THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ON LUXURY RETAILERS’ SUSTAINABILITY

In recent years, the retailing world has changed dramatically due to several factors; anyway, two of them have a greater relevance among the others. The first one concerns the proliferation of distribution channels and the advent and the affirmation of digital technologies (Hagberg et al., 2016). The second one regards the growing managerial attention that retailers have towards the environment and the social issues that brought the academic literature to define the concept of sustainable retailing (Wiese et al., 2012). Indeed, retailers play a key role in the transmission of sustainability values being in close contact with the ultimate consumer (Lehner, 2015). At the same time, digital technology can be a powerful tool for both the diffusion of sustainability values and the valorization of sustainable retail business models. Particularly, it is interesting the analysis of luxury retailers’ ability to transmit to the consumer both the green and social aspects of sustainability. For this reason, this research aims to analyze a case study (Yin, 2004) of an Italian luxury retailer that has invested in digital points of sale where digital technologies and sales personnel coexist. Through the case study, this research aims to determine how digital technologies and sales personnel can be combined within a luxury store to give a unique shopping experience. Most importantly, a shopping experience that also respects the ethical and sustainable principles of employees.