Customer Search Path from Internet to Store: When Salespeople Get Involved
Résumé
The number of consumers doing online research before they visit the retail store is increasingly causing managerial problems. Originally multi-channel marketing was aimed at different segments of the customer base and so individual channels were in silos and managed independently. However, today customers do not hesitate to move back and forth between channels during the same buying experience. Customers expect every channel of a firm to provide the information that they seek. This gives rise to new challenges among distribution professionals.
Enabling customers to enjoy a frictionless buying experience, no matter what channel they visit, is a real challenge for multi-channel companies. Management wants to foster continuity in the customer’s buying experience no matter what time or place it may occur.