Who are the multichannel shoppers and how do they perform?: Correlates of multichannel shopping behavior

Abstract

We develop a conceptual framework, which identifies the customer-level characteristics and supplier factors that are associated with purchase behavior across multiple channels. We also propose that multichannel shoppers provide benefits as measured by several customer-based metrics. We conduct an empirical analysis of our propositions using the customer database of a high technology hardware and software manufacturer. We find that customers who buy across multiple product categories, initiate more contacts with the firm, have past experience with the supplier through the online channel, have longer tenure, purchase more frequently, are larger and receive communication from the supplier through multiple communication channels, especially through highly interpersonal channels. We also find evidence for a nonlinear relationship between returns and multichannel shopping, and that there is a positive synergy towards multichannel shopping when customers are contacted through various communication channels. Customers who shop across multiple transaction channels provide higher revenues, higher share of wallet, have higher past customer value, and have a higher likelihood of being active than other customers.We derive several implications for managers who wish to target customers for a multichannel strategy.