Multichannel marketing

Multichannel marketing or multichannel strategy is the strategic approach used by retailers and service providers to reach (potential) consumers on several different communication channels . This form of marketing is the consistent continuation of the use of different advertising channels ; now in the form of providing different communication and sales channels .

With the general spread of mobile devices , the catchphrase "Everywhere Commerce" has found its way into the specialist press. The term refers, on the one hand, to e-commerce and, on the other hand, to the fact that customers can enter into a purchase decision process at any time and anywhere .

Forms of distribution

While in earlier times the trader offered his goods in the shop (stationary sales point) and / or in the form of "flying trade" (mobile sales point), with the technical development further forms of sales were added:

• Catalog or mail order business : The customer selects the desired goods from a catalog and orders in writing or by telephone from the dealer, delivery takes place by post or courier service .
• Teleshopping : The customer is offered and ordered goods in radio or television broadcasts (usually by telephone), delivery is made by post or courier service.
• Internet shopping: The customer searches for the desired goods on the retailer's website and orders by telephone or in writing - usually in several steps using a web form - delivery is made by post or courier. Today, this includes not only online shops, but also marketplaces such as eBay , Amazon or Rakuten .
• Mobile shopping: The customer can select the desired goods using an app on their smartphone or tablet and initiate the purchase.

With multichannel sales, the sales channels remain commercially, organizationally and logistically separate. The channels are only linked with cross-channel sales, s. in particular Click and Collect .

Multi-channel strategies

Multi-channel sales are particularly popular in retail. Numerous retailers are setting up a separate online shop in addition to the stationary trade. Click & Collect is also increasingly being implemented by retailers. Large dealers, but increasingly also smaller dealers hope to improve their sales. In addition to retail, for which alternative sales channels have long been a matter of course, service companies are also increasingly turning to multi-channel strategies. In contrast to the trade, no goods are delivered here, but advice or contracts are offered, or information is provided. Examples are:

• Bank branches with personal advice from an employee
• ATMs with various services such as withdrawals , deposits , transfers , information ...
• Online banking via the Internet with the services of payment transactions, account information ...
• Mobile banking, for example, for entering stock market orders or transfers as well as for information services
• Automated phone banking with voice-controlled navigation.

Purposes

The strategy of multiple channels to the customer follows the consumer's claim to become independent of certain pre-established contact channels. On the one hand, many consumers do not want to be dependent on certain opening times (for example of bank branches), but on the other hand do not want to completely do without personal, at least telephone advice. Rather, consumers choose dealers or service providers based on the convenience or availability of their products and would like to have the choice between traditional and innovative channels to get in touch with the company. The implementation of a multi-channel strategy thus becomes a company's flexibility feature. However, there is generally also a risk of cannibalization of the distribution channels. It is assumed that the sales of a branch, for example, will shift in favor of online trading due to the simultaneous use of an online shop. However, such an effect can only be observed to a very limited extent. For example, a study by ECC Handel came to the conclusion that only every tenth purchase on the Internet replaces a purchase in stationary retail.

See also

• Cross media

literature

• Andreas Koczwara: Marketing in Multi-Channel Systems - Successful in Several Channels, Saarbrücken 2007 ( ISBN 978-3-8364-3023-4 )
• Kai Hudetz and Sebastian van Baal: The multi-channel behavior of consumers, Cologne 2008 ( ISBN 978-3-935546-39-3 ).
• Stefan Kock: Chances and Risks of Brick & Click - Multi-Channel-Marketing in the clothing retail trade, Hamburg 2010 ( ISBN 978-3-8681-5280-7 ) - Website for the book
• Akin Arikan: Multichannel Marketing: Metrics and Methods for On and Offline Success, John Wiley & Sons, 2008 ( ISBN 978-0470239599 )
• Ulf-Marten Schmieder: Integrated Multichannel Communication in Retail, 2010 ( ISBN 978-3-8349-2055-3 )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Everywhere Commerce instead of E-Commerce . Archived from the original on July 16, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 17, 2013. 
2. ↑ Develop multichannel excellence! . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
3. ↑ Growth through online shops - nine out of ten online orders are additional business for multi-channel providers (PDF file; 28 kB) Press release of the E-Commerce-Center Handel dated December 4, 2008