Seamless experience and experiential value: driving flow in omnichannel retailing

Purpose While a seamless experience is widely acknowledged as essential, its role in shaping deeper psychological states, especially the state of flow in the shopping journey, remains an ongoing area of research in marketing. Flow enables customers to immerse themselves in shopping with minimal effort; yet, it alone may not fully drive purchase intentions. Drawing on flow theory and experiential value theory, this study examines how experiential value, together with flow, shapes customer shopping intentions in an omnichannel retail context. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 351 omnichannel customers using a structured survey. The data analysis was done using PLS-SEM to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The findings suggest that a seamless experience significantly contributes to the flow experience, which in turn influences shopping intentions across channels. Additionally, experiential value mediates the relationship between seamless experience and flow experience. Practical implications Omnichannel retailers can leverage the findings of this paper to shape customer-centric strategies that deliver seamless experiences and foster a state of flow. It also highlights the several dimensions of experiential value that customers derive during their omnichannel shopping journey, providing a basis for retailers to design strategies that align more closely with customers’ evolving needs and expectations. Originality/value This study makes a contribution to the omnichannel retailing literature by integrating experiential value theory and flow theory to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the customer shopping intentions in omnichannel retail environments. It advocates the need to move beyond a seamless experience as a functional objective and emphasizes the role of experiential value as a critical factor that enhances flow and drives customer shopping intentions in omnichannel retailing.