Creating Closeness in Retailing: Comparing Retailers and Consumers Perspectives

This article investigates the ill understood notion of closeness in retailing. Using a qualitative study with 69 semi-structured interviews, we show how retailers as well as consumers relate to closeness. The results point out that the notion of closeness can be divided in two different perspectives: a practical perspective and a symbolic perspective. Seven dimensions are identified and defined: access, functional, process, assortment, relational, identity and integration closeness.