There was a time, in the not-too-distant past, when the push toward the promise of multichannel commerce followed a logical and progressive set of steps. Align the inventory. Manage the merchandising. Consolidate the data. Birth multichannel. Or cross-channel, or whatever the CEO was calling it that day.
But then a funny thing happened. The consumer started to move faster, in patterns not yet predicted. He started to spend more time on the Internet than in front of the television. He became adept at traversing sites for different perspectives on products and brands. Working with friends on social networking sites and fellow shoppers on deal-sharing sites, he found views into brands that even the brands had not foreseen. Then he got a smartphone and took his newly honed shopping skills airborne. That little device became Robin to his Batman PC, a pint-sized tagalong that served as a point of reference and connectivity to all the research and shopping that had previously been left behind at the home or work computer.
And now, there it is, all the information of the Web channeled right onto his palm as he stands in a store. In one hand, the hangtag for a shirt. In the other, rich product information from the retailer
Network
