ABSTRACT The fulfillment of customer orders has gained a particularly important role within omni-channel retailing, as it requires significant effort to integrate logistics networks and product flows. Offering additional fulfillment options is costly but allows the enhancement of customer services via cross-channel substitutions and faster deliveries. Retailers are asking themselves how they can leverage these integrated systems to improve return on investment as well as customer service. One option is to influence customers’ channel choice (i.e., steering). Because this has so far mainly been viewed from a marketing perspective, this study investigates how and why different fulfillment options can help to steer customers across channels. By using multiple sources of data (i.e., market data, retailer interviews, customer focus groups), this paper identifies how customers can be guided through channels by means of related options in inventory management (e.g., cross-channel inventory information and substitution), delivery modes (e.g., differentiation of prices and delivery velocity across channels), and return modes (e.g., pricing for returns and options to return goods in-store). In essence, this research paper contributes a theory of cross-channel customer steering by means of different fulfillment options.

中文翻译：

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为全渠道客户指导配置零售履行流程

摘要 客户订单的履行在全渠道零售中扮演着特别重要的角色，因为它需要付出巨大的努力来整合物流网络和产品流。提供额外的履行选项成本高昂，但可以通过跨渠道替代和更快的交付来增强客户服务。零售商自问如何利用这些集成系统来提高投资回报和客户服务。一种选择是影响客户的渠道选择（即转向）。因为到目前为止，这主要是从营销角度来看的，所以本研究调查了不同的履行选项如何以及为什么可以帮助引导客户跨渠道。通过使用多种数据来源（即市场数据、零售商访谈、客户焦点小组），本文确定了如何通过库存管理中的相关选项（例如，跨渠道库存信息和替代）、交付模式（例如，跨渠道的价格差异和交付速度）和退货模式（例如、退货定价和店内退货选项）。从本质上讲，本研究论文通过不同的履行选项贡献了跨渠道客户导向的理论。