Omni-Channel Retail Capabilities: An Information Systems Perspective

Emerging technologies enable customers to define by themselves through which channels they would like to interact with retailers. These technologies also enable retailers to emancipate from traditional channels, to offer services anytime and anywhere, and eventually to evolve into omni-channel retailers. In fact, most interactions between customers and retailers are enabled by information technology. Nevertheless, many retailers struggle with identifying and implementing IS capabilities that help meet customers’ interaction preferences in omni-channel environments. Despite this strong practical need, there is little guidance in the academic literature. To address this research gap, we present a framework of IS capabilities for omni-channel retail. Exploratory in nature, the framework is grounded on a structured review of the academic literature, practitioner publications, and an online survey involving global retailing experts. Comprising twelve operational IS capabilities, our framework is an initial attempt to structure the field of omni-channel IS capabilities.