Multichannel Commerce - A Consumer Perspective on the Integration of Physical and Electronic Channels

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.

Manuel Trenz is a researcher in the field of Information Systems, with a particular focus on the convergence of physical and electronic channels and the implications of IT innovations on firms and consumer behavior. He holds a PhD from the Business School of the University of Mannheim, Germany and previously worked as a research and teaching assistant at the University of Augsburg and the University of Mannheim. In 2013, he was a visiting scholar at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, USA. He received his diploma (M.Sc.) in Management Information Systems from the University of Mannheim in 2010 and gained work experience at SAP and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.