Jochen Binder

Profitables Channel Management

Uber die letzten Jahre hat sich der Vertrieb uber mehrere Absatzkanale zu einem Standard im Vertrieb vieler Unternehmen in der Konsumguter-, Dienstleistungs- und Industrieguterunterbranchen entwickelt. Wenngleich verschiedene Anbieter heute vor dem Hintergrund des Internets mogliche E-Commerce-Ansatze oder aber auch Social Media- Anwendungen und damit den Einsatz mehrerer Kanale hektisch prufen bzw. planen, wird vielfach vernachlassigt, dass sich derartige Entwicklungen bereits vor mehr als 15 Jahren abzeichneten. Dementsprechend ist das Feld des Multichannel Managements nicht als ein Innovationsbereich des Marketing zu verstehen, sondern gehort vielfach schon zur „Standardklaviatur“ des Vertriebs erfolgreicher Unternehmen.

Multi-Channel Management im CRM

Kundenbeziehungen sind heute einer der wertvollsten und gleichzeitig dauerhaftesten Wettbewerbsvorteile eines Anbieters (Tomczak/Reinecke 1998, S. 10). Da der Aufbau und Erhalt einer langfristigen Kundenbeziehung im unternehmerischen Denken und Handeln schon immer eine hohe Prioritat innehatte, stellt das Customer Relationship Management (CRM) keinen grundlegend neuen Marketingansatz dar. Konkret kann CRM als ein unternehmensweit integrierendes Fuhrungs- und Organisationsprinzip verstanden werden, das alle Masnahmen umfasst, die auf eine verbesserte Kundenorientierung und Kundenzufriedenheit gerichtet sind (Stadelmann et al. 2001, S. 6). Ubergeordnete Zielsetzung ist es, die Fahigkeiten eines Anbieters sicherzustellen, langfristig profitable Kundenbeziehungen aufzubauen (Akquisition), aufrecht zu erhalten (Bindung) und im Zeitablauf zu intensivieren (Entwicklung bzw. Penetration) (Berry 1983, S. 25).

Channel Extension Strategies: The Crucial Roles of Internal Capabilities and Customer Lock-In

This study addresses the important but yet unresolved question of how firms can create competitive advantage from their multichannel marketing strategy. More specifically, the authors investigate the antecedents of channel extension strategies and their performance implications. Results from an empirical study including top managers from 308 firms indicate that in addition to environmental factors, a firms channel expansion is directly related to its strategic channel management capability, and that this capability is more important in turbulent environments. Furthermore the study reveals that firms need an appropriate customer lock-in strategy to benefit from addition of novel channel types or traditional channel expansion.

E Managerial Suggestions

The managerial suggestions on channel integration are based on the conceptual development and the empirical findings of this work. Overall, the channel integration features tested in this study helped increase customer loyalty in online and offline channels and also had a positive effect on willingness to pay, as well as purchase intention in the online channel, while the offline channel was not significantly cannibalized. Therefore, channel integration in general, and especially integrating the online channel, may be a recommendable strategy to the multichannel system, enhance the multichannel customer experience, create customer value online, increase customer share of wallet online in the short run, and eventually across all channels in the long run. Nevertheless, due to the high costs of implementation, companies are well advised to thoroughly analyze whether channel integration is meaningful and which channels should be integrated.

B Development of Hypotheses

In a multichannel context, customers are very likely to be experienced and proficient in multiple channels. They choose between different channels depending on situational factors and their specific preferences in each stage of the purchase process. Each purchase channel excels in specific characteristics that make it especially suitable for certain purchase situations and product categories. Especially customers who use multiple channel formats combine the different channels according to their needs arising from a certain purchase task and their situational preferences (Montoya-Weiss et al. 2003). Thus, previous research suggests that customer service satisfaction is inherently different across online and offline channels, but not necessarily always lower online (Shankar et al. 2003).

A Research Background

As the new technologies opened new routes to market, the practice of multichannel customer management has proliferated. The emergence of the Internet, for example, has pushed many established companies to expand their multichannel systems and to develop e-commerce strategies (Geyskens et al. 2002). Changing customer needs have resulted in more complex buying patterns and the use of multiple channels (Verhoef et al. 2007a). Today, consumers use different channels depending on their current purchase needs, situational factors, and the specific purchase occasion (Rangaswamy and Van Bruggen 2005). They have become accustomed to using multiple channels within the buying process and choose channels based on their specific shopping goals at a particular instance (Hutchinson and Eisenstein 2008). The Internet has revolutionized retailing with the emergence of new selling formats (e.g., digital music and movies at the Apple iTunes Store). Selling products and services online has created new possibilities for customers and businesses alike.