This book takes an in-depth look at consumer behavior in the context of multichannel commerce and explores how the convergence of physical and electronic channels influences consumer decision-making in a multichannel environment. In this regard, it goes far beyond explaining choices between online and offline sales channels, instead providing insights into how the interplay between different channel types is valued by different consumer types and for different products. The book extends previous conceptualizations of multichannel commerce to reflect and incorporate recent technological advances. The results provide valuable guidelines on how, why and when multichannel integration services can be exploited by classical retailers, helping them to compete with their purely online competitors on the internet.

With dramatic changes in consumer behaviour - from online shopping to the influence of social media - marketers are finding it harder than ever to coordinate, prioritize and integrate the latest interactive channels into their overall brand-building strategy. Despite hard evidence showing the importance of digital marketing, the emphasis often remains on traditional media, with the most common social media channels being used without centralized coordination or integration with a wider marketing and branding campaign. Multi-Channel Marketing Ecosystems examines a fundamental game changer for the entire marketing industry - the seismic shift from a single TV-centric path to a multi-channel interactive ecosystem which puts digital technology at the heart of every campaign. With separate chapters on the remaking of marketing, the rise of the digital brand, conversion optimization, m-commerce, searchability in a multi-channel world and predictive marketing, Multi-Channel Marketing Ecosystems shows how marketers and brand managers can react positively to changes in consumer behaviour, building customer responses and loyalty via the full spectrum of digital media.

Patrick Dahmen analyses the internal and external dimensions of multi-channel strategies and develops a management framework for their strategic design and operational implementation. Case studies illustrate the underlying managerial challenges.

This book addresses the concerns of existing companies who wish to succeed in the new multi-channel environment as it develops and becomes commonplace.