Brewer, Edward C.

Holmes, Terence L.

English

DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University

 Page  1 Customer Service Challenges in Omni-Channel Retailing  Edward C. Brewer, brewerec@appstate.edu Terence L. Holmes, tholmes@murraystate.edu*  Abstract  Retailers are interacting with customers via an ever-increasing number of touchpoints.  The addition of social media and mobile devices to the traditional physical and virtual retail platforms has created an evolving consumer practice of using several such "touchpoints" in the course of a single purchase (the "omni-channel”). The difficulty of providing high levels of customer service has increased with the necessity of managing multiple channels under the retailer’s control and coordinating formally or informally with those touchpoints not directly in the retailer’s own operations.  Multiple sources of potentially conflicting information (e.g., order fulfillment) can lead to miscommunication, and thus poor service experience for customers.  The purpose of this paper is to describe a five-phase study in which we explore how retailers have responded to the increasing complexity.  After describing the retailing environment in this new era we lay out the phases in this research program and present preliminary results from a content analysis of retailer website language regarding customer service.  Implications of our findings and recommendations for further research are then discussed.  The practice of marketing has been both enhanced and made more challenging by the introduction of additional channel options and interaction with customers.  Retailers have handled multichannel operations for many years, mostly brick and mortar, catalog, and on-line.  Specialty channels, such as vending and direct sales, are additional options.  Besides these traditional channel options, the past decade has seen the creation of numerous social media channels.  The ensuing experimentation with ways to fold these methods of direct customer interaction into the retailer’s operations has led to an explosion of studies aimed at exploring and explaining various practices that incorporate the myriad options to best effect.  So cluttered has the retail landscape become, marketing scholars have begun seeking to codify the rich production of practices to achieve better understanding and cohesion in the industry.  For example, two marketing journals have recently focused on omni-channel retailing.  The International Journal of Electronic Commerce published its special issue in 2014 and the Journal of Retailing followed in 2015.  The research opportunities remain at the forefront for marketers in 2016, with the American Marketing Association identifying the omni-channel as one of six “Big Problems” of marketing practice featured for the 2016 AMA Summer Educators Conference.   Page  2 Keeping integrated marketing communication truly integrated has always been a challenge for marketers.  With the rise of the omni-channel, the number of potential sources of information coincides with the number of potential cases of misunderstanding and miscommunication.  For example, one of the key factors for on-line customers is order fulfillment, especially regarding how long from order to receipt will be involved, without paying for expedited delivery.  Retailers have pursued omni-channel capabilities in various ways, from in-house operations (L.L. Bean) to affiliations with third party vendors (Modell’s) to relying on their own manufacturer customers to provide on-line ordering capabilities for their customers (Hibbett Sports).  Retailers have had enough problems communicating accurately with operations directly under their control.  When heading into omni-channel efforts while relying on the promises of partners not under direct control the communication challenges can become unmanageable.  Dick’s Sporting Goods switched its on-line order fulfillment from third party vendors (TechRepublic, April 22, 2016) to an in-house model in part because of difficulties with inventory levels reported on-line not matching what it had available for its customers.  Previous research on miscommunication has highlighted differences in meaning placed on commonly used terms (Brewer & Holmes 2009).  When a customer service representative states that a customer can “probably” expect to pick up a special order at the end of the week because such orders are “usually” filled and shipped within 2-6 days, he or she may have a different meaning in mind for “probably” and “usually.”  Miscommunication research finds a wide range of meaning for these and other probability-oriented terms, and also for other terms that refer to lengths of time, such as “soon” or “right away” (Brewer & Holmes 2009). When such miscommunication can exist between one customer and one touchpoint (the retailer customer service representative), bringing into play multiple touchpoints for a single transaction can lead to even more difficulty.  Retailers that have customers interacting via the retailer’s Facebook page, its in-store customer service operation, and the retail website may end up with assurances based on conflicting meaning and cause confusion and discontent among its customers.  There are five phases planned for this research program.  In Phase 1, already under way, we conduct a content analysis of the customer service language retailer’s use on their websites.  In the first steps in this phase, reported in this paper, we examine sporting goods retailers’ statements on time to delivery for shipping/order fulfillment polices.  In addition, we note any use of vague language that can lead to misunderstanding and disappointed customers.  The next steps in Phase 1 will explore these same elements for other retail categories. In Phase 2 a follow-up survey of retailers is planned regarding their measure of service quality, the training they provide for customer service personnel, and policies that provide these personnel empowerment to adapt to customer needs.  The specific approach used in Phase 2 will be adjusted based on findings from Phase 1.   Page  3 For Phase 3 we will survey customer service representatives regarding their communication practices with customers.  The survey will be designed to incorporate findings from the first two phases to better communicate with service personnel and gain their insight.  In Phase 4 we study the four gaps in the “GAP” model of customer service (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry 1985).  We will conduct a survey of omni-channel retail customer service approaches that allow retailers to 1) learn about customer expectations for service, 2) incorporate that knowledge into a retailer’s service model, 3) instill in service personnel the knowledge and intended model of service provision, and 4) communicate accurately the service provided to ensure customer understanding. Phase 5 will extend the study to include other service-related functions such as inventory monitoring, product returns, other channels, etc.  The rise of the omni-channel is a rapidly evolving element in the decision matrix for retailers.  While the opportunity to more completely satisfy customers is driving the many variations in retailer operations, a concurrent threat is a breakdown between and among the available touchpoints that could strain customer service to the breaking point.  Better understanding how messages flowing from the various touchpoints may vary in meaning is an important goal for retailers, as it can help them improve service policies and practices, which in turn can alleviate the type of miscommunication and misunderstanding that foster failed customer service.  References  Allon, Gad, & Bassamboo, Achal (2011) Buying from the Babbling Retailer? The Impact of Availability Information on Customer Behavior. Management Science. 57 (4). p. 713-726.  Brewer, E. C. & T. L. Holmes (2009) Obfuscating the Obvious:  Miscommunication Issues in the Interpretation of Common Terms.  Journal of Business Communication. 46 (4). p. 480-496.  Cho, Yun Kyung (2014) Service Quality and Price Perceptions by Internet Retail Customers: Linking the Three Stages of Service Interaction.  Journal of Service Research. 17 (4). p. 432-445.  Davis-Sramek, Beth, Germain, Richard, & Stank, Theodore P. (2010) The Impact of Order Fulfillment Service on Retailer Merchandising Decisions in the Consumer Durables Industry. Journal of Business Logistics. 31 (2). p. 215-230.  Evanschitzky, Heiner, Gopalkrishnan,, R., Pillai, Kishore Gopalakrishna, Kenning, Peter, & Schütte, Reinhard (2015) Consumer Trial, Continuous Use, and Economic Benefits of a Retail Service Firm Innovation: The Case of the  Page  4 Personal Shopping Assistant.  Journal of Product Innovation Management. 32 (3). p. 459-475.  Kull, Thomas J., Barratt, Mark, Sodero, Annibal C., and Rabinovich, Elliot (2013) Investigating the Effects of Daily Inventory Record Inaccuracy in Multichannel Retailing.  Journal of Business Logistics. 34 (3). p. 189-208.  Lewis, Julie, Whysall, Paul, & Foster, Carley (2014)  Drivers and Technology-Related Obstacles in Moving to Multichannel Retailing. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. 18 (4). p. 43-67.  Lin, Hsin-Hui (2012) The Effect of Multi-Channel Service Quality on Mobile Customer Loyalty in an Online-and-Mobile Retail Context. The Service Industries Journal. 32 (11). p. 1865-1882.  Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, Valerie A., & Berry, Leonard L. (1985) A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research. Journal of Marketing. 49 (Fall). p. 41-50.  Piotrowicz, Wojciech, & Cuthbertson, Richard (2014) Introduction to the Special Issue Information Technology in Retail: Toward Omnichannel Retailing. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. 18 (4). p. 5-15.  Shpëtim, Cerri (2012) Exploring the Relationships Among Service Quality, Satisfaction, Trust and Store Loyalty Among Retail Customers. Journal of Competitiveness. 4 (4).  p. 16-35.  TechRepublic. (2016) Why Dick’s Spring Goods Decided to Play its Own Game in E-Commerce. http://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-dicks-sporting-goods-decided-to-play-its-own-game-in-ecommerce/ [retrieved June 16, 2016].  Verhoef, Peter C., Kannan, P.K., & Inman, J. Jeffrey (2015). From Multi-Channel Retailing to Omni-Channel Retailing: Introduction to the Special Issue on Multi-Channel Retailing.  Journal of Retailing. 91 (2).  p. 174-181.  Keywords:  omni-channel, multi-channel, retail management, communication, miscommunication, customer service  Relevance to Marketing Educators, Researchers and Practitioners:  The rise of the omni-channel is a rapidly evolving element in the decision matrix for retailers, offering the opportunity to more completely satisfy customers.  However, a concurrent threat is a breakdown between and among the available touchpoints that could strain customer service to the breaking point.  Better understanding how  Page  5 messages flowing from the various touchpoints may vary in meaning is an important goal for retailers, as it can help them improve service policies and practices.  Author Information:  Edward C. Brewer is Professor of Communication Studies and Director of the Strategic Communication Graduate Certificate at Appalachian State University.  In addition to publishing numerous articles, book chapters, and case studies on communication, personality, and teaching issues, he has self published a book on introversion and is under contract with Oxford University Press to complete an Organizational Communication textbook. Terence L. Holmes is Professor of Marketing and Telecommunications Systems Management in the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business at Murray State University and Coordinator of Incoming Students for MSU’s Regensburg Programs.  He has published articles and cases on technology effects in marketing, channel communication issues, and miscommunication in journals and textbook supplements.  TRACK:  Retailing   

Customer Service Challenges in Omni-Channel Retailing

https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=ama_proceedings

Customer Service Challenges in Omni-Channel Retailing

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University