An IS-Perspective on Omni-channel Management: Development of a Conceptual Framework to Determine the Impacts of Touchpoint Digitalization on Retail Business Processes

The retail industry is continuously changing. Now, the digital transformation is yet again changing the way how retailers operate their business. After the introduction of different channel types, retailers now try to systematically manage these channels and thereby, blur the lines between those and the various customer touchpoints. This digitally-enabled channel management approach is called omni-channel management. One enabler of this approach is the digitalization of traditional customer touchpoints in brick & mortar stores. However, omni-channel management currently lacks an Information Systems (IS)-perspective and most publications mainly deal with technical or marketing aspects. Thus, the impacts and opportunities of the digitalization of specific customer touchpoints are not entirely clear, making it hard for retailers to prioritize their store innovation projects. Therefore, the overall goal of this research is the generation of a theory, which supports retailers with their decisions regarding the digitalization of customer touchpoints. In this article, a guiding conceptual framework is developed as a basis for the research design. This research design guides the ongoing research efforts to determine the impacts of customer touchpoint digitalization on retail business processes