Multichannel customer management is “the design, deployment, and evaluation of channels to enhance customer value through effective customer acquisition, retention, and development” (Neslin et al. 2006). As more companies become active in multiple channels at the same time (e.g., offline stores, Web, own salesforce, etc) - there is an increasing need for updated customer management strategies, which can effectively handle multichannel customers.

Are there any differences in the way multichannel firms should manage their customers, relative to the typical/historical single-channel company? In your view, what are the challenges and questions practitioners should be able to address in a multichannel context?

You should think about both the customer side (customer behavior across channels, customer lifetime value, etc), and the company side (for instance the potential issues of cross-channel own sales cannibalization potential changes in the competitive intensity of the industry, etc).