Multichannel customer management: The benefits and challenges

Abstract

This paper defines multichannel customer management and investigates the opportunities and problems created by multichannel customer management. It explains why multichannel customer management has become an issue for serious discussion. Its aim is to help companies determine their strategies and tactics in this area. It does not provide a complete recipe for multichannel management, but rather explores the main decisions companies need to take as they add customer management channels. It identifies the importance of understanding customer needs and defining the experience customes wants from each channel and overall. It probes issues related to technology, organisation, measurement and economics. A checklist of questions to help companies examining this area is provided at the end of the paper.