Challenges in Omnichannel Customer Management
(A2021-102340)

AUTHORS

Anastasia Dikareva-Brugman, University of Amsterdam; Jonne Guyt, University of Amsterdam Business School; Maarten Gijsenberg, University of Groningen; Lara Lobschat, Maastricht University; Katrijn Gielens, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

ABSTRACT

"This session covers 4 different topics that firms must address to manage omni/ multichannel customer journeys more effectively. The papers can be classified along two dimensions: (1) impact of tactical (i.e., shipping fee policies) and strategical decisions (i.e., firm’s channel choice) on firm performance across channels, and (2) shopper/ customer channel choice. Insights come from rich datasets from both retail and services settings, different research approaches, and provide interesting avenues for both practitioners and academics alike. 1. The Influence of Shipping Fee on Orders and Returns – Evidence from a Natural Experiment Christian F. Hirche, Maarten J. Gijsenberg, & Tammo H.A. Bijmolt This study contrasts two common shipping fee policies: (a) threshold-based free shipping, whereby shipping fees are waived for orders surpassing a certain threshold value, and (b) fixed-fee shipping. It thereby investigates their impact on (1) sales, (2) number of orders, (3) order value, and (4) return probability and whether customers adapt their behavior to circumvent paying shipping fees. 2. Should All Customers Be Multichannel? Investigating the Moderating Role of Brand and Loyalty Tier Lisan Lesscher, Lara Lobschat, Katherine N. Lemon, & Peter C. Verhoef This paper investigates whether multichannel behavior is always more valuable by studying its effectiveness across brands and loyalty tiers. Thereby, it aims to provide firms with a precise understanding of multichannel marketing effectiveness in the context of multiple brands and considering consumer heterogeneity, and to help with developing a promising multichannel strategy to grow revenue. 3. “Logging Off”: On Consumer Disadoption in Online Grocery Shopping Els Gijsbrechts & Katrijn Gielens This paper aims to answer the question: what prevents people from persisting with online grocery shopping? It thereby (1) captures online grocery disadoption as a general disposition, (2) pinpoints sources of disadoption based on shopping behavior and experience, (3) profiles different segments of disadoption behavior, and (4) assesses the impact of the Covid pandemic on online disadoption. 4. Steering Customers to Online Channels: An Empirical Analysis of Customer Needs and Marketing Interventions Anastasia Dikareva-Brugman, Umut Konus, & Jonne Y. Guyt This study investigates how firms can use personalized non-incentive marketing instruments to encourage the use of particular channels. It thereby specifically explores whether customer characteristics extracted from the firm's database may be used to (1) identify customers’ needs prior to their telephone-center call, (2) predict the likelihood of a customer-initiated contact on certain topics through the offline channel, and (3) steer customers from offline to online channels."