The purpose of this paper is to reveal the golden rules for formulating future channel strategies in consumer‐facing organizations in both commercial and public sectors.
The rules for future channel strategy come to light through practical experience and subsequent critical examination of leading practice in a wide range of industries including telecommunications, and media and entertainment, as well as utilities, retail, retail financial services, travel and the public sector.
Current trends in channel strategy require a fundamental re‐think of the roles played at the consumer interface by people on one hand, and by machines on the other; leading to social and technological implications respectively. Successful channel strategies will direct the target mix of channels to the serve the most common reasons for contact with customers; taking into account the associated costs, customer segments, and frequency of contact. They will exploit simultaneous channel interactions, higher levels of channel prescription and constraint in the number of customer access points. The emerging strategies will determine refresh of enabling customer‐facing IT systems and, crucially, drive the business transformation required for success in multi‐channel environments.
Organizations that observe the channel strategy rules in this paper will develop superior channel strategies. The rewards include genuine sales volume or margin improvements for retailers, major cost savings in the public sector, and more‐competitive business models in travel and entertainment.
