methodology section constitutes to be one of the most important parts of the
research work. The creation and upholding of appropriate research methodologies remain
dependent on the capacity of the researcher to adopt distinct rational as well as logical steps and
strategies. In a research study, the methodology part is responsible for highlighting each of the
systematic and rational activities that would be taken up by the researcher in order to execute his
research while attaining his research aims and objectives. For attaining the appropriate and
desired research outcome, it becomes crucial for all researchers to ensure that suitable research
approaches are selected. In addition to this, it is vital for the researcher to choose his research
philosophy and design appropriately while ensuring that the most suitable methods are adopted
for data collection and its analysis. This is deemed vital as it directly influences the success of
the research. Apart from this, this section also identifies the research timeline along with
highlighting all the steps taken by the researcher to ensure that ethical considerations are
focussed in the research.
3.1 Research Outline
Types Methods Used
Research Philosophy Interpretivism
Research Approach Deductive
Research Design Explanatory
Data collection method Primary
Qualitative and quantitative
Data analysis tool Pie-charts and Excel Sheets
Table 1: Research Outline
(Source: Created by the learner)
23

3.2 Research Philosophy
Selection of the suitable research philosophy is one of the most basic parts of research as it
ensures that the researcher would be able to accomplish his research aims and objectives and
deal effectively with the project motives. Three diverse kinds of research philosophies may be
identified as used by researchers in their studies and they are vastly different because of the
manner in which they are implemented and used in the research works. For example, the
philosophy of realism is constituted on the belief that the scientific approach is one of the best
effective ways to develop knowledge. This philosophy is helpful to attain a vast amount of
logical as well as unbiased information from the results that have been attained from the research
(Research-Methodology, 2019). Researchers for issues that concern varied aspects of social
reality usually use this philosophy. This is because of the fact that the realism philosophy helps
the researchers to accomplish those research objectives and aims that remain accepted and
acknowledged socially.
Along with this philosophy, researchers also use the positivist philosophy for their research work
as it helps them to identify, assess and examine all existing concepts, theories and diverse kinds
of models, which are intrinsically related to the issue of research. According to this view, it is
possible for researchers to attain a great deal of factual knowledge through appropriate
measurement and observation and these are important and trustworthy sources of gaining
knowledge (Research-Methodology, 2019). The responsibility of the researcher here is to collect
suitable kinds of data and then strive to interpret the data in an objective approach. For this
approach, the research findings are usually observable as well as quantifiable and therefore help
the researcher in gaining concrete and valid knowledge. It remains dependent on varied
quantifiable facts and observations and this help the researcher in his statistical analysis. There is
usually no provision for any kind of human interests within this form of research. Rather it
places the primary focus on facts in order to accomplish the varying research aims and
objectives.
In order to execute this research successfully, the researcher has chosen the philosophy of
interpretivism as this is expected to help in while interpreting all his research findings according
to distinct individual judgement perceptions. The approach of interpretivism helps researchers in
interpreting and making sense of different elements of their research work. Thus, it is evident
24

that researchers chose this approach as this is proves to be effective in integrating varied human
interests within the areas covered in the research work (Research-Methodology, 2019). These
interpretive researchers are under the assumption that the access to a socially constructed form of
reality may only be by social constructions such as shared meanings, language, instruments and
consciousness. It is for this reason that this philosophy emphasises on the execution of the
research by doing qualitative analysis rather than the quantitative study. This approach is widely
utilised by researchers in order to integrate varied approaches together like social constructivism,
phenomenology and hermeneutics. The approach is known for rejecting the assumption of all
objectivists who belief the fact that meaning is existent within the world disregarding the
presence of human consciousness. Rather the approach of interpretivism stated that it is
imperative for all researchers to develop the capacity to identify and acknowledge varied
differences that exist between different individuals. It is essentially emphasised on the facet of
meaning and tries to implement diverse methods that help in reflecting the different aspects of
the chosen research topic.
3.2.1 Justification for selecting the philosophy of interpretivism
Interpretivism is one of the most commonly implemented research philosophies where those
findings are examined appropriately which remain biased as well as hugely value-laden.
According to the proponents of this theory, all human beings have their own concepts and
personal thought processes and these may not always be possible to associate with any kind of
scientific research processes. The interpretivism philosophy has been selected for this particular
research study as it is thought to impart validity as well as quality to the research. It would also
help inappropriately interpreting the research findings that will be attained by the researchers
(Kumar, 2019). This will be done using diverse ideas as well as perceptions of human
judgement. It has been widely acknowledged that all data acquired from the interpretive
approach are more trustworthy and valid and hence may be deemed more effective. Such a
detailed form of data would help the learner in getting a better perception of his study.
3.3 Research Approach
Research approaches are a well-formatted procedure that constitutes several broad assumptions
regarding the manner in which data would be collected and analysed in research work. This is of
primary importance for research activities as it is hugely based on nature as well as the intrinsic
25

character of the distinct research problem that the researcher tries to address in the work. For all
kinds of research activities, researchers usually select their approaches from deductive and
inductive. The deductive approach helps the researchers in retaining appropriate knowledge that
is associated with the issue and topic of research. It helps them in studying existing literary
works and devising the most suitable research objectives and aims (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016).
On the contrary, the inductive approach is helpful in creating new theories through the practice
of hypothesis generation. In order to conduct this research in the most effective manner, the
researcher has selected the deductive approach.
3.3.1 Justification for selecting the deductive approach
The researcher was proactive in considering the effectiveness of both the approaches, and
considered deductive approach to be more effective. This is primarily because of the nature of
the research, which does not require any kind of theory development. This approach would help
the researcher in understanding the existing theories as well as models and these would be
supported through the help of specific related circumstances. Apart from this, the use of the
deductive approach is expected to help the researcher to understand and examine the
relationships existing between the varied dependent as well as independent variables. It would
impart higher validity as well as authenticity to the overall research and would help the
researcher to identify and fulfil suitable research objectives that are crucial for this study.
3.4 Research Design
Research design constitutes another significant aspect of research where researchers use varied
methods and techniques for integrating and amalgamating diverse research components logically
and rationally. The researcher dealt with this effectively as it is crucial in handling the research
issue in the best possible manner. Selection of an effective research design is important as it
assists the researchers in understanding the steps that must be taken in order to execute the
research by undertaking diverse methodologies. This makes it easier and more convenient for the
researchers to approach and solve the research questions. Some of the most commonly used
research designs by all researchers are exploratory, descriptive and explanatory (Kumar, 2019).
Aligning of appropriate research design is imperative for interpreting the acquired data over the
course of the research. This also assists the researchers in attaining the diverse research aims as
well as objectives related to the study. The explanatory design is widely used by researchers as it
26

helps them to assess and understand the interdependency that exists between diverse kinds of
variables through linking varied kinds of ideas, factors, consequences and causes. On the other
hand, the design of exploratory research helps in incorporating varied psychological variables
associated with the research work. The descriptive method also helps the researchers
inappropriately understanding and analysing the research aims and objectives in the best possible
manner in keeping the nature of this work in mind, the researcher has chosen the explanatory
design.
3.4.1 Justification for selecting the explanatory research design
The researcher has selected the explanatory design as it is expected to help him in attaining his
research aspirations in the best possible ways. It will help in generating distinct operational
definition while assisting the researcher in analysing the research problems that have not been
focussed by previous researchers. The primary aim of this research was to evaluate the multi-
channel strategy for Sports direct and analyse the impact of such strategies on the overall
consumer behaviour. Therefore, in keeping with the nature of this study, the explanatory design
was thought to be the most effective. This would help the researcher in gaining a higher
perspective of the issue by upholding a detailed description and analysis of the research context
that is being studied. In addition, the explanatory design helps in imparting flexibility to the
research. Use of this design helps in making the study concrete and well informative (Sekaran
and Bougie, 2016). When a researcher has an effective understanding of the context of research,
it becomes easier for him to develop the appropriate research questions and investigate them in
suitably in order to derive at the best outcomes.
3.5 Data collection method
It is crucial for researchers to select their data collection method wisely as this influences the
extent to which they would be able to acquire authentic and accurate results for the study. Data
collection method may be broadly classified into primary and secondary segments. In case of
primary data collection, the researchers strive to garner a wide variety of raw data, which is
attained from varied first-hand sources through conducting experimentations, observations and
surveys involving the necessary group of participants (Mohajan, 2018). On contrary to this, the
secondary data collection is built on developing a deeper understanding of the issue from
relevant existing literary works and journals in order to build a more concrete conceptual
27

background for the study. Researchers strive to gather a wide range of data that has been
published in order to expand their understanding of the issue. Data may be gained from books,
journals, public records, trade journals and government publications. Often historical and
statistical accounts are studies for this purpose. In keeping mind, the nature of this study, primary
data collection method has been thought effective. Both qualitative and quantitative data would
be collected in order to understand the real implications of the multi-channel strategy for the
chosen organisation.
3.5.1 Justification for selecting the primary data collection method
The researcher has selected the primary data collection method as it will help in real and valid
information from the chosen organisations. Learning from Antwi and Hamza (2015), it will take
up both qualitative as well as quantitative data in order to understand the perspective of the
managers as well as the employees of Sports Direct.
3.6 Sampling technique and size
The researcher will choose random sampling as it will offer equal opportunities for all the
respondents to participate in the survey (Research-Methodology, 2019). It will involve the
participation of 50 employees from the organisation for acquiring quantitative data along with 2
managers who would be interviewed for qualitative data.
3.6 Data analysis tool
Being influenced by Basias and Pollalis (2018), open-ended questions would be made for the
managers and close-ended questionnaire would be prepared for the employees in order to
ascertain their views. Efforts would be taken to analyse the data in the best possible manner. Pie
charts and excel sheets would be utilised for analysing the data appropriately in order to arrive at
concrete research results. In addition, the researcher would strive to correlate the qualitative
findings with the literature review section in order to understand the issue in the best possible
manner.
3.7 Research timeline
Activity Start Date Duration End Date
Commencement of the research study 18/12/2019 2 20/12/2019
Formulating the diverse research aim 20/12/2019 3 23/12/2019
28

and objectives
Reviewing of the necessary literature
sources
23/12/2019 8 31/12/2019
Selection of the diverse research
methods
31/12/2019 4 04/01/2020
Collection of primary data 04/01/2020 5 09/01/2020
Analysis of the acquired data 09/01/2020 4 13/01/2020
Drawing of effective conclusions 13/01/2020 3 16/01/2020
Completing all relevant paperwork 16/01/2020 1 17/01/2020
Research project presentation 17/01/2020 1 18/01/2020
Table 2: Work Break down Structure
(Source: Created by the researcher)
Figure 1: Gantt chart
(Source: Created by the researcher)
29

3.8 Ethical consideration
It would be imperative for the researcher to consider all ethical aspects while acquiring data
relevant to this research. For example, he would ensure to follow all the provisions of the Data
Protection Act 1998 and ensure that all data is kept safe and protected away from any kind of
manhandling and misuse. In addition, he ensured that no respondent feels pressurized to answer
any of the questions and gave them the liberty to quit the survey at any time they felt like. The
researcher ensured throughout the study that no form of coercion and force was exerted towards
any of the respondents for the survey. He briefed them about the nature of the study and ensured
that they are able to follow the purpose behind the study. Lastly, he assured them that their
confidentiality would be maintained and none of the collected data would be utilised for any kind
of commercial purposes. Therefore, it may be stated that the researcher has been proactive in
ensuring that all ethical aspects are considered appropriately during the course of the study.
3.9 Research limitation
Though the researcher has taken all measures to fulfil all his responsibilities appropriately, there
were certain limitations. For example, due to time constraints, it was difficult for the researcher
to analyze a wide variety of journals and articles. A stronger theoretical background would have
helped the research in being more concrete and efficient. In addition, the study could have been
made more efficient by conducting secondary data collection method in order to make it more
extensive and broad. Limitations of time dissuaded the researcher in completing his research in a
more effective manner.
30

Chapter 4. Finding and Analysis
4.1 Introduction
The finding and analysis part is helpful for the researcher to review the research in line with the
data available (qualitative and quantitative) and do a detail representation of the same by using
different approaches. In the finding and analysis part, the researcher collects data through survey
and interview to understand how multi-channel marketing is helping the organisation Sports
Direct and whether this model is appropriate for Ireland.
4.2 Finding
Demographic Analysis
The demographic analysis represents some of the basic data about the participants associated
with the research. The demographic analysis is helpful for the researcher to analyze the
characteristics of the participants associated with the research, which department they are
working and what are their specific job roles to understand, how much they are comfortable with
the concept of the multichannel marketing so that survey answers become more relevant
associated with the research topic.
Question 1: Age of the respondent
Age Range Responses
Total
Participants
Percentage
(%)
24-29 18 50 36
30-35 11 50 22
36-40 7 50 14
41-45 9 50 18
46 and above 5 50 10
31

24-29 30-35 36-40 41-45 46 and
above
18
11 7 9 5
Age
In the overall research, there are 50 participants from the Sports Direct employee Group out of
which, 50% of the employee are 35 years or below in age (18 are from 24-29 and 11 from 30-35
age group). Next highest group is 41-45 years age-old employee, from which 9 people have
participated in this research. 5 people are above 45 years as well. Remaining 7 are between 36-40
years of age.
Question 2: Gender of the Respondent
Sex Responses
Total
Participants
Percentage
(%)
Male 29 50 58
Female 21 50 42
M a l e F e m a l e
29
21
Gender
Among 50 participants, the focus of the researcher was to involve both the gender almost at an
equal level. However, as the field sales or core store operation job is associated with male people
more, there are 29 male respondent and 21 female.
32

Question 3: Department Associated within Sports Direct
Department Responses
Total
Participants
Percentage
(%)
Marketing and Promotion 17 50 34
Departmental Sales 27 50 54
Store Operations 2 50 4
Cash management 4 50 8
Marketing and
Promotion Departmental
Sales Store Operations Cash management
17
27
2 4
Department
Out of 50 participants, majority of the participants are from sales domain as the overall research
is mostly based on how the process of multi-channel marketing is helping the Sports Direct and
whether it is the right strategy to follow even as well. Among the existing participant, 27 are
from sales and 17 form marketing and promotion. Only 6 are from operation and cash domain.
Question 4: Associated with Sports Direct For
Working With Sports
Direct Responses
Total
Participants
Percentage
(%)
Less than 2 years 19 50 38
2-4 years 25 50 50
5-7 years 4 50 8
More than 7 years 2 50 4
33

Less than 2
years 2-4 years 5-7 years More than 7
years
19
25
4 2
Association with Sports
Direct
In Sports Direct, there are a various group of people in different people associated with various
department for different tenures. 50% of the employees (25) are associated with the firm for 2 to
4 years whereas 19 are for less than 2 years. Among the participating employees, only 6 are over
5 years associated with the company.
Question 5 Designated as:
Designations
Response
s
Total
Participant
s
Percentag
e (%)
Sales Executive 27 50 54
Marketing
Executive 18 50 36
Operation Executive 3 50 6
Manager 2 50 4
Sales Executive Marketing
Executive Operation
Executive Manager
27
18
3 2
Employee designation
34

There are 50 participants from different designations. Among them, the majority. That is 27 are
working as a sales executive in different outlets and 18 as marketing executives. 3 participants
are designated as an operational executive and 2 as the manager for the firm.
Survey:
Q.1: As an employee, what is your preferred method of marketing in the modern era of business
operation?
Your preferred method
of marketing Responses
Total
Participant
s
Percentage
(%)
Omnichannel Marketing 6 50 12
Cross Channel
Marketing 11 50 22
Multichannel Marketing 35 50 70
70%
22%
8%
Preffered Channel of Marketing
Omnichannel Marketing Cross Channel Marketing Multichannel Marketing
The above responses clearly indicate the fact that out of the 50 participants, the majority are
looking for multi-channel marketing as this is the common marketing process for the firm and
the staffs are used to with it. 70% of the employee is the support of this model whereas. The total
number of respondent supporting this is 35 out of 50 whereas 11 are in favour of cross channel
strategy. Rest 6 re supporting the omnichannel as that one is the most holistic approach of
marketing.
35

Q 2.Why you prefer to choose the specific form of a marketing channel for business? [Choose
from following points]
Reason behind selection
Response
s
Total
Participant
s
Percentage
(%)
helps in better interaction with customers 19 50 38
is easy to get in touch with new
consumers 18 50 36
is easy to retain the old consumer 12 50 24
is helpful in increasing consumer loyalty 14 50 28
Make customers stick to one particular
domain. 10 50 20
h e l p s i n
b e tt e r
i n t e r a c ti o n
w i t h
c u s t o m e r s
i s e a s y t o g e t
i n t o u c h w i t h
n e w
c o n s u m e r s
i s e a s y t o
r e t a i n t h e o l d
c o n s u m e r
i s h e l p f u l i n
i n c r e a s i n g t h e
c o n s u m e r
l o y a l t y
m a k e
c u s t o m e r s
s ti c k t o o n e
p a r ti c u l a r
d o m a i n .
19
18
12
14
10
Reasons to Select
Majority of the respondents supported the first two points and those are the salespeople are
happy to use such marketing process, which is helpful in establishment of better quality of
customer interaction and easy to reach out to new customers. Both these points got 19 and 18
supports respectively. Apart from that, the participants believe that selection must be done taking
into consideration the fact that which model will support the development of better customer
quality (14). Customer retention (12) and ensuring consumer stick to any 1 brand is another key
factor while selecting a brand
Q 3.Do you feel multi-channel marketing is helpful for you to get access to a wide range of
customer information?
36

Multi-channel marketing
helps to access the range of Responses
Total
Participants
Percentage
(%)
Information
Definitely Yes 19 50 38
Yes 24 50 48
Sometime 2 50 4
Not sure 4 50 8
Definitely No 1 50 2
38%
48%
4%
8% 2%
Helps to access wide range of information
informatiom Definitely Yes Yes
Sometime Not sure Definitely No
When the employees are asked what do they believe that the multichannel marketing is helpful
for the organisation to access a wide range of data, a total 86% of the employee reply in the
range of definitely yes (19 out of 50) or yes (24 out of 50). Only 2 of the 50 participants are
unsure about the same. A total of 10 out of 50 people are not ready to accept this fact which
making it 10% of employees going against the concept
Q 4. Do you feel multi-channel marketing helps you to keep your customer better informed?
multi-channel marketing
keep customer better Responses
Total
Participant
s
Percentage
(%)
Informed
Definitely Yes 19 50 38
Yes 18 50 36
37

Sometime 5 50 10
Not sure 4 50 8
Definitely No 4 50 8
38%
36%
10%
8% 8%
Keep customers better
imformed
Definitely Yes Yes Sometime
Not sure Definitely No
When the employees of the Sports Direct asked about their opinion about whether they feel that
this model of multi-channel marketing is better suited for the organisation to inform the
consumer about different product offerings in a better manner or not, the percentage of people
reply in positive is as high as 84% in total. 19 out of 50 people have mentioned definitely yes
whereas 18 of them mentioned it as yes. However, 10% (5 employees) of the respondent feels
that this is helpful sometimes and not always. A total of 16% of the employees (4 each) clearly
stated the negative answer.
Q 5.Do you feel multi-channel marketing is helpful to pass on information better than traditional
channel?
multi-channel marketing
helps to pass information
better than traditional
channel by staffs Responses
Total
Participants
Percentage
(%)
Definitely Yes 12 50 24
Yes 19 50 38
Sometime 7 50 14
Not sure 6 50 12
Definitely No 6 50 12
38

24%
38%
14%
12% 12%
Better to pass on informatiom by
staffs to customers
Definitely Yes Yes Sometime
Not sure Definitely No
When it has been asked to the employees of the Sports Direct about what their opinion is about
information sharing with the customer in comparison with the traditional channel or traditional
model, 62% of the employee in total (19 of them mentioned as yes and 12 as definitely yes)
agreed with the fact. 7 respondent (14%) suggested that they believe that it happens sometimes.
24% answers negatively (12 each suggested that they not sure and surely against that point).
Q 6.Do you feel Multichannel marketing is helpful for Sports direct to pass on a large volume of
information to the customers in Ireland?
Multichannel marketing is
helpful for forwarding large
the volume of information to
Ireland customer Responses
Total
Participants
Percentage
(%)
Definitely Yes 21 50 42
Yes 17 50 34
Sometime 6 50 12
Not sure 4 50 8
Definitely No 2 50 4
39

42%
34%
12%
8% 4%
Helps to pass large volume of
information to the customer
Definitely Yes Yes Sometime
Not sure Definitely No
The multichannel marketing is helpful in forwarding a large volume of information to the
customers at one go and 76% of the employees are in support of the same. 21 employees
mentioned definitely yes and 17 responses as yes. 6 respondents mentioned that sometimes this
process helps to pass on the large volume of data. Not sure and negative (definitely no) response
is from 4 and 2 people respectively making it a total of 12% with a negative answer.
Q 7. Do you feel customers can take direct help while selecting a particular brand of product
from Sports Direct in case of multichannel marketing?
Customer can take direct help
for brand selection in
Sports Direct in case of Multi-
Channel Marketing Responses
Total
Participants
Percentag
e (%)
Definitely Yes 23 50 46
Yes 21 50 42
Sometime 3 50 6
Not sure 2 50 4
Definitely No 1 50 2
40

46%
42%
6%
4%2%
Direct help in bramd selection for customer is
available
Definitely Yes Yes Sometime Not sure Definitely No
The multichannel marketing strategy ensures that customers are stick to a particular point of
sales except for the other two channels (Omni and cross channel) and the employees are able to
support the customer during brand selection effectively. 88% among total employees mentioned
that this process is supportive for both employees in the store as well as for the customers as
customers get support from employees to select the brand. 6% (3 employees) believe that
sometimes this process helps the consumer to select a brand. Only 6% of employees (2 with an
answer not sure and 1 with definitely no) given negative responses against this point.
Q 8.Do you feel multichannel marketing is helpful for the staffs of Sports Direct to gather
information and work on the same as feedback to improve their services?
Multichannel marketing is
helpful for the staffs of
Sports Direct to work
on the feedback of the
customer
Response
s
Total
Participant
s
Percentag
e (%)
Definitely Yes 24 50 48
Yes 19 50 38
Sometime 4 50 8
Not sure 1 50 2
Definitely No 2 50 4
41

48%
38%
8%
2% 4%
Helpful to work on the feedback of the customers
Definitely Yes Yes Sometime Not sure Definitely No
Development of customer service is essential from the organisation perspective in order to
ensure that the firm remains competitive. The multichannel marketing strategy helps the
organisation to ensure that sales and marketing staff get more chance to establish better
interaction with the consumers, understand their needs and accordingly manage the business
strategy. As the responses suggest, 86% of the employees are supporting this fact as 24 of the
employees replying with definitely yes and 19 with yes. Only 4 (8%) of the employees believe
that it will help the organisation in some cases. Employees who are against this concept are 6%
in total, which is negligible.
Q 9. Where do you feel the multichannel marketing differ from omnichannel or cross channel
marketing model? [Choose from the following]
Difference between
multichannel marketing
with Omni and cross
channel marketing
Response
s
Total
Participant
s
Percentag
e (%)
Different channels are not
interlinked 17 50 34
Company centric sales
model 19 50 38
Lack of consistency in
message delivery 19 50 38
Limited data flow for the 8 50 16
42

employees
Lack of communication
among channels 21 50 42
Organisation achieve the
goal for the inter-
department challenge 19 50 38
Diffent chanvels are not interlinked
Company centric sales model
Lack of consistency in message delivery
Limited data flow for the employes
Lack of communication among channels
Organisation achieve goal for inter-department challege
0 5 10 15 20 25
17
19
19
8
21
19
comparasion with Omni and
Cross Channel
When asked to the 50 participants about the difference that they feel exists between multichannel
marketing strategies with Omni or cross channel marketing, the researcher has provided some
points and asked participants to select their preferred point(s). Based on the strategy, it is evident
that highest number of employees is in favour of the point that there is lack of communication in
multichannel. As the process is restricted as one-dimensional .three different points get equal
support from employees namely organisations goal is more or less achieved but often-different
department unable to do so, lack of consistency in messaging process and development of
company-centric sales model. Only 8 people believe that there is limited data flow among
employees.
43

Qualitative Analysis
Two managers from Sports Direct were interviewed in order to get their views and opinions.
Open-ended questions were developed for them so that they can put forward their ideas
regarding the use of multi-channel strategy by the organisation. The diverse data collected from
them have helped in understanding and assessing the research issue in a more effective light.
Their views and opinions have been enclosed below:
Question 1: What are the varied advantages of using multi-channel strategy in Sports
Direct?
Manager 1: Sports Direct follows the multi-channel strategy as it helps the organisation in
connecting with its customers on all their favourite channels thereby making them more
accessible. This has a positive influence in increasing the overall consumer engagement and also
boosts the conversion rates for the organisation. It is through strategizing campaigns across
multiple devices and platforms that the organisation is able to have a higher engagement rate
from its customers. These campaigns ensure a better return on investment when compared to
single-channel campaigns. In addition, another added advantage of this strategy is that it helps
organisations in keeping up with the trends of the market and reaching out to the customers
across email, mobile, desktop and social media channels throughout their journey from the
commute to work to a concert or while being with a party. Real-time location services are used
for optimizing hyper local campaigns that are geographically targeted to the customers. It also
helps the organisation in staying ahead of the competition through using display, social, video
and mobile marketing simultaneously. These help in achieving a higher return on investment
from the diverse advertising efforts.
Manager 2: Implementing the multi-channel strategy brings various benefits and advantages for
the organisation. For example, two of the most common advantages that are associated with the
multi-channel strategy are that it helps in increasing the consumer base and lowering customer
acquisition costs. It helps the authorities in hitting their financial targets and achieving consistent
success in the market. The best combination of the multiple channels helps in reaching out to the
target audience and acquiring them at minimum costs. Targeting the customers in the appropriate
places helps the organisation in increasing chances of customer conversion. The authorities in
44

Sports Direct ensure keeping an effective track of the manner in which customers engage with
the content and this enables the organisation in having a powerful database that is filled with all
the relevant information regarding the manner in which customers must be connected and
targeted. The authorities always ensure to offer a positive brand experience to the customers and
see that a long-lasting relationship is built and maintained with them. The organisation takes
proactive steps in ensuring that the multi-channel business strategy is developed in the most
efficient manner and this directly influences the sales and profits of the organisation. In the
process, the authorities ensure that the data is appropriately integrated and efforts are being taken
to understand and assess perspectives of consumer behaviour. It then evaluates the varied
business channels that are available for the organisation. It ensures that proper resource is being
allocated for all the business channels along with seeing to it that there is coordination between
the varied business strategies. This helps in offering coherence and consistent success for the
organisation and ensures that it operates effectively in the market.
Question 2: Are there any disadvantages of using such strategies for the company?
Manager 1: Though the multichannel strategy helps Sports Direct in several ways, there are a
number of disadvantages and challenges associated with the approach. For example, it often
leads to higher costs of materials and labour. This is primarily because of the reason that more
products in more places imply more numbers of suppliers, staff for fulfilling orders, additional
costs for shipping and geographically dispersed warehouses. Therefore, it may be stated that this
strategy requires more amount of money. It is also often seen that employees begin to make
costly mistakes being overwhelmed. Apart from that, there is also an increased probability of
channel conflicts. In this kind of strategy, there are varied kinds of conflicts that take place in an
organisation. Direct sales may be competing with one independent distributor or two distributors
competing for purchase. The conflicts may also involve the distributor and the retailer or the
channels competing with each other for the same customers. Therefore, it may be stated that
though multi-channel strategy benefits the organisation in many ways, there are a few challenges
that the organisation has to face because of its choice of strategies.
Manager 2: One of the most common disadvantages of the multi-channel strategy is that it
increases complexity and complications for the organisation. It forces the authorities in
managing varied inventory, fulfil diverse kinds of orders and work with all the suppliers while
45

offering high-quality customer services and ensured delivery times. Appropriate management
among the varied tools, employees and systems is a complicated and time-consuming procedure.
If organisations cannot keep up with the complexities, it leads to redundant warehouse processes,
inability of meeting the seasonal demands, slow order fulfilment or wrong stock level displays.
Apart from the points identified before, the use of multichannel as a strategy also proves to be
disadvantageous as it leads to a wide range of conflicts and confusion within the system. Since
the process is long and costly, it often proves to be challenging and disadvantageous for the
organisation. In addition, there are other several disadvantages such as decreased economies of
scale and a growing need for adding assessment and tracking work for all the channels that are
being used by the organisation. Along with increasing the overall sales costs, it also results in
confusion and a lack of control. It also leads to a huge amount of cash flow and production stress
on the part of the organisation.
Question 3: How does the multi-channel strategy influence consumer behaviour?
Manager 1: Multichannel strategy helps in boosting the overall business performance of the
organisation as it has a significant effect on the overall consumer behaviour. It makes effective
use of advertising and media in order to reach out to more number of potential customers in the
market. This helps the organisations in understanding the manner in which customers react
towards the products and services. Consumers are made aware of the services through the media.
It serves as a tool for promotion and offers opportunities where the customers can make orders
from their mobile applications.
Manager 2: Multichannel strategy helps in influencing consumer behaviour by helping them to
make their buying decisions more effectively. Sports direct makes effective use of social media
in order to reach out to more number of customers and attend their diverse kinds of needs in the
best possible manner. It helps in highlighting the most important advantages of the products and
services and ensures that customers are able to make their buying decisions in the most effective
manner. In addition, sales may be made through websites in order to make the process more
smooth and effective. Multi-channel is considered to be effective as it offers the target customers
the choice regarding where to buy their products while optimizing their individual experiences
on some of the most important channels of sales that are based on distinct shopping behaviour.
46

Question 4: How does multi-channel strategy help in ensuring higher profits for the
organisation?
Manager 1: Multi-channel strategy helps customers in getting a more effective overall experience
as the organisation remains in a position to mirror the manner in which they already shop. This
strategy, therefore, has a lot of significance for Sports Direct as it helps the organisation in
increasing its profitability. Though this approach is often criticized for leading to certain
operational and marketing challenges, overall it helps in streamlining and centralizing the multi-
channel back-end operations while at the same time, enhancing the experience of the front-end
users. Selling on more than one channel is always considered a wiser investment for businesses
that are fast growing. It is often been seen that customers shopped for their products both online
as well as in the stores during some of the busiest seasons of the years.
Manager 2: Multi-channel strategy is helpful in boosting the overall profits of the organisation as
it ensures that customers are able to make their buying decisions in the most effective manner.
According to a study made by the authorities in Sports Direct, there is a 20% higher lifetime
value as compared to the approach of single-channel shoppers. Multi-channel marketing helps
organisations like Sports Direct to place its products at the heart of the multi-faceted wheel
where the customers are never more than a few clicks away from making their purchase
decisions. This, in turn, helps organisations in ensuring consistent profits for itself and also
ensures that the customers remain loyal and committed to the brand in the future.
47

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations
The research has been effective in highlighting varied aspects and perceptions related to the
notion of multi-channel marketing strategy and the manner in which it helps business
organisations in achieving higher success through more effective marketing expertise. The
research questions were aimed at understanding the effectiveness of these strategies in the
context of Sports Direct by evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. It has also been effective
in highlighting the manner in which these multi-channel marketing strategies helps in directing
and influencing consumer behaviour in case of Sports Direct. It highlighted the ways in which
the organisation used the strategy of multi-channel marketing along with shedding light on
varied facets that are intrinsically related to this issue. Varied literary journals and books were
reviewed in order to gain a strong conceptual background for the study so that the aims and
objectives may be framed effectively. The researcher has been proactive in taking effectual
measures so that all the research goals are met in the best possible manner.
In the methodology section, the researcher took effectual measures to ensure that the best
approaches and tools are undertaken so that the research outcome may be attained in the best
possible manner. It was effective in undertaking both qualitative and quantitative approaches and
the data gained from the varied sources has helped in making the research more credible and
valid. In the survey, the demographic analysis was effective in highlighting the basic data
regarding all the respondents who were involved in the study. It has been effective in
highlighting the extent to which multi-channel strategy is being implemented in the organisation
and the degree to which they are comfortable with this concept. This was helpful in making the
study more effective and relevant according to the research topic. It was found from the survey
that it helped varied departments of the organisation such as marketing and promotion, store
operations, cash management and departmental sales. It was found out that these departments
were deeply affected by the strategy of multi-channel marketing. The results from the survey
have reflected the manner in which this strategy helps the organisation in reaching out to more
number of customers and catering to their diverse needs and requirements. It makes effective use
of social media in order to reach out to more number of customers and make them undertake
their buying decisions effectively.
48

The qualitative analysis has been enormously helpful in reflecting the views of the managers
associated with the organisation. Various open-ended questions were asked to them where they
got the opportunity of sharing their views and opinions regarding the issue. Data gained from
them helped the researcher in expanding his knowledge and understanding of the issue and
ensured that the research was able to attain its aims and objectives in the best possible manner.
The qualitative data gained from the study has been effectual in highlighting the varied
advantages and disadvantages related to the concept of a multichannel strategy. The managers
revealed the fact that authorities in the organisation use this strategy as it helps in connecting
with the customers in the best possible manner. It helps in increasing consumer engagement
along with boosting the conversion rates, which in turn helps the organisation in succeeding in
the market in a more effective manner. In addition, it also ensures a higher return on investment
for the organisation and ensures that a higher number of customers are reached out by the
organisation in order to derive higher sales.
Sports Direct follows the multi-channel strategy as it helps the organisation in connecting with
its customers on all their favourite channels thereby making them more accessible. This has a
positive influence in increasing the overall consumer engagement and also boosts the conversion
rates for the organisation. It is through strategizing campaigns across multiple devices and
platforms that the organisation is able to have a higher engagement rate from its customers.
These campaigns ensure a better return on investment when compared to single-channel
campaigns. In addition, another added advantage of this strategy is that it helps organisations in
keeping up with the trends of the market and reaching out to the customers across email, mobile,
desktop and social media channels throughout their journey from the commute to work to a
concert or while being with a party. Real-time location services are used for optimizing hyper
local campaigns that are geographically targeted to the customers. It also helps the organisation
in staying ahead of the competition through using display, social, video and mobile marketing
simultaneously. These help in achieving a higher return on investment from the diverse
advertising efforts.
The research findings highlight that implementing the multi-channel strategy brings various
benefits and advantages for the organisation. For example, two of the most common advantages
that are associated with the multi-channel strategy are that it helps in increasing the consumer
49

base and lowering customer acquisition costs. It helps the authorities in hitting their financial
targets and achieving consistent success in the market. The best combination of the multiple
channels helps in reaching out to the target audience and acquiring them at minimum costs.
Targeting the customers in the appropriate places helps the organisation in increasing chances of
customer conversion. The authorities in Sports Direct ensure keeping an effective track of the
manner in which customers engage with the content and this enables the organisation in having a
powerful database that is filled with all the relevant information regarding the manner in which
customers must be connected and targeted. The authorities always ensure to offer a positive
brand experience to the customers and see that a long-lasting relationship is built and maintained
with them. The organisation takes proactive steps in ensuring that the multi-channel business
strategy is developed in the most efficient manner and this directly influences the sales and
profits of the organisation. In the process, the authorities ensure that the data is appropriately
integrated and efforts are being taken to understand and assess perspectives of consumer
behaviour. It then evaluates the varied business channels that are available for the organisation. It
ensures that proper resource is being allocated for all the business channels along with seeing to
it that there is coordination between the varied business strategies. This helps in offering
coherence and consistent success for the organisation and ensures that it operates effectively in
the market.
Though the multichannel strategy helps Sports Direct in several ways, there are a number of
disadvantages and challenges associated with the approach. For example, it often leads to higher
costs of materials and labour. This is primarily because of the reason that more products in more
places imply more numbers of suppliers, staff for fulfilling orders, additional costs for shipping
and geographically dispersed warehouses. Therefore, it may be stated that this strategy requires
more amount of money. It is also often seen that employees begin to make costly mistakes being
overwhelmed. Apart from that, there is also an increased probability of channel conflicts. In this
kind of strategy, there are varied kinds of conflicts that take place in an organisation. Direct sales
may be competing with one independent distributor or two distributors competing for purchase.
The conflicts may also involve the distributor and the retailer or the channels competing with
each other for the same customers. Therefore, it may be stated that though multi-channel strategy
benefits the organisation in many ways, there are a few challenges that the organisation has to
face because of its choice of strategies.
50

One of the most common disadvantages of the multi-channel strategy is that it increases
complexity and complications for the organisation. It forces the authorities in managing varied
inventory, fulfil diverse kinds of orders and work with all the suppliers while offering high-
quality customer services and ensured delivery times. Appropriate management among the
varied tools, employees and systems is a complicated and time-consuming procedure. If
organisations cannot keep up with the complexities, it leads to redundant warehouse processes,
inability of meeting the seasonal demands, slow order fulfilment or wrong stock level displays.
Apart from the points identified before, the use of multichannel as a strategy also proves to be
disadvantageous as it leads to a wide range of conflicts and confusion within the system. Since
the process is long and costly, it often proves to be challenging and disadvantageous for the
organisation. In addition, there are other several disadvantages such as decreased economies of
scale and a growing need for adding assessment and tracking work for all the channels that are
being used by the organisation. Along with increasing the overall sales costs, it also results in
confusion and a lack of control. It also leads to a huge amount of cash flow and production stress
on the part of the organisation.
On the other hand, this is also linked with several challenges and disadvantages. For example, it
has been found out that this strategy often leads to higher labour and material costs, which prove
to be difficult for the organisation. Channel conflicts are also becoming common for these kinds
of multi-channel strategies. The managers also revealed that this kind of strategy led to increased
complexities, which made it difficult for organisations to functions efficiently in the market. In
addition to this, the research has also been effective in highlighting the manner in which this
strategy is helpful in influencing consumer behaviour and driving more profits for the
organisations. Overall, the research has been proactive in highlighting some of the most
significant issues that are related to the concept of multi-channel marketing. Taking the help of
Sports Direct, it has been effective in shedding light on the varied ways in which it affects the
functioning and profits of business organisations. As for recommendations, it may be stated that
the organisation has the opportunity of making higher use of digital technologies in order to
reach out to more number of customers in the market and serving them in the best possible
manner. In addition, it may make greater use of social media channels in order to reach its
customers, as most customers are active in their social media channels today.
51

The area of multiple marketing channels is multifaceted as well as its traits rely upon several
different forces. The proper grouping of channels is quite vital – whether they are physical and
electronic channels, or digital and catalogue or catalogue and physical. Also appropriate within
the multichannel concept is the significance of a channel, the level of channel integration and
lastly, channel participants’ the vertical position. There prevail no examples of examination,
which involves all such aspects. By adopting over one channel, companies like Sports Direct
could easily reach buyers in local, national and worldwide marketplaces, which couldn’t be
reached through just one marketing channel. The buyer requires going to the traditional outlet
and this takes money and time. Additionally, the majority of outlets do not operate 24/7. Through
making use of the internet and catalogues, operating hours are longer and the likelihood for
communication with buyers is higher. A large number of customers could now be regarded as
being multichannel buyers and they believe corporations they shop at being multichannel also.
Moreover, corporations attain competitive benefit through employing multichannel options for
the reason that they could select a channel for focusing upon. This is particularly significant
during economic uncertainty.
Targeting multichannel customers is seen as being a benefit. Multichannel customers spend more
as compared to single-channel customer and they offer higher advantages to business contexts.
Additionally, buyers who purchase services and goods via more than one marketing channel
shop quite frequently as compared to single-channel buyers. The chief reason is the fact that they
have higher contact with business areas by way of communication channels. Nevertheless,
during the procedure of developing a multichannel approach, the expectations and motives of
buyers along with possible limitations must be considered. It has been observed that buyers who
purchase just through stores chiefly prefer satisfying social and emotional wants during the
shopping procedure. Buyers, who purchase just through the catalogues and internet look for
independence and convenience i.e. they desire being capable of buying wherever and whenever
they want. The growth of smart mobile phones has considerably augmented the number of
buyers who make purchases at the time when it is seen suitable for them. Further, the
multichannel buyers who gain information online and after that purchase products through stores
lead the present day’s market. They unite the convenience of obtaining information from several
different websites with a lesser risk when doing store shopping, enhanced through an emotional
and social element.
52

Multi-channel strategy helps customers in getting a more effective overall experience as the
organisation remains in a position to mirror the manner in which they already shop. This
strategy, therefore, has a lot of significance for Sports Direct as it helps the organisation in
increasing its profitability. Though this approach is often criticized for leading to certain
operational and marketing challenges, overall it helps in streamlining and centralizing the multi-
channel back-end operations while at the same time, enhancing the experience of the front-end
users. Selling on more than one channel is always considered a wiser investment for businesses
that are fast growing. It is often been seen that customers shopped for their products both online
as well as in the stores during some of the busiest seasons of the years. Multi-channel strategy is
helpful in boosting the overall profits of the organisation as it ensures that customers are able to
make their buying decisions in the most effective manner. According to a study made by the
authorities in Sports Direct, there is a 20% higher lifetime value as compared to the approach of
single-channel shoppers. Multi-channel marketing helps organisations like Sports Direct to place
its products at the heart of the multi-faceted wheel where the customers are never more than a
few clicks away from making their purchase decisions. This, in turn, helps organisations in
ensuring consistent profits for itself and also ensures that the customers remain loyal and
committed to the brand in the future.
Moving ahead, keeping the strategy directed towards the buyer helps in making sure an overall
constructive brand experience, irrespective of the platform adopted. Consumers want to feel a
personal link with the brands they make use of on a daily basis. Through focusing upon their
needs and wants, the marketers could devise messaging, recommendations as well as sales
approaches, which would reverberate with their consumer base. The highly efficient multi-
channel marketing approaches also work for ensuring that their buyers obtain that same sound
experience along with messaging via every channel and that implies that the brands shouldn’t
forward the same marketing messages around different channels. Audience segmentation is
considered as being an important step for ensuring that the correct message is conveyed at the
correct time, to the correct platform, for the highest impact. On the whole, the highly effective
multi-channel marketing approaches unite exceedingly personalized messaging across text
messages, email and social media to one impeccably consistent marketing campaign.
53

The company could also send out regular messages by way of smartphone applications and
social media pages for encouraging individuals to sign up for loyalty programmes. Within highly
complicated marketing surroundings, nothing is more valued than information. The suitable data
forms the basis of the multi-channel marketing approach. The data must be relevant, constantly
updated and authentic. Additionally, in multi-channel marketing campaigns, each platform the
company uses would be its own individual entity. Nevertheless, this does not imply that they
need to be completely separated. It is vital to include the advantages of every channel and ensure
that the campaigns work appropriately offline, on mobile devices and online. It is vital to set
metrics for every individual channel and tracking how the platforms function seamlessly
collectively. Further, within the present day’s competitive as well as fast-paced business sphere,
buyers are tired of dime-a-dozen marketing messages. They prefer a marketing strategy, which
attracts their personal values and interests. The company must ensure that it should carefully
modify the marketing messages to not just suit the customers on every channel, but also the
diverse advantages of the channels also.
5.1 Limitations
Every study, regardless of its subject, is always linked to several issues as well. In the same
manner, this research also involves few limitations. First of all, the research duration was quite
short i.e. just three months. Secondly, the study was carried out during the holiday time, which
limited access to lots of useful and resourceful data. Furthermore, managers at Sports Direct
were also mostly on holidays that resulted in overall postponement in the study. Additionally,
there also occurred few challenges while elucidating the research aim to the candidates.
Nevertheless, this issue was easily managed through elucidating them the questions in a simple
way.
5.2 Future Research Options
The chief purpose of this study was to understand the significance of the multichannel marketing
strategy and analysis the same from the perspective of business development of the organisation
in a competitive market by taking the case of Sports Direct. The study essentially examined the
case of non-academic corporate settings. Although, the desired outcomes have been
54

accomplished nevertheless the study has also offered scope for various new research areas for
upcoming study. For instance, this particular research only focused on one non-academic
organization for analysing significance of the multichannel marketing strategy nevertheless in
future, more companies could be considered for better exploring the research area. It would also
be interesting to research some academic institute for understanding the significance of the
multichannel marketing strategy. In addition, a comparative study could also be carried out
between an academic and non-academic organization or two or more non-academic companies in
order to compare the significance of the multichannel marketing strategy.
5.3 Concluding Remarks
The research study clearly highlighted that multichannel marketing has become an important part
of Sports Direct and other companies as well around the globe. It performs a vital part in
attracting new buyers, managing existing buyers and staying on the top within the marketplace
surroundings. An organizational setting is fundamentally a socio-technical heterogeneous
situation wherein several technical, non-technical, human as well as non-human forces function
collectively. Starting from the literature review chapter and moving towards the research
methodology section and after that, finding, analysis & discussion, the research quite effectively
demonstrated the significance of the multichannel marketing strategy and examined the same
from the perspective of business development of the organisation in a competitive market by
taking the case of Sports Direct. To sum up, the research proved to be quite effective in
evaluating and exploring the stated research aim and objectives.
55

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