Boomerang

I came across this interesting article in Store Front Back Talk magazine talking about the phenomenon occuring as retailers are moving towards a coordinated selling across multiple channels. The transition is not complete and the results are far from what the article refers to as "utopian" world of multichannel retail where a store manager can look up articles browsed by customers from in-store kiosks to determine what to order. Many retailers are using emerging channels to drive customers to in store purchasing. Example are cited of Wal Mart sending out alerts of instore items available over text messaging or an upcoming store in Madison allowing customers to read user reviews of product through a bar code scan. So where does the boomerang come from...well what is boomeranging is the movement of customer first from online to get information on products, promotions etc then to the store to try out products and again to check its user ratings back online. Now why exactly is this happening? could be multiple reasons - one of them being retailers still havent figured the right IT architecture to synch up the multiple channels at play. But is IT the only challenge here? there could be more - one of which is cited by the article as - "Such true merged channel data exchange would also require political changes, with senior management ordering that walls between channel business units be either brought down or at least made ultra-porous." In an environment like retail where distinct departments like merchandising, store ops, ecommerce, logistics, marketing have to work together change management effort and its successful implementation is critical for multi-channel success. Till that time customers will keep boomeranging!!!!
On a very separate and a very conventional note, the article states that "studies show that 25-30 percent of footwear customers leave the store as the sales associate goes to the back room to retrieve the specific size footwear for the customer." Something as simple as a handheld with software functionality to check back room stock and create a task to have the desired item retrieved from the shelf by alerting a runner could work as the store associate continues to engage the customer. Even in the emergining world of cutting edge retail technology good'ole scan gun and a personable associate can go a long way.