Exploring the dynamism of topics linking mobile apps and physical stores

In omni-channel strategies, mobile apps serve as crucial customer touchpoints for retailers. Their role extends beyond search and purchase functions to facilitate the integration of physical stores. Furthermore, their importance has increased after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to identify the topics linking mobile apps and physical stores and examine their dynamism before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the structural topic model, we analyzed app review data from 15 retailers, including those in apparel, consumer electronics, and general merchandise/furniture. The model identified 20 topics, including channel integration between apps and stores, information acquisition, mobile order efficiency, customer service, promotions, and system failures. Our analyses indicate that (1) the positive rating of apps is strongly related to the topics linking mobile apps and stores, rather than the performance of the mobile app features themselves (e.g., purchasing and information search), (2) in the early stages of COVID-19, the demand for some app features, such as product image verification and product returns, temporarily increased, (3) after the pandemic, continuous increases were observed in the topics of in-store pickups, stock checks, in-store searches, and product deliveries, indicating that these are established in consumers’ lives, and (4) the demand for in-store pickups and stock checks declined slightly after 2022, confirming a trend toward a return to physical stores. From a managerial perspective, the growing importance of the seamless channel integration between apps and stores has been emphasized.

在全渠道（omni-channel）战略框架下，移动应用（mobile apps）是零售商触达消费者的关键触点。其功能范畴不止于商品搜索与下单结算，更可助力实体门店的渠道整合。此外，新冠疫情后，移动应用的重要性进一步提升。本研究旨在挖掘关联移动应用与实体门店的核心议题，并探析新冠疫情前后二者关联的动态变化特征。研究采用结构主题模型（structural topic model），对15家零售商的应用评论数据展开分析，涵盖服饰、消费电子、综合零售/家居等品类的商家。该模型共识别出20类主题，包括应用与门店的渠道整合、信息获取、移动端订单效率、客户服务、促销活动以及系统故障等。分析结果显示：其一，移动应用的好评评分与关联二者的主题强相关，而非仅取决于应用自身功能（如购物与信息搜索）的表现；其二，新冠疫情初期，消费者对部分应用功能（如商品图片核验、商品退换）的需求短期攀升；其三，疫情后，门店自提、库存查询、店内搜索以及商品配送相关主题的提及量持续增长，表明此类服务已深度融入消费者日常；其四，2022年后，门店自提与库存查询的需求小幅回落，印证了消费者回归实体门店的趋势。从管理实践视角来看，移动应用与实体门店间无缝渠道整合的重要性日益凸显。