Omnichannel fashion retail strategies: bridging E-commerce and physical stores for sustainable business growth outcome

Purpose This study aims to examine how fashion small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria strategically integrate online and offline channels within a resource-constrained emerging market context. Guided by the technology–organisation–environment (TOE) framework, the study explores how retailers combine low-tech digital tools and physical store practices to enact hybrid omnichannel strategies that support sustainable business growth amid infrastructural, organisational and environmental constraints. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design was adopted, using 20 semi-structured interviews with fashion SME owners and managers. Data were analysed thematically and interpreted through the TOE framework to examine the interaction between technological readiness, organisational capabilities and environmental conditions in shaping omnichannel adoption. Findings The findings reveal a pattern of aspirational adoption, where retailers express strong digital ambitions but lack the infrastructural and managerial capabilities required for full integration. Technological adoption is slow and constrained by unreliable digital infrastructure, limited financial resources and skills shortages. Originality/value This study offers a context-rich empirical contribution by examining omnichannel integration among fashion SMEs in Nigeria, an under-researched Sub-Saharan African market. It provides a context-sensitive application of the Technology–Organisation–Environment framework, introducing the analytical distinctions of “technological aspiration versus operational reality” and “improvisational capability development” to explain hybrid, progressive digital practices in resource-constrained environments.