Herb Sorensen, Ph.D.

Compete Blog: Cross Channel Shopping Is a Must

July 27, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Consumers increasingly do not differentiate between store inventory and online inventory, meaning that retailers need to stop thinking about them as two separate entities. What are the best ways for retailers to convert online browsers into in-store shoppers?      [more...]

This is another important issue in the convergence of e-commerce and bricks-and-mortar retailing. Plug personal shopping assistants like iPhone into the mix, and inventory access may be even more urgent. Notice that Amazon often tells you how many they have in stock, and often from a variety of sources, new and used. Again, Amazon at the fore in the convergence of e-, m-, and b&m commerce. (Electronic, Mobile and Bricks and Mortar.) Maybe we should call this convergence cemb&m?