Omni-Channel Retailing: A Strategy for Retailers to Thrive in the Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond (Sep 2021/SS)

Omni-Channel Retailing
A STRATEGY FOR RETAILERS TO THRIVE IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND BEYOND
Copyright © 2021 Ken Kwong-Kay Wong
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iUniverse rev. date: 09/17/2021

PRAISE FOR
OMNI-CHANNEL RETAILING
“In Omni-Channel Retailing, Ken Wong has captured the essential technologies and tools that we
use everyday to provide our customers with the products they want, through the channel that best
serves their needs.”
David Markwell, Chief Technology and Analytics Officer, Loblaw Companies Ltd.
“Ken Wong has crafted a formidable yet highly approachable guide that every retail business, large,
medium and small, should devour. He moves seamlessly across North America and around the
globe, bringing back to Canada practical examples mixed in with common sense tactics that can be
used by any business to meet the challenges of the post-pandemic retail environment. More than
a how-to, this book spells out in crystal clear language why deep and lasting change is necessary.
Whether selling cheese at a weekly farmers’ market or running a multi-outlet operation, retailers
who want to do more than survive will find Omni-Channel Retailing an indispensable roadmap to
winning and keeping customers.”
David Agnew, President, Seneca College
“Today’s innovative retailers seamlessly integrate their physical and digital channels to deliver
better customer value and total customer experience. Omni-Channel Retailing is an excellent read
in explaining the rationale and the process.”
Prof. Dipak Jain, President (European) and Professor of Marketing, CEIBS, China
“Dr. Ken Wong provides an outlook that is current to today’s retail industry. His contemporary
insights provide relevance to all those interested in learning more about Omni-Channel Retailing.”
Dr. Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Director, Professor, Retail Management, TRSM, Ryerson University
“Anyone wishing to competitively excel in the post-pandemic marketplace will find this book
extremely valuable.”
Dr. Markus Giesler, Specialization Director, Global Retail Management,
Associate Professor of Marketing, Schulich School of Business, York University

“By far the most comprehensive and current reference to omni-channel retailing available.
Academics and practitioners will benefit from the depth and breadth of content whether used for
quick reference and action on-site, or for in-depth cover-to-cover examination of mission-critical
retailing know-how. Learners will find the topics engaging and the layout accessible. Required
reading for anyone in this field.”
Margaret Osborne, Professor, School of Management & Entrepreneurship, Seneca College
“The world of omni-channel never sounds so exciting as it does through the lens of Dr. Ken Wong.
He is a master wizard of taking a broad and complex subject and turn it into something tangible
and easy to understand by students. This is all done by his vast knowledge and research into the
field over the years. Dr. Wong brings a level of almost simplicity to the subject that makes him
popular with students because of his passion and depth of knowledge. If there is a textbook that
should be read by all students in the field of retail regarding omni-channel and its importance in
the retail industry, you will not find a better storyteller than Dr. Wong.”
Celeste Saddler, Program Academic Coordinator, Retail Management, TRSM, Ryerson University
“If I were a retailer, or studying to become one, I’d take this book with me everywhere, even to
bed at night so I could re-read parts of it. In succinct and to-the-point text, enriched with highly
useful models, lists, and relevant examples, Dr. Wong leaves no stone of omni-channel retailing
unturned. A comprehensive to-do guide to survival and prosperity in the current environment, the
book is a must for practitioners, students, and anyone wanting to understand it better.”
Dr. Nicolas Papadopoulos, Distinguished Research Professor of Marketing and International
Business, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
“Ken Wong’s cunning ability to anticipate trends and explain them to wide audiences is what we
need in times when grand transformations are changing the way we run businesses and their
operations. His work on the omni-channel markets and how they are redefining the retailing sector
in the post pandemic’s never normals is a must read for anyone who wants to see the emerging
structure of retailing ahead of us.”
Dr. Mark Esposito, Harvard University

“During the Covid-19 pandemic on-line shopping has increased in volume. As restrictions ease,
and in-store shopping returns, retailers will need to provide their customers with a consistent
experience across all channels. This book will aid both students and retailers. The contents are
clearly set out and each chapter has a summary and exercises to reinforce the concepts. Given
that omni-channel retailing is a strategy that retailers must embrace today, Ken Wong provides a
valuable road map.”
Dr. Norman Shaw, Associate Professor, Ted Rogers School of Retail Management,
Ryerson University
“Covid-19 has upended the dynamics of retailing. Company that are not considering an omni-
channel strategy are setting themselves up for failure. Ken Wong’s book cannot be more timely
and is a must-read for all business leaders in the retail sector - and beyond.”
Dr. Terence Tse, Professor of Entrepreneurship, ESCP Business School, UK
“This is a very well-written book. Dr. Wong considered all the necessary concepts of Omni-Channel
Retailing with regard to pre- and post-pandemic which can be thoroughly helpful for educators and
students. I believe the book can be applied for teaching as a useful source in higher education. I
highly recommend this book.”
Dr. Alireza Faed, Professor, School of Marketing, Seneca College
“Professor Wong’s infallible omni-channel masterpiece is engulfed with apodictically futuristic
exposés of innovative contemporary strategies. This omni-channel text embraces a holistic fusion
of branding weaved unequivocally throughout each channel in optimizing the overall customer
orientated experience. Your thirst for omni-channel expertise will be quenched by the finite
specificities in this text.”
Prof. Siva Muthaly, Deputy Head, School of Business, Melbourne Institute of Technology,
Australia
“This book offers deep insights with practical and grounded examples to guide students and young
practitioners into the omni-channel journey. A must read for retail professionals.”
Juan Marcelo Gómez, Assistant Professor, Ted Rogers School of Retail Management,
Ryerson University

“Omni-Channel Retailing written by Dr. Ken Kwong-Kay Wong is an excellent, engaging, and up-
to-date reference guide on this topic of growing importance. The textbook is written in accessible
language and the examples really do a great job of effectively illustrating the concepts. This book
takes a very practical approach to understanding a complex topic. This book would be a great
complement to an introductory university or college level retail course or to support a course
dedicated to this topic. Students will find the activities to be very engaging and they provide an
excellent opportunity to apply knowledge with practical and interesting examples.”
Dr. Janice Rudkowski, Assistant Professor, Ted Rogers School of Retail Management,
Ryerson University
“A strong brand starts with a clear ‘brand & value’ proposition that drives the strategy and therefore
each element of the organization. From concept/design to the final consumer experience. This
brand and value proposition together with the overall strategy will need to be alive within the
complete organization in order to be prepared and have the foundation for a seamless omnichannel
execution. There is no space for ‘silos’ or functional borders within the organization. All have to
be integrated to deliver the best and consistent customer experience. In my past CEO roles this
integrated strategy clearly increased customer retention, engagement, purchase rates, frequency,
efficient inventory management and therefore delivering better results to both the brand and
consequently to our customers. Omni-Channel Retailing explores this strategy, provides proven
examples of success, and delivers practical advice to help today’s retailers.”
Perry Oosting, Former CEO, Clergerie Paris
“Omni-Channel Retailing immerses you into the dynamic and exciting world of retail and e-commerce,
describing opportunities and challenges for today and those relevant to the future. Timely and
relevant content is presented in a direct, compact, and easy-to-read style. It is organized well with
chapter headings, summaries, examples, key terms and end-of-chapter questions. Whether a
beginner or expert, retailing students and professionals will all benefit from this book. Well done,
Professor Wong!”
Scott Campbell, Coordinator & Professor, School of Marketing, Seneca College

“Omni-Channel Retailing is a comprehensive beginner’s guide to cracking the digital marketing
‘code,’ and attracting, engaging, and retaining the hyper-informed and connected customers of
today.”
Idris Mootee, CEO & Co-founder, urbancoolab
“With current changes to consumer consumption patterns being driven largely by e-commerce and
associated omni-channel integration, this book is both timely and relevant. Dr. Ken Wong expertly
unpacks the retail strategies and emerging technologies driving the omni-channel experience. With
many practical examples, this book is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the
role that omni-channel integration is playing in the retail industry.”
Dr. Joseph Aversa, Assistant Professor, Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, Ryerson University

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BRIEF CONTENTS
Foreword xxvi
Preface xxvii
Acknowledgements xxix
CHAPTER 1 What is Omni-Channel Retailing? 1
CHAPTER 2 Leveraging the Digital Opportunity 24
CHAPTER 3 Digitizing the Physical Store 42
CHAPTER 4 Driving Traffic to Your Store 60
CHAPTER 5 Connecting Through Mobile 82
CHAPTER 6 Embracing New Marketing Ideas 104
CHAPTER 7 Building Omni-Channel Loyalty 130
CHAPTER 8 Delivering Exceptional Customer Service 151
CHAPTER 9 Improving Retail Operations with Data 176
CHAPTER 10 Mastering E-commerce Delivery 195
Conclusion 214
Epilogue 215
About the Author 216
Self-Assessment Answers 218
Index 219

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword xxvi
Preface xxvii
Acknowledgements xxix
CHAPTER 1 What is Omni-Channel Retailing? 1
Introduction to Omni-Channel Retailing 3
The Pandemic Wake-Up Call 5
Brick-and-Mortar Retailing 6
Department Stores 6
Specialty Stores 6
Discount Stores 7
Other Forms of Brick-and-Mortar Retailing 7
Electronic Retailing 8
Electronic Commerce 8
Mobile Commerce 8
Social Commerce 9
Interactive Commerce 10
Vending Machines 10
Direct Selling 11
Individual Contact 11
Party Plan and Group Sales 12
Remote Selling 12

Direct Marketing 13
Catalogue 13
Direct Mail 13
Telemarketing 13
Cross-Channel Collaboration 13
The Evolution of the Retail Landscape 13
Customers’ Cross-Channel Expectations 14
The Value of Omni-Channel Customers 14
Summary 16
Key Terms 16
Self-Assessment 17
Activity 19
Discussion 20
Endnotes 22
CHAPTER 2 Leveraging the Digital Opportunity 24
The Digital Black Hole 25
The Digital Opportunity for Retailers 27
Reducing Friction Using Digital Touchpoints 28
Running Loyalty Programs Digitally 29
Subscription Business Model 31
Digitally Connected Consumer 33
New Ways to Engage Customers 33
Live Streaming 33
Augmented Reality (AR) 34
Virtual Reality (VR) 35
Summary 36
Key Terms 36

Self-Assessment 37
Activity 39
Discussion 39
Endnotes 40
CHAPTER 3 Digitizing the Physical Store 42
Location Data’s Business Opportunities 44
Eliminating Queuing and Paying Pains 45
Accepting Contactless Payment 45
Utilizing Mobile Checkout Device and Portable Scanner 47
Establishing Checkout-Free Stores 48
Facial Recognition Payment Service 49
Pre-Ordering of Goods Using Mobile 50
Self-Scanning Using Portable Scanners and Smartphones 50
Making the Digital Connection in Store 51
Displaying Website Address and QR Code 51
Connecting with Social Media 52
Sending Social Media Advertisements 52
Sending Promotional Offers via Beacons 52
Connecting via SMS 52
Providing Free Wi-Fi 53
Summary 53
Key Terms 54
Self-Assessment 54
Activity 56
Discussion 57
Endnotes 58

CHAPTER 4 Driving Traffic to Your Store 60
Driving Online Traffic 62
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 62
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) 63
Digital Display Advertising (DDA) 63
Social Media Advertising 63
Digital Analytics 64
Website Design 64
Intelligent and Visual Search 64
Customer Testimonials 66
Product Filtering 67
3D Scanning 67
Web Content That Delivers Value and Utility 68
Transforming Retailers into Storytellers 69
Location as a Proxy for Relevance 71
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) 73
Hyper-Personalization 73
AI-Enabled Tweets 73
AI-Enabled Chatbot 74
AI-Enabled Voice Commerce 74
Other AI Applications 75
Summary 75
Key Terms 76
Self-Assessment 76
Activity 78
Discussion 79
Endnotes 80

CHAPTER 5 Connecting Through Mobile 82
The State of Mobile 84
The Mobile Makeover 84
Leveraging Mobile Applications 86
Mobile Application vs. Mobile-Friendly Website 88
Driving Mobile Purchases with Artificial Intelligence (AI) 90
Displaying Store Information on Foursquare and Google’s Knowledge Panel 92
Foursquare 92
Google’s Knowledge Panel 93
Optimizing the Mobile Experience 94
Portrait Video and Photo Format 94
Short-Form Video 95
Multifaceted Messaging Apps 96
Summary 97
Key Terms 97
Self-Assessment 98
Activity 100
Discussion 101
Endnotes 102
CHAPTER 6 Embracing New Marketing Ideas 104
Being a Customer-Obsessed Retailer 106
Advantages of Mobile Marketing 107
Emerging Digital Marketing and Advertising Technologies 109
Conversational Marketing 109
Real-Time Marketing 109
Blockchain, Multitouch Attribution (MTA), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) 110
Entering the Age of Hyper-Personalization 110

Artificial “Seasonal” Peaks 112
The P.R.I.C.E. framework 113
Maintaining a Competitive Advantage 113
P: Price 113
R: Range 115
I: Information 116
C: Convenience 117
E: Experience 118
Measuring Marketing Investment 118
Metrics and Benchmarking 120
Summary 123
Key Terms 124
Self-Assessment 124
Activity 126
Discussion 127
Endnotes 128
CHAPTER 7 Building Omni-Channel Loyalty 130
Omni-Channel Customer Journey 132
Connecting with Customers at Every Stage of the Shopping Journey 133
E-mail Marketing 133
SMS Shopping Buddy 133
Free Wi-Fi 134
QR Codes 134
Data Collection at the PED 135
Customer Satisfaction Survey 136
Tapping into Emotional Loyalty 136
Taking Emotional Loyalty to the Next Level 138
Improving Loyalty Programs with Gamification 139

Reviewing Partnerships and Customer Segments 141
The Customer Relevancy Model 142
Customer Frequency and Elasticity 143
Summary 144
Key Terms 145
Self-Assessment 145
Activity 148
Discussion 149
Endnotes 150
CHAPTER 8 Delivering Exceptional Customer Service 151
Providing Effective Customer Service based on the S.E.R.V.I.C.E. Framework 153
S: Superior Service Across Channels 153
E: Exceptional Content 154
R: Relationship-Driven Programs 154
V: Visionary Tactics 155
I: Infallible Follow-Up 157
C: Confidence-Building Communication 157
E: Empowered Customers 157
Managing Store Experience During COVID-19 158
Social Distancing 158
Booking a Store Visit 158
Shopping Hours for Elderly and Disabled Customers 159
Curbside and In-Store Pickup 160
Cashless Transactions 161
Takeout & Online Orders 162
Employee Temperature Checks 162
Omni-Channel Personal Shopper (OPS) 162
Providing Same-Day Delivery Service 164

Uber Eats, Uber Direct, and Uber Connect 164
Payment Plans 166
Payment Relief 168
Summary 168
Key Terms 169
Self-Assessment 169
Activity 172
Discussion 173
Endnotes 174
CHAPTER 9 Improving Retail Operations with Data 176
Benefits of Implementing a Data-Based Retail Strategy 178
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Improve Retail Operation 179
Being a Data-Based Retailer 181
Linking Customer Insight to Sales 182
Data-Based Ranging, Pricing, and Insight 184
Ranging 184
Pricing 185
Insight 186
The D.I.A.L. Methodology 187
Best Practices in D.I.A.L. Implementation 188
Summary 189
Key Terms 189
Self-Assessment 190
Activity 192
Discussion 193
Endnotes 194

CHAPTER 10 Mastering E-commerce Delivery 195
Investing in E-commerce Growth: Myths and Facts 197
Planning for E-commerce Success 198
Mastering E-commerce Delivery 199
Amazon’s Delivery Options 200
Analyzing Clickstream Data 203
Stepping Up to Reach Customers 205
Video Commerce 205
Personalization 206
Remarketing 207
Summary 207
Key Terms 208
Self-Assessment 208
Activity 210
Discussion 210
Endnotes 212
Conclusion 214
Epilogue 215
About the Author 216
Self-Assessment Answers 218
Index 219

xxv
To my wife Winnie, my daughter Lydia, and my family
members Hello Ma, Hello Dad, and Hello Chiu
Thank you for your love, understanding, patience, and confidence.

xxvi
FOREWORD
There is a new normal in our world today and it is about adapting. Retailers who have survived the
last two years must change the how they do business. Omni-channel retailing is well past being
a fad – consider how we now shop at major retailers these days (in-store, self-checkout, curbside
pickup, booking visits, and so on). Consumers have changed their shopping behaviour dramatically
due to the many ways to shop offered by retailers locally and globally. The ease of shopping online
from retailers around the world has led to higher consumer expectations for quality and faster
delivery times. Vendors like Amazon, Uber, and Instacart now offer same-day delivery services
in most cities. To remain competitive, Canadian retailers must continue to improve the shopping
experience for their customers. This book is a must-read for all retailers who want to be successful
during the pandemic and beyond.
Chris McCracken
Chair, Schools of Marketing and Media
Seneca College

xxvii
PREFACE
“Omni-channel retailing is a fad.” That was the debate topic in my multi-channel retailing course
(RMG910) at Ryerson University back in 2013. A decade or so ago, retailers mainly practiced multi-
channel retailing with their online and offline operations running in silos. The number of retailers
that truly embrace the concept of omni-channel retailing were few and far between. The idea
of providing a consistent shopping experience for consumers across various channels was not a
priority for retailers, as many did not have the know-how or resources to make it happen.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything and upended the retail industry. In 2020, retail
chains such as Brooks Brothers, GNC, Gymboree, J.C. Penney, J. Crew, Muji, Neiman Marcus, Pier 1,
and many others filed for bankruptcy protection as they struggled to pay rent, vendors, and
other expenses.1
As a result, thousands of retailers have closed their doors, including many well-
established ones. The pandemic, while deeply unsettling, also contains the seeds of opportunity.
Takeout and delivery skyrocketed as people sought alternatives to cooking at home. The stay-at-
home orders helped lift computer resellers and supermarkets as a growing number of people are
working from home.
The lockdown protocol implemented in many North American cities had forced consumers to
change their shopping behaviour. Like it or not, online ordering has become the new normal.
Retailers must reinvent themselves and tweak their offerings and delivery of goods in response
to the pandemic. Many shoppers are now relying on drive-thru, curbside pickup, and delivery to
get what they need. According to research conducted by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie
University, 63.8 percent of Canadians had experience ordering food online in the second half of
2020. In just six months, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 4.2 million more Canadians ordering
food online weekly.2
This kind of findings has considerable implications for retailers across the
country. To accommodate such a paradigm shift, retailers should undertake a significant shift in
1
“The running list of 2020 retail bankruptcies,” Retail Dive, February 5, 2021, https://www.retaildive.com/news/
the-running-list-of-2020-retail-bankruptcies/571159/
2
MeredithMacLeod,“NewNormal:Theyearintakeouttrendsasrestaurantsfaceareckoning,”CTVNews,January1,2021,
https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/new-normal-the-year-in-takeout-trends-as-restaurants-face-a-reckoning-1.5231981

xxviii
their business models and get themselves outside of their comfort zone. Omni-channel retailing is
no longer a fad, in my professional opinion. Instead, it is a great strategy to help retailers to thrive
during the pandemic and beyond. The implementation of omni-channel retailing can be costly, and
it can be considered a daunting task for many. Retailers must understand their strategic direction
and choose the right tools to accomplish the desired outcomes.
Despite the hard work put forth by researchers, the amount of literature on this omni-channel
retailing topic is still limited and not up-to-date. This book is written to help you understand the
concept of omni-channel retailing from the North American perspective. Omni-Channel Retailing
will show you the various digital opportunities retailers can take advantage of in 2021 and give
you practical examples in digitizing a physical store. Tactics in driving online and offline store
traffic will be explored together with different strategies to engage your customers throughout
their omni-channel shopping journey. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI),
augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) will be explained with real-world examples in the
retail industry. Finally, this book will present the best practices in data analytics and e-commerce
delivery to take your omni-channel retailing knowledge to the next level. I hope you would find
this book informative, interesting, and valuable.
Dr. Ken Kwong-Kay Wong
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
August 23, 2021
E-mail: ken.wong@utoronto.ca
Web: www.presentria.ca
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ken-Wong-6
Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=zaEmJgUAAAAJ&hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-kwong-kay-wong-dba-893490/

xxix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In completing my book, I have drawn support from many people and thus feel a huge debt
of gratitude. I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to Dr. Nicolas Papadopoulos (Carleton
University), Dr. Janice Rudkowski (Ryerson University), and Juan Marcelo Gómez (Ryerson
University), whose comments resulted in a notable improvement of this book. I also want to thank
the following colleagues and friends for their valuable input, comments, and encouragement:
President David Agnew, Seneca College, Canada
Chris McCracken, Seneca College, Canada
Margaret Osborne, Seneca College, Canada
Dr. Alireza Faed, Seneca College, Canada
Scott Campbell, Seneca College, Canada
President Mohamed Lachemi, Ryerson University, Canada
Prof. Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Ryerson University, Canada
Prof. Norman Shaw, Ryerson University, Canada
Celeste Saddler, Ryerson University, Canada
Sean Sedlezky, Ryerson University, Canada
Dr. Joseph Aversa, Ryerson University, Canada
Prof. Markus Giesler, York University, Canada
Prof. Dipak Jain, CEIBS, China
Prof. Siva Muthaly, Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
Prof. Mark Esposito, Harvard University, USA
Prof. Terence Tse, ESCP Business School, UK
David Markwell, Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada
Idris Mootee, urbancoolab, Canada
Lawrence Hamilton, Genesis Motors Canada
Rex Yulo, Genesis Motors Canada
Perry Oosting, Clergerie Paris, France
Gianluca Monteleone, Boggi Milano, Italy
Li-Wen Huang, Boggi Milano, Italy
Martina Antonazzi, Boggi Milano, Italy

1
CHAPTER 1 What is Omni-Channel Retailing?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
LO1 Define omni-channel retailing
LO2 Describe the impact of COVID-19 on the retail industry
LO3 Review different forms of retailing
LO4 Examine customers’ cross-channel expectations
LO5 Understand the value of omni-channel customers
PREVIEWING THE CONCEPTS
Omni-channel retailing is about creating a consistent experience across all channels and
touchpoints with customers. Retailers can leverage this holistic strategy to manage service
and distribution channels, including brick and mortar stores, online, mobile, catalogues, and
more. For this reason, you must understand how these channels function together, as well as
the beneficial outcomes of operating an integrative omni-channel business.
In this chapter, you will learn about the concept of omni-channel retailing and its potential
to help retailers during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, different forms of offline, online, and
direct retailing will be reviewed to give you a comprehensive view of the industry. We will then
examine customers’ cross-channel expectations and understand the value of these valuable
omni-channel customers.

Figure 1.1
The role of shopping malls has changed in recent years.
Source: Heidi Sandstrom / Unsplash

3
Introduction to Omni-Channel Retailing
The retailing landscape has evolved in recent years. Pure-play retailers are interested in capturing
additional local and international customers by expanding sales channels beyond their existing
physical or online stores. Selling online seems to be a logical move, and many traditional retailers
have worked hard to digitize themselves. Global cross-border e-commerce sales were estimated
to reach $424 billion by 2021,1
and that 72% of Americans would consider buying from Canadian
retailers.2
Prior research found that 85% of Amazon’s shopping activity in 2019 came through
its mobile app and that mobile commerce is expected to grow further in the coming years.3
On
the other hand, e-commerce giant Amazon has evolved into the brick-and-mortar world through
its physical bookstores and the checkout-free Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh grocery stores.4
Meanwhile, brands are trying to go direct to customers and bypassing traditional retailers through
e-commerce. The success of Uber Eats, DoorDash, and other gig-economy companies has created
new business opportunities and challenges for today’s retailers.
As reported by Harvard Business Review, a US study revealed that 73% of the study participants
used multiple channels during their shopping journey. In comparison, 20% shopped only in physical
stores and 7% were pure-online shoppers.5
Nowadays, consumers make purchases in many ways.
In addition to their smartphones, they can also buy through their connected devices such as smart
speakers, wearables, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The concept of omni-channel retailing is not new to retailers. It is all about delivering a seamless,
cohesive, and contextual experience throughout the shopping journey, whether the customer is
shopping online from a smartphone, a laptop, or in a brick-and-mortar store. The retail landscape
is evolving rapidly, and there are many new ways to make a purchase. For example, Canadians
can now buy brand-new Genesis vehicles online and have them delivered directly to their homes
without stepping into a Genesis dealership. Through the Genesis at Home service, customers can
schedule a test drive or have their vehicles picked up for maintenance at their home or office
locations, while a courtesy vehicle is left at their disposal. A single point of contact – the Genesis
Experience Manager (GxM) – manages the overall customer journey to provide customers with a
consistent brand experience across different channels.

4
“Omni-channel is fundamentally about delivering customer satisfaction. Only
‘offline’ doesn’t fully satisfy a customer’s need for convenience in an online world,
but online doesn’t fully work for every customer either as it fails to provide the
product experience. Genesis is pioneering with a true omni-channel model that seeks
to accommodate our customers in the most flexible way.”
Lawrence Hamilton
Executive Director, Genesis Motors Canada
Figure 1.2
Canadians can now buy cars and have them delivered to their doors without visiting a car dealership.
Source: Ken Wong

5
Even though retailers have invested enormous resources to bring multiple channels together, omni-
channel retailing is not an easy task to accomplish. For example, the 2021 Forrester Consulting
study revealed that approximately 92% of retailers could not deliver a seamless omni-channel
experience to their customers completely.6
This is not surprising as many retailers are still operating
their various channels in silos with little integration and data sharing. As a result, many Business-
to-Consumer (B2C) businesses are lagging because they were not able to extract actionable insights
from their customer data. A Forrester report showed that 77% of businesses had challenges
maintaining unified customer profiles across channels, whereas 74% could not deliver consistently
on the brand promise across the customer journey. 7
The Pandemic Wake-Up Call
Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected many businesses, especially
those operating in the retail sector. Social distancing protocols, occupancy restrictions, and mask-
wearing requirements have made it difficult for retailers to operate under the pandemic. The
opening regulations and health and safety guidelines for retailers vary by region, store type, and
stage of reopening.8
For example, Ontario’s essential retailers (e.g., grocery and pharmacy) during
“Step 1” of the Roadmap to Reopen are permitted to open at 25% capacity while non-essential
retail capacity is restricted to 15%. Furthermore, restaurants and bars in Ontario are prohibited
from running indoor dining services until the province has reached “Step 3” of the roadmap.9
Faced with a big drop off in foot traffic during the pandemic, some brick-and-mortar retailers
were able to survive by focusing on serving customers via curbside pickup, takeout, and delivery.
Unfortunately, the reality is that not every retailer is well prepared for such a business model
change. According to the 2020 Toronto Employment Survey, the city lost 14,020 retail jobs and
680 retail establishments in 2019-2020, representing a 9.1% and 4.7% annual decline, respectively.
Service-based businesses like restaurants, bars, and hotels suffered the most during this period.10,11
The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a considerable jump in digital adoption by retailers. To survive
and thrive under the new normal, retailers need to pay even more attention to omni-channel
retailing. Forrester pointed out in its research that brands that did the best in terms of growth
during the pandemic were the retailers that enacted a true omni-channel experience. By embracing

6
the omni-channel retailing strategy, these retailers could differentiate themselves and build market
share during the challenging pandemic market environment. 12
Brick-and-Mortar Retailing
Before getting into any omni-channel
retailing strategy discussions, the
first step in learning this subject is
understanding how retailers can reach
and serve customers nowadays. When
you go through each channel component,
consider the kind of customers who
may benefit from such a retailing and
marketing channel.
Department Stores
Department stores are retail companies
that occupy large facilities and carry
broad assortments of goods organized
by buy use, function, and brand. Full-line
department stores carry both hard and
soft lines of merchandise (e.g., Hudson’s
Bay), whereas limited-line department
stores carry upmarket soft lines mostly
(e.g., Nordstrom and Holt Renfrew).
Specialty Stores
There are specialty stores for all merchandise
categories such as computers (e.g., Canada
Computers), accessories (e.g., Tie Rack), and
travel packages (e.g., Flight Centre).
Figure 1.3
Many food courts are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Ken Wong

7
Discount Stores
Attracting customers with low prices, different types of discount stores have increased in the last
few decades. General merchandise discounters (e.g., Walmart Superstore and Costco) have large
storefronts with minimal décor. Meanwhile, category killers (e.g., Home Depot and Best Buy) are
overgrown specialty stores that focus on limited merchandise categories and have excellent breadth
and depth of assortments. Off-price discounters (e.g., Winners and Marshalls) are specialty
discount stores that sell branded products at 20 to 60% less than the suggested retail price. There
are also warehouse clubs (e.g., Costco) that serve members who enjoy bulk purchases and factory
outlet stores (e.g., Coach Outlet), which target value customers of famous brands.
Other Forms of Brick-and-
Mortar Retailing
Supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience
stores, and those mom-and-pop shops on
the street are other forms of brick-and-
mortar stores that we can find in the city.
Some retailers also set up temporary retail
locations called pop-up stores to attract
customers. New forms of retailing also appear
in the marketplace, including QR code-based
virtual shops in the subway or shopping mall
where people can look at a real-size product
photo and using their smartphones to make
a purchase.
Figure 1.4
There are many ways to buy groceries these days.
Source: Free To Use Sounds / Unsplash

8
Electronic Retailing
The following are six common types of electronic retailing.
Electronic Commerce
Retailers are making good use of their online stores to sell products and services to their customers
worldwide. Faced with fierce competition and the pandemic challenge, some Canadian retailers
such as Swimco and Mendocino have closed down their
physical stores to focus more on their e-commerce
business.13
Mobile Commerce
With the proliferation of smartphones, many retailers
have invested in mobile commerce by launching mobile
apps and creating mobile-friendly websites that allow
consumers to shop easily from their smartphones 24/7.
Figure 1.6
Mobile commerce enables people to shop whenever they want,
wherever they are.
Source: Artem Beliaikin / Unsplash
Figure 1.5
The world of e-commerce has opened up
enormous business opportunities for retailers.
Source: Charles / Unsplash

9
Social Commerce
Social media platforms have evolved rapidly in the last decade. Consumers can now purchase goods
and services directly over their preferred social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
Figure 1.7
Away luggage’s online store on Facebook showcasing the latest product offerings.
Source: Ken Wong

10
Interactive Commerce
Interactive commerce is digital media that takes Point-of-
Sale (POS) systems and turns them into touchpoints for
providing customers with timely and relevant information.
Some electronic kiosks allow people to place an order and
deliver them with the product or service in real-time. For
example, customers can buy AXA travel insurance and
have the insurance certificate printed out on such a kiosk
in the airport.
Vending Machines
Retailers can sell all kinds of goods using vending
machines. Do you know that you can buy a gold bar
(USA), live bait/worm (Canada), pizza (Italy), sushi (Japan),
and even live crab (China) using vending machines?
Television Retailing
Retailers can make use of TV broadcasts to promote their
products or service. In addition to traditional infomercials,
retailers can display QR codes in their TV commercials to
drive traffic online. Some TV sets (e.g., TV in hotel rooms)
have interactive remote controls or keyboards, allowing
viewers to purchase directly from the TV.
Figure 1.8
McDonald’s has upgraded virtually all of its
restaurants with electronic kiosks.
Source: Ken Wong
Figure 1.9
People can buy a wide range of goods in a
vending machine nowadays.
Source: Ken Wong

11
Figure 1.10
Smart TV allows you to order movies, games, and all kinds of goods and services.
Source: Jens Kreuter / Unsplash
Direct Selling
Individual Contact
The majority of direct selling takes place via face-to-face selling. Personal networking is particularly
common in the industry, such as insurance and financial services. Many consumers still prefer to
interact personally with a sales associate to discuss their needs and wants.

12
Figure 1.11
Personal networking is still vital in many industries such as banking and insurance.
Source: Austin Distel / Unsplash
Party Plan and Group Sales
The party plan method encourages in-office or in-home selling to groups invited by the host. Many
multi-level marketing (MLM) or direct selling firms such as Amway, Tupperware, and Mary Kay
reach their customers via such parties at people’s homes or offices.
Remote Selling
Retailers can reach customers around the world easily these days. They can complete sales
transactions over the phone or via mobile/social commerce.

13
Direct Marketing
Catalogue
Catalogue retailers target a captive audience in their offices or homes primarily for repeat sales.
With the closure of pure-catalog merchant “Consumers Distributing” in 1996, virtually all of the
retailers that utilize catalogues (e.g., IKEA and Grand & Toy) operate in various retail channels.
Direct Mail
Despite the availability of various electronic communication methods, retailers such as banks and
real estate agents still rely on traditional mail pieces directly delivered by the local postal service
to promote their products or services. Some retailers (e.g., Canadian Tire and Rexall) continue to
produce unaddressed flyers regularly for promotion.
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is the practice of calling customers to generate sales or leads. Despite following
CRTC’s Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules and facing a potential penalty for not following the
National Do Not Call List (DNCL) restriction, retailers from all sectors continue to use telemarketing
to reach their customers.
Cross-Channel Collaboration
The Evolution of the Retail Landscape
Once you have reviewed the various retailing channels that a retailer can consider, you can examine
the extent to which a retailer is having collaboration across their channels if it is not a pure-player
that operates only in a single channel.
When retailers operate multiple channels in a relative silo manner and gain little synergy, they
merely practice “multi-channel retailing”. On the other hand, some retailers can leverage their
various channels effectively when servicing their customers. A good “cross-channel retailing”

14
example is Loblaws’ “click and collect service,” in which customers can quickly pick up their online
order at the supermarket’s curbside. Ultimately, retailers are trying to achieve “omni-channel
retailing” by providing a consistent and seamless shopping experience to their customers across
all channels.
Customers’ Cross-Channel Expectations
Customers have certain expectations and interests at the retailer’s multi-channel point of contact.
For example, customers may want to have:
the ability to return merchandise to a store even if purchased via telephone or online,
the ability to pick up merchandise at a store after ordering online,
gift registry information available in the store, online, and over the phone,
access to an interactive kiosk in-store to conduct product research,
Internet connectivity while shopping in a store to view items they have tagged online, and
call centre personnel to understand what they have been researching online when placing
the order over the phone.
The Value of Omni-Channel Customers
Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have expanded their online presence to remain competitive
as they recognized the importance of omni-channel retailing. As pointed out earlier in this chapter,
73% of the 46,000 surveyed consumers were omnichannel customers who shopped at physical
and online stores.14
Omni-channel customers are attractive to retailers. On average, these customers spent four percent
more in brick-and-mortar stores and ten percent more online than those single-channel customers.
Furthermore, it was found that those customers who used four or more sales channels spent
approximately nine percent more in the physical store than those single-channel shoppers.15
The
implication is that retailers should invest in additional touchpoints (e.g., mobile, kiosk, web) and
fit their physical stores into a digital ecosystem if they want to remain competitive in today’s retail
landscape.

15
Figure 1.12
NFC scanners are now being installed in a growing number of retailers.
Source: Jonas Leupe / Unsplash
Prior research has argued that approximately half of the growth in retail sales globally will occur
online by 2022.16
This finding is not surprising as the rate of new physical store openings has
dropped since 2004, with the most significant decrease happening in developed markets like
the US and the UK. Prior research revealed that omni-channel customers who demonstrated the
Research Online and Buy Offline (ROBO) shopping behaviour spent 13 percent more in-store.17
Therefore, retailers that want to compete successfully in this game must ensure that they can be
found by potential customers easily online. Some practical tactics include:
1. Start with a fully functional website that incorporates e-commerce functionality.
2. Implement search engine optimization (SEO) to make its website discoverable by customers.
3. Deploy the “near-me” searching function to allow customers and prospects to find their
physical stores easily.
4. Connect customers digitally using mobile technology inside and outside the store (e.g.,
mobile-friendly web, mobile app, in-store Wi-Fi, and beacons).

16
In the best scenario, retailers should capture data from every interaction and use it to deliver
relevant, timely, and personalized content to their customers. This is possible as many customers
carry their Internet-enabled smartphones when they shop in a physical store. Therefore, it is logical
for retailers to increase their mobile technology investment as they try to build better one-to-one
relationship with their customers to earn their trust.
Summary
Retailers can serve customers through single or multiple channels. Many brick-and-mortar retailers
are now involved in mobile commerce and social commerce. They often make good use of
electronic kiosks and innovative technologies to serve their customers better. When retailers that
operate multiple channels can provide a consistent and seamless experience to their customers
across channels, they practice omni-channel retailing. The COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled the
digital adoption by retailers, and that omni-channel retailing is no longer a buzzword in the retail
industry. Omni-channel customers have high cross-channel expectations, and they are valuable
to retailers. These customers spend more in the store and online than those who only shop in a
single channel. To satisfy today’s demanding and empowered customers, retailers should seriously
consider omni-channel retailing a holistic strategy to grow their businesses.
Key Terms
brick-and-mortar retailing
catalogs
cross-channel retailing
department stores
direct mail
discount stores
electronic commerce
face-to-face selling
mobile commerce
interactive commerce
multi-channel retailing
omni-channel retailing
party plan
pop-up stores
social commerce
specialty stores
television retailing
telemarketing
vending machines

17
Self-Assessment
Q1: If a retailer can provide the same shopping experience across all channels, with fully integrated
backend systems, it is practicing:
a. E-business
b. Single-channel Retailing
c. Multi-channel Retailing
d. Omni-channel Retailing
e. None of the above
Q2: Omni-channel retailing includes which of the following?
a. Brick and mortar retailing
b. Mobile commerce
c. Social commerce
d. Vending machine
e. All of the above
Q3: Brick-and mortar stores that present large selections of highly focused limited lines of
merchandise in small or large facilities are considered:
a. Discount stores
b. Specialty stores
c. Department stores
d. Limited-line department stores
Q4: The Sports Authority, Staples, Home Depot, and PetSmart are examples of:
a. Specialty stores
b. Discounters
c. Superstores
d. Category Killers

18
Q5: What is Omni-channel retailing?
a. It is a holistic strategy for retailers to provide a consistent experience across all
channels and touchpoints with customers.
b. It refers to the buying and selling of goods over mobile.
c. It refers to retailing over social media platforms.
d. It describes how retailers operate in different channels but not necessarily in an
integrated and consistent manner.
e. When a retailer only operates in one channel (e.g., online), it is practicing omni-channel
retailing.
Q6: Which statement best addresses the reasons why retailers use the multi-channel method of
contact:
a. Multi-channel customers spend about the same as those that shop one channel, but
the growth potential is high.
b. Multi-channel retailing ensures profitability.
c. Multi-channel customers spend more than customers who shop only one channel.
d. Operating from one channel is adequate for most retailers and multi-channel retailing
is a less costly approach.
Q7: Retailers that trade through only one channel are called:
a. Non-transactional sites
b. Pure-play retailers
c. Brick-and-mortar retailers
d. Multichannel retailers

19
Activity
Canada Post’s Precision Targeter
Not every retailer is an omni-channel retailer. Some companies such as Canadian Tire and Tilley
Hats & Apparel still rely heavily on traditional direct mail to promote their products and drive
traffic to their stores.
Key questions that retailers like
to ask:
How many pieces of direct mail
do I need to mail out?
How much will it cost me to run
this direct mail campaign?
To help retailers answer these
questions, Canada Post has
developed an advanced online tool
called “Precision Targeter” in which
you can try it out for FREE on their
site. For this chapter’s active learning
exercise, please use this online tool
to calculate the number of mail
pieces and the estimated delivery
cost of your direct mail campaign.
1. Go to Canada Post’s Precision Targeter18
2. Click the blue button “Use Precision Targeter”
3. Choose “Planning a Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail campaign” and get started.
4. Follow the instructions online to define your mailing details, refine your audience, and
define the delivery area.
Figure 1.13
Canada Post’s Precision Targeter online tool allows you to identify the
postal drop coverage area based on a specific postal code.
Source: Canada Post Precision Targeter

20
5. You can enter any data of your choice. For the delivery area, FSA is just the first three characters
of your postal code. For example, if your postal code is M2N 7K1, the FSA is just M2N.
6. The system will calculate the number of mail pieces and the estimated delivery cost.
For those who are interested in checking out direct mail pricing in the United States, their postal service
agency, United States Postal Service, also runs a similar online tool called “Every Door Direct Mail
(EDDM).”19
You can give it a try as well. In the US, they don’t use postal code but ZIP code such as 94111
for certain parts of San Francisco.
Discussion
Forms of Retailing
The first step in learning omni-channel retailing is understanding the various types of channels
available to the retailers. For this chapter 1 discussion topic, do the following:
1. Think of a retailer or brand that has embraced the concept of omni-channel retailing.
2. List all of the possible channels that a customer can purchase from that retailer.
3. List some URLs to show how this retailer is selling via different channels. These URLs can be
the brand’s corporate website, news articles from 3rd
party, blog entries, or press releases.
For example, there are many ways to buy travel insurance at AIG Travel Guard, such as:
Visit a local branch of AIG Travel Guard and buy it through an agent.
Get an AIG Travel Guard agent to come over to your home or office.
Mail in an insurance application to AIG Travel Guard’s headquarters.
Call AIG Travel Guard’s call centre.
Go to AIG Travel Guard’s corporate website.
Use AIG Travel Guard’s mobile app.20
Use AIG Travel Guard’s social media platform.
Use AIG Travel Guard’s interactive kiosk in the airport or shopping mall.21
Through AIG Travel Guard’s business partners such as travel agencies.

21
4. As you can see, there are many ways in which consumers can make a purchase. Now,
think of your example and see who can get the longest list for this one! For clarification,
each channel should allow consumers to make a purchase, not just learning about their
product/service.

22
Endnotes
1 Michael O’Grady, “Global Cross-Border eCommerce Sales Will More Than Double In The Next Five Years
(ForecastView Document),” Forrester, accessed June 10, 2021, https://www.forrester.com/report/Global+Cross
Border+eCommerce+Sales+Will+More+Than+Double+In+The+Next+Five+Years/-/E-RES133599
2 “Want to grow your online business? Consider these international markets,” Canada Post,
accessed June 10, 2021, https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/blogs/business/ecommerce/
want-to-grow-your-online-business-consider-these-international-markets/
3 Daniela Coppola, “Mobile commerce in the United States – Statistic & Facts,” Statista, accessed June 10, 2021,
https://www.statista.com/topics/1185/mobile-commerce/#dossierSummary
4 Chris Walton, “Why Reports Of A Full-Size Checkout-Free Amazon Supermarket Should be Taken Seriously,”
Forbes, April 22, 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherwalton/2021/04/22/reports-of-a-full-size-
checkout-free-amazon-supermarket-should-be-taken-as-seriously-as-a-heart-attack/?sh=663c0b322dc4
5 Emma Sopadjieva, Utpal M. Dholakia, and Beth Benjamin, “A Study of 46,000 Shoppers Shows
That Omnichannel Retailing Works,” Harvard Business Review. January 3, 2017. https://hbr.
org/2017/01/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-omnichannel-retailing-works
6 DAC, “Physical, digital, national, local: How to thrive in omnichannel (Forrester Omnichannel Study 2021),” accessed
June 10, 2021, https://info.dacgroup.com/dac-forrester-omnichannel-report-2021
7 Mario Toneguzzi, “Study: Retailers in Canada Struggle to Implement Omnichannel Experience Due to
Customer Data Conundrum,” Retail Insider, April 27, 2021, https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2021/04/
study-retailers-in-canada-struggle-to-implement-omnichannel-experience-due-to-customer-data-conundrum/
8 “COVID-19 Requirements for Retailers by Region,” Retail Council of Canada, accessed June 11, 2021, https://www.
retailcouncil.org/coronavirus-info-for-retailers/provincial-covid-19-resources-and-updates/
9 “Reopening Ontario,” Government of Ontario, accessed July 15, 2021, https://www.ontario.ca/page/
reopening-ontario
10 Toronto City Planning, “Toronto Employment Survey 2020 (profile TO),” City of Toronto, accessed June 10, 2021,
https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/9829-Toronto-Employment-Survey-2020-Bulletin.pdf
11 Lauren O’Neil, “This is how many businesses closed down in Toronto last year,” blogTO, May 18, 2021, https://
www.blogto.com/city/2021/05/how-many-toronto-businesses-closed-last-year/
12 Toneguzzi, op cit.
13 Solarina Ho and Ryan Flanagan, “These retailers are closing Canadian locations in 2020?” CTVNews, June 14,
2020, https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/these-retailers-are-closing-canadian-locations-in-2020-1.4983766

23
14 Sopadjieva, op cit.
15 ibid.
16 Tim Mason and Miya Knights, Omnichannel Retail: How to build winning stores in a digital world (London, UK:
Kogan Page, 2019), 67
17 Sopadjieva, op cit.
18 https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/business/marketing/campaign/reach-every-mailbox/precision-
targeter.page
19 “Every door direct mail,” USPS, accessed June 10, 2021, https://eddm.usps.com/eddm/customer/routeSearch.
action
20 “AIG Launches Canada’s First Travel Insurance on Demand Smart App,” Business Wire, March 26, 2018, https://
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180326006026/en/AIG-Launches-Canada
21 “Digital Signage, Kiosk, and Mobile App Photo Gallery,” Pinterest, accessed June 10, 2021, https://www.pinterest.
ca/pin/317926054914393937/

Chapter 2 is removed from this Preview copy

42
CHAPTER 3 Digitizing the Physical Store
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
LO1 Discuss how retailers can use location data to attract customers
LO2 Review options to eliminate queuing and paying pains
LO3 Describe the best practices in making digital connections in store
LO4 Understand how retailers can engage in-store shoppers using mobile
LO5 Examine how retailers can deliver promotional messages to shoppers using social media,
Bluetooth beacons, and SMS
PREVIEWING THE CONCEPTS
Today’s consumers have many choices when it comes to shopping. Online shopping has grown
in popularity, and it poses both opportunities and threats to retailers. With so many ways
to shop, consumers are now expecting a lot more when shopping in physical stores. Having
attractive price points and relevant product assortments that fit customers’ needs are no longer
sufficient when competing in an omni-channel retail environment. To compete successfully,
brick-and-mortar retailers must provide their customers with an enjoyable, unique in-store
shopping experience that competitors cannot easily match. The availability of new technologies
and tools allows retailers to create a digitally augmented store that takes people’s shopping
experience to the next level.

43
Figure 3.1
Customers can visualize a product by scanning a QR code on the product
package.
Source: Ken Wong
In this chapter, you will learn
about the importance of
location data as it represents a
viable source of business
opportunities for retailers. By
having a good understanding of
where the customers are
located, retailers can target
them with attractive, relevant
offers that increase customer
satisfaction. With the help of
the latest mobile technology,
retailers can easily establish a
digital connection to their
customers once they have
entered the stores and help
them locate the products they
are looking for more efficiently.
We will also discuss how
retailers use mobile payment
and pre-ordering services
to eliminate the queuing
and paying pains for their
customers. You will also learn
how retailers can digitally
connect to their customers
using various technologies
throughout their shopping
journey.

44
Location Data’s Business Opportunities
To achieve success, retailers need to have good visibility
into customers’ physical location, both outside and inside
the store. Collecting location data is possible as consumers
carry their Internet-enabled smartphones all the time, with
mobile apps that enable location sharing. Retailers can
leverage such data to market their products or services at
the right moment, even before customers walk into their
stores. There are many ways to engage customers outside
of a store. For example, a retailer can:
Send a discount coupon to its members who are
shopping near its store.
Send a discount coupon to its members who are
pulling into a competitor’s parking lot or walking into a
competitor’s store.
The promotional message can be sent via SMS, e-mail, a
pop-up notification message directly from the retailer’s
mobile app, or the Wi-Fi log-in screen. Retailers can
integrate such location data with information about
customers’ purchase preferences, habits, and history
to deliver an attractive promotional offer. This kind of
promotion can be beneficial because of the relevance of
time and location.
The location data generated by smartphones allows
retailers to have good insights into people’s lifestyles
and shopping behaviour. Retailers can use the data to
understand what their best customers buy, how they visit
the store, and where else they have visited on the same
shopping journey.
Figure 3.2
A promotional offer is displayed on the Wi-Fi
log-in screen at a Walmart store.
Source: Ken Wong

45
The location data can be valuable. Retailers have been using Wi-Fi antennas inside stores to see
how many people are coming into a store, which aisles they walk, and how long they stay. This
way, retailers can fine-tune their store layout and merchandise presentation.1
According to prior
research, in just 3 years, approximately 50 million mobile devices in 4,000 locations were tracked
at 100 American retailers, including prominent ones such as Nordstrom and Home Depot.2
Research conducted in the US revealed that 83.8% of consumers practiced showrooming.3
Good
usage of location data is to turn those showrooming customers into paying customers by presenting
them with personalized, relevant offers in real-time while they are in the store. For example, a
customer who is found to be staying in the TV section for a long time may receive a promotional
offer of TV on the smartphone. Retailers can also take it to the next level by adjusting their
e-commerce offerings based on their in-store customer insights. Overall, location data provides an
opportunity for retailers to enhance their customers’ shopping experience and increase conversion.
Eliminating Queuing and Paying Pains
There are many frictions that consumers may encounter in a store. Wasting time to queue and
pay are some of the common complaints consumers made about their shopping journey. In a 2018
study, Retail Council of Canada (RCC) revealed that time-pressed Canadians do not want to wait in
line for a cashier. They are more demanding and more likely to switch retailers if their shopping
experience is frustrating.4
Similar research conducted in the UK showed that 69% of consumers
were frustrated about the long wait time for their bills when they dined out.5,6
To address such
issues and provide the utility of convenience and speed, retailers have launched many innovative
initiatives in recent years to serve their customers better.
Accepting Contactless Payment
By accepting near field communication (NFC) based payment solutions, such as tap-enabled bank
cards, mobile wallets, and other mobile payment solutions (e.g., Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, AliPay,
and WeChat Pay), retailers can speed up the checkout process for their customers. In addition,
many retailers such as Starbucks also incorporate their mobile apps with e-wallet and loyalty-points
collection functionality, making the transactional process swift for their loyal customers.

46
Figure 3.3
A touchscreen-enabled kiosk allowing customers to place their orders inside a McDonald’s restaurant.
Source: Ken Wong

47
Utilizing Mobile Checkout Device and Portable Scanner
Instead of asking customers to queue
up at the cashier, sales associates can
take a proactive role to take their mobile
checkout device to their customers to
process payment. For example, Walmart
has been piloting the “Check Out With
Me” service in selected U.S. cities. With
this service, a Walmart associate scans a
customer’s items using a mobile checkout
device, swipes their credit cards, and
generate the printed or electronic receipt
on the spot.7
In Canada, Walmart has
been piloting another service called
“Scan-and-Go”. Customers can pick up a
portable scanner to scan items and tallies
the total as they shop. They can then
pay for the bill quickly at the cashiers
or those self-checkout counters.8
All of
these developments are making grocery
shopping a lot more convenient for the
customers.
Figure 3.4
Vendors like Square are now enabling retailers to take payment
easily in their stores with their mobile POS devices.
Source: Christiann Koepke / Unsplash

48
Establishing Checkout-Free Stores
In the U.S., the launch of Amazon Go stores has changed the retail landscape as we entered the
checkout-free stores’ era. The idea is to create a hyper-efficient shopping environment in which
consumers do not need to waste time scanning items or to queue for checkout.9
Figure 3.5
People can shop at the Amazon Go store by first scanning their smartphone at the store entrance.
Source: Ken Wong

49
Facial Recognition Payment Service
If using mobile payment is still not fast enough, how about using facial recognition for payment? In
the USA, 35 restaurants in California installed PopID’s PopPay platform to enable restaurant patrons
to pay using facial recognition technology.10
Over in Spain, CaixaBank installed the country’s
first facial recognition payment system at a Nestle Market store in Barcelona.11
In China, Alibaba
promotes its facial recognition payment service to allow consumers to pay for their merchandise
by scanning their faces on some kiosks.12
Retail chains such as Alibaba’s Hema stores have seen
some initial successes in using this emerging technology.13
Figure 3.6
Retailers can use facial recognition technology to facilitate speedy payment in a store.
Source: ProxyClick / Unsplash

50
Pre-Ordering of Goods Using Mobile
Consumers can pre-order a wide range of goods on their
smartphones before visiting a store. Whether it is a mobile
order for a cup of coffee, or a mobile “click and collect”
order of groceries at a local supermarket, consumers are
looking for ways to order ahead of time and skip the line
in the store.
Self-Scanning Using Portable
Scanners and Smartphones
Instead of waiting to scan the merchandise at the cashier
or self-checkout counter, how about empowering shoppers
to scan their items themselves using portable scanners
or smartphones? For example, Walmart USA introduced
the Scan & Go service to let its customers do the
product scanning themselves using Walmart-provided
portable scanners.14
In China, Alibaba’s Hema stores let
its customers use a mobile app to scan products, get
information, and pay for groceries all on customers’
smartphones.15
Figure 3.7
Starbucks customers can skip the queue by
pre-ordering their drinks on the phones.
Source: Ken Wong
Figure 3.8
Empowered customers can scan their goods
when shopping in selected stores.
Source: David Guliciuc / Unsplash

51
Making the Digital Connection in Store
Displaying Website Address and QR Code
Once customers have arrived at the doorstep of a store, the store-level digital connection journey
has begun. Retailers can start by informing customers at the store entrance about their e-commerce
sites’ website address so that they know where to look for additional product information online
and shop online afterward. A QR Code can be shown as well to speed up the information look-up
process.
Figure 3.9
Restaurants can effectively use QR Codes to provide customers with information and facilitate online ordering.
Source: Ken Wong

52
Connecting with Social Media
Retailers can also invite their customers to make a connection
with them over social media. Such connection is particularly
useful in target marketing when the brand’s customers are
actively engaged in specific social media platforms.
Sending Social Media Advertisements
As discussed in previous chapters, some customers are
showrooming in the store, and they may be scrolling through
their Facebook or Instagram feeds at the same time. Retailers
can take this opportunity to target these engaged customers
by pushing relevant social media advertisements to their
smartphones.
Sending Promotional Offers via Beacons
Similarly, retailers can push promotional offers to their
customers using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices called
“beacons” for proximity marketing purposes. For example,
when a shopper is walking near the shoe section in a
department store, retailers can deliver a shoes-specific coupon
to this customer via Bluetooth.
Connecting via SMS
Another tactic is to make a digital connection to customers
via text message (SMS). For example, retailers can encourage
customers to sign up for text alerts to receive promotional
information and discounts.
Figure 3.10
Customers may not be aware of the
retailer’s social media presence. It is
a good idea to invite them to make a
digital connection in the store.
Source: Ken Wong
Figure 3.11
Retailers can invite customers to sign
up for SMS promotional discounts on
their phones.
Source: Ken Wong

53
Providing Free Wi-Fi
Although more and more consumers are now carrying
Internet-enabled smartphones in their pockets, not all
have decent 4G/5G data rate plans with unlimited usage.
As a result, it is still vital for retailers to provide secure,
public Wi-Fi to people when they shop in their stores. While
offering free Wi-Fi is not rocket science, retailers may take
this opportunity to learn more about their shoppers by
allowing them to log-in using their social media credentials
in addition to e-mail addresses.
When customers register for free Wi-Fi, their location data
and other sensor-generated information are passed to the
retailer. Retailers can then measure things like footfall,
dwell time, queuing, and conversion through checkout
areas. Such data can be used to generate heatmaps so that
retailers can better adjust their store layout, merchandising,
customer service, and marketing initiatives.
Summary
Brick-and-mortar retailers are now facing fierce competition
from online competitors, as many consumers have
changed their shopping behaviour. Retailers can take
the physical space and augment it with a digital layer to
connect to their customers digitally. Connecting customers
both inside and outside of the store digitally is crucial as it
provides retailers with a personalized, real-time marketing
channel to promote their products and services. Advanced
technologies are available today to help retailers to locate
their customers no matter where they are. Wi-Fi, QR code,
Figure 3.12
A retailer allowing customers to enjoy Free
Wi-Fi by logging in using their social media
account credentials.
Source: Ken Wong

54
SMS, and Bluetooth Beacons are just some examples of technologies that can be deployed. By
connecting to customers digitally throughout their shopping journey and gaining insights from the
location and conversion data, retailers would be in a much better position to deliver the right kind
of product, service, and shopping experience to earn loyalty from their customers.
Key Terms
bluetooth low energy (BLE) devices
checkout-free store
click and collect
contactless payment
facial recognition payment service
location data
mobile checkout device
portable scanners
public Wi-Fi
self-scanning
social media advertisements
Self-Assessment
Q1: A customer’s location data is generated by the customer’s use of:
a. A credit card
b. A debit card
c. A loyalty program card
d. A smartphone
e. Cash
Q2: What is the percentage of shoppers who practice showrooming?
a. 2%
b. 15.2%
c. 30%
d. 50.3%
e. 83.8%

55
Q3: Which of the following is/are examples of contactless payment?
a. Samsung Pay
b. Apple Pay
c. AliPay
d. WeChat Pay
e. All of the above
Q4: Amazon’s checkout-free store is called:
a. Amazon Go
b. Amazon Check Out With Me
c. Amazon Bookstore
d. Amazon Hema
e. Amazon Click and Collect
Q5: What is the name of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices that retailers use to connect
customers inside a store for proximity marketing?
a. Bread
b. Beacons
c. Apple
d. Sausages
e. None of the above
Q6: Retailers can eliminate queueing and paying pains by:
a. Setting up POS terminals that accept contactless payment.
b. Equipping salespeople with mobile checkout device.
c. Establishing checkout-less stores.
d. Pre-ordering of goods using mobile.
e. All of the above

56
Q7: What are some examples of frictions that customers may encounter in a physical store?
a. Difficulty in finding merchandises
b. Long wait time in queuing to check out
c. Product too expensive
d. Lack of promotional discounts
e. Answer a. and b.
Q8: Digital touchpoints that retailers can use to reduce friction include:
a. Mobile app for price comparison, payment, and loyalty points collection
b. POS device that accepts contactless (NFC-based) payments and mobile e-wallets
c. Touchscreen to explore and order products
d. Scanner to look up product information using QR code on product package
e. All of the above
Activity
Free Wi-Fi for Shoppers
1. Visit a Local Shopping Mall:
Visit a local shopping mall and see if it
provides any free Wi-Fi service. If yes,
use it to surf the web and check some
e-mails.
This activity helps you identify the best
practices in Wi-Fi connectivity and find
the pain points for typical shoppers
who need Internet connectivity when
they shop.
Figure 3.13
Free public Wi-Fi is now a standard service in many shopping malls.
Source: Ken Wong

57
2. Access the mall-provided Wi-Fi service:
Pay attention to the log-in process and Internet connectivity speed. Are you satisfied?
3. Compare Wi-Fi Services:
Visit your favourite store and check if it also provides a similar free Wi-Fi service. Use it for a few
minutes and compare your experience with that offered by the shopping mall. Which one do you
prefer? Why?
Discussion
Click-and-Collect
Visit a retailer’s website or store that offers click-and-
collect to learn about its service. Then, answer the
following questions:
1. Do they offer this service for free? If not, how
much is the service fee?
2. How soon can you pick up your online order at
the store?
3. Do you need to pick up your online order during
a specific time and date? If not, how long will this
retailer hold your order?
4. Can you change your online order, such as
pickup location and product quantity? If yes,
do you need to call the retailer or make such
changes online?
5. Are you interested in trying this “Click and
Collect” service? If no, please briefly explain.
Figure 3.14
A growing number of retailers are now offering
store pick up for customers’ online orders.
Source: Ken Wong

58
Endnotes
1 Sara Morrison, “Why you see online ads for stuff you buy in the real world,” Vox – Recode, January 29, 2020,
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/19/21011527/retail-tracking-apps-wifi-bluetooth-facebook-ads
2 Quentin Hardy, “Technology turns to tracking people offline,” The New York Times, March 7, 2013, https://bits.
blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/technology-turns-to-tracking-people-offline/
3 Thales Teixeira and Sunil Gupta, “Case Study: Can Retailers Win Back Shoppers Who Browse
then Buy Online?” Harvard Business Review, September 2015, https://hbr.org/2015/06/
case-study-can-retailers-win-back-shoppers-who-browse-then-buy-online
4 “CanadianConsumersAreGrowingLessPatientwithRetailers,”RetailCouncilofCanada–PressRelease,accessedJuly14,
2021, https://www.retailcouncil.org/press-releases/canadian-consumers-are-growing-less-patient-with-retailers/
5 Tim Mason and Miya Knights, Omnichannel Retail: How to build winning stores in a digital world (London, UK:
Kogan Page, 2019), 85.
6 “British Retailers face 1 Billion in lost sales every year due to long queues, Says EE,” EE–PressRelease, March 16, 2014,
https://newsroom.ee.co.uk/british-retailers-face-1-billion-in-lost-sales-every-year-due-to-long-queues-says-ee/
7 “Walmart Launches Check Out With Me, a New Service Designed to Save Customers Time,” Walmart – Press
Release, April 19, 2018, https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2018/04/19/walmart-launches-check-out-with-
me-a-new-service-designed-to-save-customers-time
8 Sophia Harris, “Walmart ramps up self-checkout by letting customers ring in items while shopping,” CBC News,
October 22, 2017, https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/walmart-scan-and-go-app-self-checkout-1.4364434
9 Phil Wahba, “Amazon dishes about its first Amazon Go cashier-free store,” Fortune, March 19, 2018, http://fortune.
com/2018/03/19/amazon-go/
10 Ian Horswill, “Facial recognition payments making a mark on world,” CEO Magazine, January 29, 2021, https://
www.theceomagazine.com/business/innovation-technology/facial-recognition-payments/
11 “The first grocery store featuring payment by facial recognition is here,” CaixaBank – Press release, November
14, 2019, https://www.caixabank.com/comunicacion/noticia/the-first-grocery-store-featuring-payment-by-facial-
recognition-is-here en.html?id=42023#
12 Ecns.cn, “China’s first facial recognition payment-based shopping street opens in Wenzhou,” China Daily, January
18, 2019, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/18/WS5c4142c7a3106c65c34e53dd.html
13 Uptin Saiidi, “Inside Alibaba’s new kind of superstore: Robots, apps and overhead conveyor belts,” CNBC, August
30, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/30/inside-hema-alibabas-new-kind-of-superstore-robots-apps-and-
more.html

59
14 Sophia Harris, “Walmart ramps up self-checkout, scales down ‘scan and go’ shopping,” CBC – Business, November
10, 2018, https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/walmart-canada-self-checkout-scan-and-go-amazon-go-1.4899698
15 Tricia McKinnon, “The future of retail: 9 Ways Alibaba is redefining retail stores,” Indigo Digital, October 3, 2019,
https://www.indigo9digital.com/blog/futureofretailalibaba

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214
CONCLUSION
The retail landscape has changed drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Successful retailers
acknowledge the new paradigm shift in consumer behaviour and undertake the omni-channel
pathway to get closer to the needs of their customers. By delivering one seamless experience across
all channels during customers’ shopping journeys, retailers can increase their competitiveness and
retain more customers.
If you are a retailer, how about doing a reality check by answering these questions?
1. Do we currently provide a seamless shopping experience for customers across channels?
2. Do we have digitally connected stores that give us customer insights?
3. Do we maintain a meaningful web and social media presence so that customers can find
us easily?
4. Do we have the ability to connect with our customers via mobile?
5. Do we send out personalized, curated offers at the right place and moment?
6. Do we provide fast and efficient payment methods?
7. Do we have a hassle-free, user-centric return policy?
8. Do we offer proactive customer service and sales 24/7?
9. Do we capture customers’ browsing and transactional data for remarketing later?
10. Do we provide customers with new ways to shop, such as curbside pickup or same-day
delivery?
If you have got 6 or more “Yes,” you are probably on your way to achieve omni-channel retailing
success! On the other hand, if you answered “Yes” to only a few of these questions, it is time to
re-formulate your retail strategy. The retail market is highly competitive, retailers must take swift
actions to address the omni-channel experience gap and find innovative ways to build customer
loyalty. This book does not cover everything about omni-channel retailing, and it is not meant to be
a complete guide on this subject. I hope you have enjoyed reading my work and got some excellent
ideas on how omni-channel retailing can be achieved. In my opinion, omni-channel retailing unlocks
opportunities that enable retailers to shape the next normal. It is a strategy for retailers to thrive in
the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

215
EPILOGUE
My first job was acting as a salesperson selling Apple computers (Macs and Apple II) in 1995. I
have witnessed the evolution of the retailing industry, and all I can say is that “change is the only
constant.” Having taught marketing and retailing subjects for almost two decades in Canada’s higher
education sector, I had the privilege to educate many talented students who eventually became
successful retail leaders. They often tell me that successful retailers take swift actions during a
crisis, whereas the laggards often maintain a “wait-and-see” attitude. This little book summarizes
my understanding of omni-channel retailing. I hope you will make meaningful changes to your
organization after going through all these exciting concepts and cases.
Ken Wong worked as a sales administrator at Josmart, the retail arm of Jardine Matheson & Co, in 1995.
Source: Ken Wong

216
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Ken Kwong-Kay Wong is a full-time, tenured marketing professor at Seneca College in Toronto.
Since 2003, he has taught marketing to over 6,000 working professionals at the University of
Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. In addition, Ken has taught retailing at Ryerson University
for almost a decade, inspiring thousands of students in his courses such as RMG200 Introduction
to Retail and Service Management, RMG301 Retail Operations Management, RMG700 Applied
Retail Research, RMG906 International Retailing, RMG910 Omni-Channel Retailing, and RMG920
Integrated Retail Cases.
In 2018, Ken co-founded Presentria to make inclusive teaching and learning a reality through the
use of artificial intelligence, location-based services, and other advanced computing technologies.
He is the recipient of the Ontario government’s 2020 Minister of Colleges and Universities’ Award
of Excellence for his dedication to students and the broader post-secondary sector during the
pandemic.
Ken enjoys inspiring MBAs and senior executives around the world. He was a visiting professor
at the “Triple Crown” accredited Aalto University (Finland, South Korea, and Taiwan) and Hult
International Business School (USA, UAE, and China), the AMBA and EQUIS-accredited Nyenrode
Business Universiteit (The Netherlands), the ACBSP-accredited International School of Management
(France), and the AMBA-accredited COTRUGLI Business School (Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania).
Furthermore, he has trained Deutsche Telekom managers on social media and LG Electronics
engineers and managing directors on customer experience management. In 2014, Ken was a
keynote speaker at the Aalto DiViA Forum (Finland), exchanging ideas on customer experience
management in digital channels with CEOs and industry practitioners in the Nordic region.
A retail expert known to the business community, Ken previously served as an Assistant Professor
in Retail Management at the AACSB-accredited Ryerson University, where he received the 2014 and
2015 “A Prof Who Made a Mark” awards. Ken also worked as a Marketing Professor and Subject
Area Coordinator from 2006 to 2012 at the EFMD-accredited Universitas 21 Global (Singapore),

217
where he received the Outstanding Professor, Most Innovative Professor, and Excellence in Online
Education awards.
His research interests include luxury marketing, customer experience management, and emerging
research methods such as PLS-SEM. He has published 19 peer-reviewed publications and 8 trade
books. Ken was a frequent speaker on various retail topics in Toronto, appearing in OMNI2 News
TV, A1 Chinese Radio (AM1540), and Fairchild Radio (AM1430/FM88.9). He also served as an ad-
hoc reviewer for 10 different journals, including the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, the
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, and the California Management Review.
Prior to entering the academic field, Ken was the Vice President of Marketing at TeraGo Networks
(TSX: TGO) and previously served as the Director of Product Marketing at PSINet (NASDAQ: PSIX).
He had also held progressive product marketing roles at Sprint Canada (TSX: FON) and TELUS
Mobility (TSX: T).
Ken received a DBA from the University of Newcastle, Australia in 2006, an MBA from Nyenrode
Business Universiteit, the Netherlands in 1998, and a BSc from the University of Toronto in 1997. He
was certified by the American Marketing Association in 2002 as a Professional Certified Marketer
(PCM).
OMNI2 Television News interviewed Ken Wong in 2015.
Source: Ken Wong

The Answer Key is intentionally removed from this Preview copy.
Commercial paperback can be purchased at Amazon, iUniverse and other book resellers.

219
INDEX
Symbols
3D scanner 67
3D scanning 67, 75, 76
4G 26, 53, 107
5G 26, 53, 107
80/20 rule 68, 78, 96
360-degree views 162
A
Abacus Data 34, 39, 40
A/B testing 63, 67, 73
accelerated mobile pages (AMPs) 69
acquisition metrics 122
active data 116
adaptive billboard display 179, 189
adaptive homepage 179, 189, 192
advertising 63, 75, 76, 96, 104, 105, 109, 110, 111, 119,
120, 122, 128, 209
advertising technologies 104, 105, 109
advocacy 132
Aeroplan 140
AI Applications 75, 110
AI-enabled chatbot 74, 78
AI-enabled tweets 73, 75
AI-enabled voice commerce 74
Air Canada 140
Alexa-enabled Amazon device 108, 109
Alibaba 49, 50, 58, 59, 112, 128
Alibaba’s Hema stores 49, 50
AliExpress 106
AliPay 45, 55, 142, 150, 155
Amazon xxvi, 3, 22, 27, 32, 48, 55, 58, 59, 74, 106,
108, 109, 112, 116, 117, 128, 129, 139, 173, 175,
179, 194, 200, 201, 202, 203, 209, 212, 213
Amazon Cloud Cam 117
Amazon Echo 74
Amazon Fresh 3, 201
Amazon Go 3, 48, 55, 58
Amazon Hub 201, 202
Amazon In-Car Delivery 117, 201
Amazon In-Garage Delivery 202
Amazon In-Home Delivery 201
Amazon Key app 117
Amazon No-Rush Shipping Program 202
Amazon Prime 117, 139, 201, 202
Amazon Prime Air Drone Delivery 202
Amazon Release-Date Delivery 202
Amazon Saturday Shipping 202
Amazon Scout Robot Delivery 202
Amazon Subscribe and Save 202
American consumers 72
Americans xxvii, xxviii, 3, 45, 72, 78, 112, 139,
173, 217
Amway 12
Android 39, 84
Apartment locker delivery 201
Apple 29, 32, 38, 39, 40, 45, 55, 67, 142, 155, 161, 215
Apple Arcade 32, 40
Apple Pay 29, 38, 45, 55, 142, 155, 161
artificial intelligence (AI) xxviii, 24, 25, 33, 36, 37, 38,
41, 60, 61, 69, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 83, 90,
91, 97, 99, 102, 106, 110, 118, 123, 124, 128, 153,
174, 176, 177, 179, 180, 181, 189, 190, 191, 194,
197, 216
artificial seasonal peaks 105, 112, 124

220
ASOS 65, 80
aspirational benchmarking 123, 124
attribution 104, 110, 111, 119, 124, 207
augmented reality (AR) xxviii, 24, 25, 29, 34, 35, 36,
37, 39, 40, 41, 85, 94, 100, 106
autonomous vehicle delivery 196, 200, 203, 208
awareness 88, 89, 99, 127, 132, 157, 191
Away luggage 9
AXA travel insurance 10
B
baby boomers 71, 141
Bank of Montreal (BMO) 74, 81
bars 5, 10
beacons 15, 24, 25, 27, 29, 36, 42, 52, 54, 55, 107, 209
Best Buy 7, 115
Best Buy Marketplace 115
BigCommerce 203
Bill Me Later 155
Bing 62, 76, 96
Blackberry 84
Black Friday 112
blockchain 110
bluetooth 25, 27, 29, 36, 42, 52, 54, 55, 58, 107
Bluetooth Beacons 25, 27, 29, 36, 42, 54, 107
BMO 74, 81
The Body Shop 164
Bond Brand Loyalty survey 73
bounce rate 68, 80, 119, 121, 122, 129
brand experience 3
brick-and-mortar 3, 5, 6, 7, 14, 16, 18, 26, 32, 33, 35,
42, 53, 60, 80, 87, 97, 113, 115, 116, 118, 129, 133,
144, 151, 160, 169, 170, 188, 195, 197, 198, 203
Browns 166, 174, 210
bundling 114, 116
business strategy 189
business-to-consumer (B2C) 5, 212
buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) 136, 145
C
Cadillac Fairview 142, 148
CaixaBank 49, 58
California 49, 217
Canada iii, xxviii, xxix, 4, 6, 10, 19, 22, 23, 28, 45, 47,
58, 59, 81, 109, 112, 113, 115, 128, 140, 141, 142,
150, 155, 158, 161, 168, 171, 174, 175, 192, 212,
215, 217
Canada Computers 6
Canada Post 19, 22
Canadian consumers 25, 40, 58, 72, 73, 81, 139, 212
Canadian retailers xxvi, 3, 8, 161
Canadians xxvi, xxvii, 3, 4, 8, 13, 19, 22, 25, 34, 39,
40, 45, 58, 72, 73, 81, 106, 112, 139, 141, 146,
148, 161, 172, 174, 175, 198, 203, 211, 212
Canadian Tire 13, 19, 106, 141
Capgemini 142, 143, 150
cart abandonment 119, 164, 205, 210, 211, 213
cashless transactions 161, 169
catalogue 1, 13, 90, 100, 204
category killers 7, 17
CDs 31
chatbot 61, 74, 75, 78, 81
check-in badges 92
checkout counter 47, 50, 124, 193
checkout-free store 48, 54, 55
Check Out With Me 47, 55, 58
China iii, xxix, 10, 33, 40, 49, 50, 58, 112, 128,
142, 216
CITCON 142
click and collect 14, 50, 54, 55, 57, 86, 117, 153,
196, 199
click-and-collect 57, 125, 153, 199, 208
clickstream data 195, 196, 203, 204, 205, 207, 208
click-through rate (CTR) 63, 121, 122
click-to-call 155
click to open rate 121
click-to-see 155

221
close-up photos 162
Coach Outlet 7
community forum 132
competitive benchmarking 123, 124
concierge 133, 134
confidence-building communication 157, 169
consumer intelligence 181, 189
Consumers Distributing 13
contactless payment 38, 45, 54, 55
contextual experience 3
convenience stores 7
conversational marketing 109, 123, 124
conversion 45, 53, 54, 66, 79, 83, 89, 99, 110, 119, 122,
128, 134, 180, 199, 208
conversion metrics 122
conversion rate 66, 79, 122, 128
cookie 203, 207, 209
Costco 7, 159, 166, 174
cost per click 122
cost-per-click (CPC) 23, 63, 76
cost per mille (CPM) 122
COVID-19 i, v, xxvii, 1, 5, 6, 16, 22, 151, 152, 158, 162,
166, 169, 171, 174, 175, 179, 195, 214
cross-border e-commerce sales 3
cross-channel collaboration 13, 118
cross-channel expectations 1, 14, 16
cross-channel retailing 13, 16, 117
cross-selling 116
CRTC 13
curbside pickup xxvi, xxvii, 5, 117, 160, 169, 199,
208, 214
customer elasticity 145
customer frequency 131, 143
customer-obsessed retailer 106
customer relationship management (CRM) ix, 76,
100, 111
customer relevancy model 131, 142, 144, 145, 147, 150
customer reviews 38, 71, 93
customer satisfaction 4, 28, 30, 36, 43, 106, 107, 136,
143, 155, 157, 169, 179, 186, 196
customer segmentation 90
customer segments 31, 86, 97, 108, 136, 137, 139, 141,
183, 184, 185
customer service 30, 53, 74, 75, 78, 79, 97, 112, 115,
124, 133, 144, 149, 151, 153, 154, 155, 157, 160,
162, 166, 168, 169, 174, 199, 205, 214
customer testimonials 66, 72, 75, 86, 99
Cyber Monday 112
D
data-based insight 182, 190
data-based pricing 189
data-based ranging 177, 184, 189
data-based retailer 181, 185, 189, 190, 193
data-based retail strategy 178
data collection 135, 186
data-driven retailer 177, 189, 194
data rate plans 53
data visualization ix, 64
demand forecast 189, 190
demand generation 109
department stores 6, 16, 17, 52
D.I.A.L. methodology 186, 187, 189, 191
Diane von Furstenberg (DvF) 90, 91, 102
digital analytics 64, 76
digital black hole 24, 25, 26, 27, 36, 37
digital display advertising (DDA) 63, 76, 119, 124
digital engagement triggers 182
digital lockers 200, 208
digital loyalty stamp card 87
digitally augmented physical store 82
digitally connected consumer 33, 35
digital marketing vii, ix, 80, 96, 104, 105, 109, 119, 128
digital opportunity xxviii, 24, 27
digital POS terminal 180
digital touchpoints 24, 28, 38, 56, 182, 183, 190

222
dine-in service 197
direct mail 13, 16, 19, 20, 23, 183
direct selling 11, 12
discount coupon 44
discount stores 7, 16, 17
do not call list (DNCL) 13
DoorDash 3, 164, 171, 199
drive-through 199, 208
drive-thru service 153
drone delivery 196, 200, 202, 203, 208
drop-off rates 122
DVDs 31
E
earned benchmarking 123, 124
Earn Your Wings 140
eBay 106
e-commerce vi, vii, xxviii, 3, 8, 15, 32, 45, 51, 64, 67,
68, 74, 79, 83, 84, 90, 116, 119, 122, 128, 132,
162, 164, 166, 179, 180, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199,
200, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 211, 212
e-commerce delivery xxviii, 195, 199
e-commerce growth 197, 205
elasticity 130, 131, 143, 144, 145, 185
elderly and disabled customers 159
electronic commerce 8, 16, 195, 207
electronic retailing 8
e-mail xxviii, 44, 53, 56, 60, 73, 79, 91, 96, 100, 120,
121, 126, 132, 133, 135, 136, 148, 155, 163, 183,
193, 202, 206, 207, 211
e-mail marketing 96, 120, 132, 133
e-mail payment service 155
e-mail service provider (ESP) 121
Emerging marketing technologies 109
emoji 96
emotional loyalty 130, 131, 136, 138, 149, 206
employee temperature checks 151, 162, 169
empowered customers 16, 50, 157, 170, 205
engagement rate 120, 121, 124, 129
ephemeral 73, 81
eReceipt marketing 126
essential retailers 5, 152
evergreen 73, 81
Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) 20, 23
e-wallet 29, 36, 38, 45, 56, 86, 87, 106, 142
exceptional content 154, 169
expansion rate 122
experimentation 181
F
Facebook 9, 52, 58, 63, 64, 74, 81, 95, 96, 100, 102,
111, 120, 207, 209, 210
Facebook Ads Manager 64
face-to-face selling 11, 16
facial recognition payment service 49, 54
factory outlet stores 7
fail-fast philosophy 181, 189
Fantuan 164
FAQ knowledge base 132
fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) 138, 139, 145
Fit Finder 172
fit size calculator 199, 208
flash 63
Flight Centre 6
F.O.D. 164, 171
Foodhwy 164
Foursquare 83, 92, 93
franchise operator 113
free Wi-Fi 29, 37, 53, 56, 57, 83, 134, 148, 191
Fresh Online Experience 67
friction 24, 28, 30, 38, 45, 56, 67, 85, 159
G
Galleria 96
GameStop 107

223
gamification 85, 90, 97, 101, 102, 131, 139, 140,
144, 145
Gartner 109, 110, 128
general merchandise discounters 7
Generation Z 141, 158
Genesis xxix, 3, 4, 168, 175
Genesis Experience Manager (GxM) 3
Gen Z 142, 150
geofencing technology 107, 124
gig-economy 3
Google Adwords 63
Google Analytics dashboard 119
Google Cardboard 36, 99
Google Local Guides 72
Google Pay 29, 84, 142, 155, 161
Google’s Knowledge Panel 92, 93, 98
Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test 88
Google’s ranking algorithm 88
Google’s webmaster tool 39
GPS coordinates 71
Grand & Toy 13
grocery 3, 5, 7, 47, 50, 58, 67, 80, 144, 173, 188, 212
group sales 12
H
hard bounce 121
hard-sell approach 68
helpful tips 69
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards 139
H&M 166
holistic strategy 1, 16, 18
Holt Renfrew 6
Home Depot 7, 17, 45, 106
Hootsuite 64, 119, 129
horizontal “landscape” orientation 94
hotels 5, 10, 139
Hotels.com Rewards 139
Hotjar 67
HTC VIVE 36
Hudson’s Bay 6, 166
Husky Fuel 141
hypermarkets 7
hyper-personalization 73, 76, 81, 91, 104, 105, 110, 111,
123, 124, 125, 128
I
IBM 64, 190, 212
IBM Digital Analytics 64
ICQ 96
IKEA 13, 34, 35, 39, 41
IKEA Place app 39
impressions 110, 120, 122
in-car delivery 117, 129, 173, 175, 200, 201, 208
individual contact 11
ineffective marketing practices 118
infallible follow-up 157, 169
influencers 69, 70, 81, 132
in-garage delivery 173, 202
in-home delivery 117, 128, 173, 196, 200, 201, 203, 208
insight iii, v, 5, 24, 27, 28, 29, 36, 44, 45, 54, 71, 80, 81,
111, 119, 120, 124, 128, 130, 144, 169, 174, 176,
177, 178, 179, 182, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189,
190, 191, 200, 203, 205, 207, 212, 214
Instacart xxvi, 165, 166, 171, 175
Instagram 9, 52, 63, 69, 95
Instagram Stories 95
instant messaging 60
in-store pickup 160, 169
in-store Wi-Fi 15
integrated marketing communication channels 132
intelligent and visual search 64, 76
intelligent search 64, 77
interactive commerce 10, 16
Internet of Things (IoT) 3
in-the-moment emotions 180
iOS 39, 84

224
issuance cost 120
K
KaKao Talk 96, 100
KFC 109, 128
kiosk 10, 14, 16, 20, 23, 29, 46, 49, 119, 153, 170, 179
L
LBS 24, 25
Le Maison Simons 172
lifetime value 122
link clicks 120
LinkedIn xxviii, 64, 129
LinkedIn Campaign Manager 64
live content 73
live streaming 33, 34, 36
Loblaws iii, xxix, 14, 117, 161, 166, 179
location-based services (LBS) 24, 25, 36, 216
location data 42, 43, 44, 45, 53, 54, 61
location-sensitive offers 107
L’Oreal 100
loyalists 136, 137, 145
loyalty-points collection 45
loyalty program 29, 54, 73, 75, 76, 81, 86, 104, 113,
130, 131, 133, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 144,
146, 148, 150, 154, 168, 177, 179, 181, 182, 183,
184, 189, 191, 193, 204
M
Maestro 155
Makeup Genius app 100
map reference 71
marketing investment 63, 104, 118, 123, 124, 207
Marshalls 7
Mary Kay 12
mask-wearing requirements 5
McKinsey 110
Mendocino 8
merchandise presentation 45
merchandising 53, 71, 154, 189
messaging apps 96, 97, 100
metrics and benchmarking 120
Metro 161
millennials 71, 80, 141, 142, 150, 158
mobile application 72, 82, 86, 87, 88, 89, 97, 101, 122
mobile checkout device 47, 54, 55
mobile commerce 3, 8, 16, 17, 22
mobile experience 82, 83, 94, 97
mobile-first retailer 82, 97
mobile-friendly web 15
mobile game 85, 87
mobile makeover 83, 84, 85, 86, 97
mobile marketing 102, 104, 105, 107, 108, 119, 123,
124, 128
mobile-optimized website 36, 82, 86, 94, 100, 180
mobile payment 43, 45, 49, 84, 142, 155, 170
mobile pickup 28
mobile shopping 106, 179, 205
mobile/social commerce 12
mobile wallets 45
mom-and-pop shops 7
Mountain Equipment (MEC) 68, 139
MSN Messenger 96
multi-channel retailing xxvii, 13, 16, 17, 18
multi-level marketing (MLM) 12
multitouch attribution (MTA) 110, 124
MyAdvisor 155, 174
N
N95 mask 64
natural language processing (NLP) 37, 75
near field communication (NFC) 15, 24, 25, 27, 29, 36,
38, 45, 56, 183
Nestle Market 49
Netflix 31, 80
newsletter 132, 148

225
NFC scanners 15
NFC tags 24, 25, 27
Nike 31, 35, 40, 41
Nike Advantage Club 31
Nike Consumer Experience (NCX) 31
non-essential retail capacity 5
Nordstrom 6, 45, 69, 70, 80, 139
Nordstrom Instalog 69
Nordstrom Nordy Club 139
O
occupancy restrictions 5
Oculus Rift 36
offline measurement kit 199, 208
off-price discounters 7
omni-channel customer journey 131, 132
omni-channel customers 1, 14, 15, 16, 60, 131,
132, 151
omni-channel personal shopper (OPS) 162, 163, 164,
169, 171
omni-channel retailing i, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, xxvi, xxvii,
xxviii, 1, 3, 5, 6, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 27, 36, 77, 87,
195, 207, 214, 215, 216
OnePiece 78, 79, 81
one-size-fits-all 60
online orders 14, 57, 115, 117, 160, 162, 166, 173, 196,
198, 199, 200, 209
online-to-offline fulfillment 196, 199
OnStar 117
open rate 121
operating hours 71, 92, 93, 98, 159, 162
organic content 62, 76, 120
organic conversion rate 122
OTT Pay 142
Oxford Properties 142
P
Pano 36
Panorama360 36
partnership 141, 144, 145
party plan 12, 16
paying pains 42, 43, 45, 55
payment plans 166, 167, 169, 171
payment relief 151, 168, 169
PayPal 142, 155
pay-per-click (PPC) 63, 76, 119, 122, 129, 132
personalization 73, 76, 81, 90, 91, 102, 104, 105, 110,
111, 114, 123, 124, 125, 128, 131, 139, 144, 157,
195, 206, 208
personalized experience 73, 181
personal protective equipment (PPE) 158
Petro Canada 141
pharmacy 5, 69, 126, 164
phone number 71, 135
Photaf Panorama Pro 36
photo format 94
physical address 71
PieceKeepers 78, 79
PIN entry devices (PED) 135
Pinterest 23, 33
Pizza Hut 107
planograms 186, 191
point-of-sale (POS) systems 10
PopID 49
PopPay 49
pop-up notification 44, 98
pop-up stores 7, 16
portable scanners 47, 50, 54, 183
portrait video format 83, 97
Precision Targeter 19
pre-ordering of goods 50, 55
P.R.I.C.E. framework 105, 113
price match guarantee 114
Prime Day 112
product design 189
product filtering 67, 75
product keyword 65

226
product pricing 71, 79, 138, 170, 185
product ranging 176, 184
product type 71
progressive web apps (PWAs) 69
promotion 13, 44, 75, 79, 109, 112, 113, 118, 120, 125,
132, 144, 171, 181, 186, 188, 206, 213
promotional message 29, 42, 44, 107, 109, 170, 206
promotional offers 44, 45, 52, 69, 71, 85, 86, 97, 105,
107, 108, 111, 113, 169, 178, 193
prospects 15, 36, 60, 75, 86, 136, 145, 203
public Wi-Fi 53, 54, 56
pure-play retailers 3, 18
push notification 73, 122
Q
QR Code 7, 10, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 38, 43, 51, 53, 56,
84, 86, 98, 106, 134, 135, 183, 200
quality score 63, 122
queuing 28, 38, 42, 43, 45, 53, 56, 86, 158, 174
R
real-time marketing 53, 109, 123, 124
recipes 69
redemption 104, 111, 120, 131
reference data 116
relationship-driven programs 154, 169
remarketing 195, 196, 203, 207, 208, 209, 210, 214
remote selling 12
researching online; buying offline (ROBO) 15, 25, 77,
116, 153, 169
Research Online and Buy Offline (ROBO) 15, 25, 77,
116, 153, 169
responsive design 88, 98
restaurants xxvii, 5, 10, 26, 46, 49, 51, 69, 85, 86, 92,
93, 107, 109, 124, 162, 197
Retail Council of Canada (RCC) 22, 40, 45, 58, 81,
174, 212
retention vi, ix, 131, 132, 145, 157
retweets (RTs) 120
Rexall 13
ROI 120, 127, 129
Rona 106
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) 141, 155, 174
S
sales promotion 112, 113, 118, 144, 171
same-day delivery service xxvi, 164, 165, 166, 169, 171
Samsung Gear VR 36
Samsung Pay 45, 55, 142
Scan-and-Go 47, 58, 59, 183
Scan & Go 50
screen space 67
search algorithm 62
search engine optimization (SEO) 15, 61, 62, 63, 75,
76, 96, 100, 119, 120, 124, 125, 132, 203
search engine result page (SERP) 63, 76, 80, 98
SearchMan 39, 41, 90, 101, 102, 103
search traffic 66
self-scanning 50, 54
Sephora Beauty Insider 139
S.E.R.V.I.C.E. framework 151, 153, 168
session interval 122
session length 122
Shopify 128, 203
shopping behaviour xxvi, xxvii, 15, 29, 44, 53, 106,
120, 144, 153, 184, 185, 188, 204, 207
shopping frequency 143, 145
ShopShops 33, 40, 205
short-form video 83, 95, 97, 99, 102
showrooming 25, 45, 52, 54, 77, 82, 113, 116, 153,
170, 198
single-channel customers 14
Singles’ Day Shopping Festival 112
size conversion chart 199, 208
SkipTheDishes 164, 171
smart speakers 3, 74, 197

Omni-Channel Retailing: A Strategy for Retailers to Thrive in the Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond (Sep 2021/SS)

Omni-Channel Retailing: A Strategy for Retailers to Thrive in the Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond (Sep 2021/SS)

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