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This study aims to describe the general picture of the competition in multichannel expert services in duopoly market and discuss how the quality difference may affects the competition between service providers with different quality levels, where both providers offer face-to-face channel and one of providers offers online channel additionally and service quality that consumers have heterogeneous preferences for is vertically differentiated. These results can be used to determine which service providers should offer online expert services and understand the competition in multichannel expert services in duopoly.

This paper uses the stylized vertical differentiation model to investigate the role of quality in expert services market, assuming that two services providers offer the same services with different quality levels and one of them having additional online services. Taking into account the differences of services from products and the particularity of online service, this paper extends the vertical differentiation model to expert services market.

The quality difference is the key factor in the competition of expert services. Service prices and the profits of providers, independent of the quality levels, are positively related to the quality difference, whereas the demand of online services is in the opposite direction regardless of which provider offers online channel. It demonstrates that provider with low-quality level should open online channel from the point of view of social welfare if it is closely related to the expert services, even though any provider can make more profits by opening online channel.

This extended vertical differentiation model, taking into account the importance of vertical differentiation in expert service, ignores the horizontal differentiation. More accurate strategies for multichannel expert services providers with what level of the quality a provider should offer is needed in future work. Moreover, this paper does not consider the different waiting costs of consumers in face-to-face channel and assumes that their problem will be solved eventually.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, no study has focused on the quality difference in multichannel expert services market or discussed how to offer online expert services in the duopoly market. This study extends the vertical differentiation model to the multichannel expert service market. Therefore, it fills this research gap and extends research to expert services market in the new network environment, aiming to help understand the competition in multichannel expert services.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze differences between multichannel and omnichannel marketing, describe the advantages of omnichannel marketing and explain how retailers can best transition from multichannel marketing to omnichannel marketing.

The paper’s findings are based on a systemic review of the literature of academic studies, research-based studies by major consulting firms and case study reports of effective omnichannel retailers. The approach used is managerial and strategic.

Four stages are identified between a pure multichannel and a pure omnichannel marketing strategy. This multistage approach enables a firm to determine its current position, to view the gaps in its strategy in moving to the next level and to develop appropriate actions to move to the next higher level. This paper also identifies barriers to a firm implementing an omnichannel marketing strategy and describes how these barriers can be overcome.

This paper describes the advantages associated with omnichannel marketing and discusses a strategy to transition to omnichannel marketing. Barriers to adopting omnichannel marketing and how they can be overcome are analyzed.

This study makes a number of contributions to the literature on omnichannel marketing. It sets forth specific criteria for firms to determine their present stage on the multichannel marketing to omnichannel marketing hierarchy. This strategic approach provides firms with a roadmap to planning and implementing an omnichannel marketing orientation. The paper concludes with directions for future research and managerial implications and conclusions.

To date, most research focused on understanding the meanings and mechanism of gift giving behavior and there is little literature on channel usage behavior for gift shopping. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between consumers' retail purchase experiences for their own use and their gift shopping for others in a multichannel retail context.

Using a self‐administered survey method, the paper obtained 171 usable responses from females in a large US Midwestern University. Data are analyzed employing descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling.

The findings of this paper showed that for all five retail channels (i.e. internet, mail‐order catalog, TV shopping, local stores, and non‐local stores), there are significant and positive relationships between consumers' product purchase experiences for their own use and their gift purchase experiences. Managerial and theoretical implications are provided.

Limitations of the present study include sampling, which prevent the generalization of results to all gift shoppers, and gift product categories focus on in the present study.

As little is known about the consumer gift shopping behavior in a multichannel retail environment, the study provides valuable strategy for multichannel retailers.

Digital technology is revolutionizing insurance distribution allowing the insurer companies to reach customers via multichannel. The aim of this study is to segment potential customers of life insurance based on their information search, purchasing channels and personal characteristics in the digital environment.

The study uses cross-sectional research survey. In total, 422 questionnaires were collected through a convenience sample of the Romanian population. The data was segmented based on consumer information touchpoints (online vs offline), purchase channel preference (offline by a professional vs online by a standardized platform) and personal characteristics (age, marital status and children).

The channel segmentation analysis revealed that information channel preferences are the most important clustering variables, followed by purchase channel preferences, marital status, having children and age. Four distinct segments were identified: young fully offliners (23.7%), mature fully offliners (31.5%), committed online searchers (23.2%) and cross-channel onliners (21.6%).

Insurance companies should adapt their communication and distribution strategy based on multichannel segmentation and should focus on digital touchpoints with costumers.

Firstly, the paper reveals multichannel and hybrid segmentation for life insurance. Secondly, it extends the already studied retail channels with search engines and companies' websites. Thirdly, it extends the behavioural variables for channel segmentation with technology acceptance behaviour, attitude towards life insurance, knowledge about life insurance, attitude towards personal selling and quality appraisal of online information sources.

The purpose of this paper is to review state‐of‐art literature on adoption of CRM technology, including the CRM in multichannel environment and provide a comprehensive view of insights gained in this area of research through the bibliography.

All together, nine databases were searched on the basis of four main descriptors which provided identification of 812 articles. A close review of the abstracts of these articles led to selection of 123 articles which were found relevant. Each of these articles was further reviewed and classified based on the main channel of CRM implementation. The articles were further classified in sub‐categories under each main channel theme.

The selected articles were categorized under four main themes based on the channel – CRM, multichannel CRM, eCRM, mCRM. The articles in the CRM category were mainly focused on the strategic alignment along with research on increasing customer loyalty and use of data mining in CRM. Under the multichannel CRM theme the articles were further classified under eight categories – CRM (articles focusing on overall CRM implementation on multiple channels and related issues), eCRM (articles related to CRM implementation on online channel and its impact in multichannel environment), IT, Marketing, Sales, Service, Strategy, and Mixed (articles addressing two issues simultaneously: Marketing and IT).

The bibliography provides a comprehensive academic literature published between 2006 and 2010 covering all the channels of CRM implementation – traditional, electronic and mobile – along with studies specifically focused on issues dealing with multichannel environment.

This study aims at examining the role of the e-store brand personality congruence/incongruence of a multichannel apparel retailer in the formation of consumers' perceived e-store brand fit and e-store patronage intention, based on the concept of image congruence.

An online survey was conducted with a US national sample of 458 female consumers (20–50 years old) who had shopped for clothing online.

Results revealed that e-store brand personality incongruence in three personality dimensions had a negative impact on consumers' e-store patronage intention directly as well as indirectly by reducing the consumers' global perception of the e-store brand fit. Further, the retailer's relevance to the consumer moderated the relationship between the perceived e-store brand fit and e-store patronage intention in that this relationship was significantly greater among consumers with a high (vs low) perceived self-relevance of the retail brand.

The findings highlight the importance of symbolically integrated cross-channel brand management for multichannel apparel retailers by clearly identifying their brand personality and carefully crafting it into their e-store interface design and e-store visual merchandising to convey the brand personality.

This study expands the application of image congruence to the cross-channel image congruence phenomenon in multichannel retailing environments by examining the e-store brand image congruence employing both direct and indirect approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumer channel preferences and the motives that induce consumers to use a particular channel in a context of multichannel contact.

This paper analyses some factors that influence consumer behaviour in channel selection through an empirical study in the financial sector. Some hypotheses are presented and tested.

The paper reveals the influence of some variables (perceived convenience, social relationships, knowledge of channel and privacy) on the channel selected (counter, ATM or internet) for the performance of certain operations with the company.

To generalise these findings this study needs to be replicated in other geographical areas and companies.

The multichannel contact centre is one of the fundamental pillars of customer relationship management. It is not enough simply to have the necessary technology (hardware, software and telecommunications). Companies must investigate consumer channel preferences and the motives that induce consumers to use a particular channel.

This study is a reflection on the new environment of the relationship between companies and their clients due to the influence of new information and communication technologies. In this new context, knowledge of the consumer is as necessary as knowledge of the technology.

Drawing on open systems theory, this study aims to investigate the direct and moderating effects of information collaboration in the pre-sale stage, transaction management collaboration in the transaction stage and customer service collaboration in the post-sale stage on the linkages of the online–offline store image and the market performance of small sellers.

Data were collected from multiple sources, including self-reported and online objective data from 148 small restaurants that simultaneously sell online and offline, for validating the developed research model. Partial least squares-based structural equation modeling was used for data analysis.

This study illustrates the direct effects of an online store’s image and online–offline collaborations on the market performance of small stores. This study further reveals the boom-bust moderating effects of different collaborations between online–offline images and market performance.

Small stores should be aware of the importance of information congruence and functional integration concerning online–offline collaboration. They should also recognize the paradoxical intervening effects of online–offline collaboration on different channels and arrange appropriate collaboration tactics.

This study presents a significant contribution to the open systems theory by revealing both constructive and destructive properties of the online–offline collaborative system with offline-to-online targeting. Vertically differentiated online–offline collaboration may strengthen one side of the store image but weaken the other side for promoting the market performance of small stores.

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the image of a retailer – beyond the distinct contributions of the website and the stores ‐ is improved by the perceived congruence of its channels, and for what types of customers.

An online survey was conducted on 1,478 customers taken from the behavioural databases of a major French multichannel retailer. Structural modelling and one‐way ANOVA were used to test the working hypotheses.

Congruent channels improve retailer image even when these channels have a less good image. However, channel congruence cannot be elevated to a universal guiding principle as it only affects multichannel and online buyers, with no detrimental impact on retailer image.

The study is mainly limited by the type of retailer studied, and the choice of an online questionnaire, limiting the representativeness of the offline purchasers.

In order to improve its image, a multichannel retailer must seek maximum congruence of its website and stores. Congruent channels lead to benefits for the retailer even when they are poorly valued by consumers.

Despite a broad theoretical consensus, this is the first study to demonstrate empirically that website and store congruence improves retailer image, and not only online purchase intentions. It is also one of the first published researches that uses congruence as a mediating variable.

Complex decision-making is often supported not by single messages but by multichannel communication packages that need to be evaluated in their own right. The purpose of this paper is to present a new analytic approach to this package evaluation task combining textual analysis, functional analysis (FA) and media synchronicity theory.

The authors combine textual analysis, FA and media synchronicity and demonstrate this in a single case analysis of a multichannel communication package offering mortgage information.

When applied to a mortgage communication package for consumers, the evaluation reveals significant problems concerning the contents and timing of mortgage information and the channels chosen to convey it.

This paper outlines a new direction for evaluating multichannel consumer information, in that it does not focus on user channel preferences but on channel requirements stemming from the communicative task to be performed.

This paper enables designers to optimize the design of multichannel communication packages and its individual components to support customer’s decision-making processes with regards to complex products.

Improving information to guide complex decision-making processes leads to better informed consumers.

Research into effective multichannel communication within marketing is in its infancy. This paper offers a new perspective by focusing on channel requirements stemming from the communicative task rather than consumers’ channel preferences.