Retail under pressure: omnichannel distribution realignment in Spanish children's fashion

Abstract

Purpose This study examines how distribution is being strategically realigned in Spain's children's fashion sector as firms navigate demographic decline, the weakening of traditional wholesale networks and the growing centrality of omnichannel configurations that combine e-commerce, physical retail and platform-mediated access to customers. It investigates how specialist brands; generalist fashion players and large retailers respond to these constraints and how operator type shapes strategic latitude. Design/methodology/approach The research employs a qualitative design based on in-depth interviews with senior representatives of national trade associations and executives from key market players. Porter's Five Forces and the PESTEL framework are used as sensitising lenses to connect industry structure and macro-environmental change with channel strategy and omnichannel reconfiguration. Findings Findings show a widespread shift towards hybrid models that mix wholesale, owned retail and direct-to-consumer channels, with e-commerce increasingly functioning as both a sales channel and a mechanism for maintaining market coverage as independent retail erodes. However, this shift is often driven less by discretionary strategy than by structural pressures and channel power asymmetries. Responses differ by operator type: large retailers and generalists leverage scale, infrastructure and integration across channels, while specialists face a persistent trade-off between growth and identity coherence across physical and digital touchpoints. Originality/value The study repositions distribution/omnichannel configuration as a core strategic lever shaped by operator typology and structural constraints. By integrating industrial organization and macro-environmental perspectives in an underexplored segment, it clarifies why “omnichannel transformation” can be experienced as constrained adaptation rather than optional innovation, and it offers transferable implications for fashion retailers redesigning business models across e-commerce and physical stores.