If today’s cross-channel customer seems more demanding of merchants now, retailers will see even more of this in the future, according to Forrester Research. The increasing use of multiple channels including web, e-mail, store, phone and kiosk is fueling customer’s expectation of instant gratification, more choices, and better integration among the channels at the companies where they shop. According to Forrester, 63% of retailers and travel suppliers expect to be using three or more sales channels by 2003, but they risk sabotaging their own efforts if their multi-channel initiatives aren’t backed up with the right information, systems and organizational structure.
Companies still don’t know enough about their cross channel customers, says Forrester analyst Paul Sonderegger. In a recent Forrester survey of 50 retailers, 48% said they had learned nothing about their cross-channel customers. Other Forrester research has identified companies that attempt to operate across channels while maintaining organizational silos and failing to integrate marketing efforts among channels, producing frustration for customers. While some marketing and pricing variations among channels are intentional, “Consumers switching among channels pressure firms to synchronize their efforts,” says Sonderegger.
Cross- channel marketers need to study the behavior of customers at all touch points with scenario design that creates solutions that enable customers to reach their goals through whatever combination of channels they choose to use, says Forrester. Digging deeper into customer’s past behavior as well as their wishes on how they’d like to interact with companies going forward will yield information to guide business decisions that ensure cross channel ROI, says Forrester. “To do this, business must develop – then sell – a clear cross-channel vision that trickles all the way down to sales associates and call center representatives,” says Sonderegger.
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