Omnichannel Assortment Planning

In today’s omnichannel environment consumers increasingly interact with assortments of the same firm across different touchpoints. To provide the seamless experience consumers are increasingly used to, firms have to engage in omnichannel assortment planning; coordinate all aspects of their assortment across different channels. This chapter outlines this process, using a combination of literature review and real-world examples. We start with the consumer perspective. How has the proliferation of information and sales channels shaped omnichannel customer journeys? And reversely, how is changing consumer behavior shaping the omnichannel evolution? Next, we describe the notion of omnichannel assortment planning, contrasting it to more traditional assortment planning per channel. Following our definition of omnichannel assortment planning we discuss the strategic, tactical, and operational challenges that arise in this process. Addressing these challenges requires an even more intimate connection between the marketing and operations functions of firms. In addition, it calls for the use of state-of-the-art technologies and data integration along the customer journey, across the firm’s functions and across all relevant touchpoints. We end with a discussion in which we outline how academic research can contribute to the emerging practice of omnichannel assortment planning.

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