Quick response and omnichannel retail operations with the ship-to-store program

To better integrate online businesses with offline stores, fast-fashion retailers roll out the "ship-to-store" (STS) initiative, which is an omnichannel fulfillment method that allows consumers to order online and have their parcels delivered to selected stores for pickup. To study the impact of STS on fast-fashion operations, we consider four scenarios: multichannel retailing, multichannel retailing with quick response (QR), omnichannel retailing with STS, and omnichannel retailing with both STS and QR. Moreover, we investigate how STS influences the value of QR. The results show that although STS benefits firms in many situations, STS under a QR strategy can reduce a retailer's profits when inventory information disclosure due to STS dampens cross-selling opportunities. Our findings also reveal that the implementation of STS may lower the value of QR when customers who encounter stockouts offline opt to purchase online directly rather than use STS.