Omnichannel Strategy and Management

Retail customers are omnichannel. They increasingly expect to interact with retailers in a seamless way, combining aspects of different channels at different stages of their purchase journey. They want to place an order online and pick it up an hour later on their way to work, or return at the store an order they had placed online. We have been studying for many years how traditional retailers can become omnichannel retailers. It is not an easy transition and requires a fundamental change in the retailer’s processes, systems and strategy. This transformation is not about small adjustments but a complete redesign of the retailer’s business model.

In this course, part of the Retail Management Professional Certificate program, you will learn from retailers that are successfully navigating this transformation. You will explore how to attract omnichannel customers, what fulfillment options these customers expect, how retailers can leverage their online and brick and mortar presence, and what retailers need to support an omnichannel strategy. By the end of the course, you won’t be thinking about separated retail channels but one integrated retailer that is aligned to best serve today customer’s needs.

We have designed this course based on our own work in omnichannel retail. The course will suit a variety of participants from retail owners and undergraduate business majors, to retail specialists.

Week 1: The Omnichannel Customer

• Customers are omnichannel
• The conversion funnel
• Retailer’s value proposition
• Interacting with customers
• Omni-channel Data

Week 2: Fulfilling Omni-channel Demand

• Designing a distribution network
• Increasing delivery speed
• The importance of information
• The importance of ownership structure

Week 3: Omni-channel Journeys

• Information-fulfillment matrix. Traditional vs hybrid models
• From offline to online information
• From online to offline information
• Towards omnichannel fulfillment
• Engaging customers in an omnichannel world

Week 4: Supporting an Omnichannel strategy

• Enabling an Omnichannel Strategy
• Labor Strategy
• Labor Allocation
• Measuring Performance
• Omnichannel is Here To Stay