Informational Challenges in Omnichannel Marketing: Remedies and Future Research

Abstract

Omnichannel marketing is often viewed as the panacea for one-to-one marketing, but this strategic path is mired with obstacles. This article investigates three challenges in realizing the full potential of omnichannel marketing: 1) data access and integration; 2) marketing attribution; and 3) protecting consumer privacy. While these challenges predate omnichannel marketing, they are exacerbated in a digital omnichannel environment. This article argues that advances in machine learning (ML) and blockchain offer some promising solutions. In turn, these technologies present new challenges and opportunities for firms, which warrant future academic research. We identify both recent developments in practice and promising avenues for future research.

Marketing Thinking and Doing

“…Academics historically have been the source of many tools used in industry, such as conjoint analysis, marketing mix modeling, and, more recently, attribution modeling. Cui et al (2021) extend our understanding of how to improve the last item, which should increase return on marketing investment. Du et al (2021) draw a connection to the customer-based valuation models advanced by McCarthy, Fader, and Hardie (2017) by offering insight into managing new sources of data for customer acquisition, growth, and retention.…”

“…Getting close to practitioners does not mean accepting that they have accurately captured the problems or are even working on the right problems. As Varian (2016, p. 82) notes, “You have to be careful not to believe everything you hear—people in business usually know a set of rules that work well for running their own business, but they often have no idea of where these rules come from or why they work.” An example of this type of healthy confrontation can be found in the marketing challenges leveled in several articles dealing with consumer privacy (see Cui et al 2021; Gordon et al 2021; Puntoni et al 2021). At the same time, academics should allow their ideas and results to be challenged by practitioners.…”

Commentary: Omnichannel from a Manufacturer’s Perspective

“…Cui et al (2021, hereinafter Cui et al) offer a comprehensive understanding of why the information that marketers need to become omnichannel is so difficult to come by and how new technologies and new developments in data analytics can help. They highlight the fact that the challenges are even more daunting when information is needed across channels that are “external to the firm” than when the firm owns its channels.…”

Commentary: Governing Technology-Enabled Omnichannel Transactions

“…Digital enablement of fractured customer journeys in omnichannel markets is fast becoming commonplace. Cui et al (2021) call our attention to important advances in ICT that further promote these trends. In our commentary, we expand on their response to these trends from a governance viewpoint that goes beyond resource allocation and competitive strategies and formulate propositions that suggest directions for further research.…”

“…In “Informational Challenges in Omnichannel Marketing: Remedies and Future Research,” Cui et al (2021; hereinafter Cui et al) discuss advances in information and communications technology (ICT) that promise better support for fractured customer journeys. Today’s customers often engage a seller’s offering via one touchpoint within a specific channel and then subsequently interface with a seller, the seller’s agents, or resellers at different touchpoints within other channels.…”