Mapping Out the Customer's Journey: Customer Search Strategy as a Basis for Channel Management

Many companies tailor their communication and interaction with customers by segmenting them into channel usage groups. This study argues that simply focusing on channels has limited effectiveness as increasingly customers today use multiple channels, the online channel contains many different forms, and channels are increasingly blended. We have identified several search strategies that reveal how customers find their way through a multichannel landscape during the various phases of a purchase. By explaining channel usage through these “search strategies,” we propose a clear and intuitive model that will support companies developing an effective multichannel strategy.