Identifying Sales-Influencing Touchpoints along the Omnichannel Customer Journey

Retailers have started to integrate their online and offline channels in order to increase revenue by creating a superior customer experience. However, they lack an instrument with which to identify the touchpoints that are most influential for customer decision making. Therefore, this study introduces a novel, multi-method approach that utilizes combined data-collection and data-analyses procedures that help retailers to identify and meaningfully cluster relevant touchpoints along the customer journey. Results indicate, among others, that retailers can benefit from abandoning the classic, within-company perspective and cluster their touchpoints according to the customers' perspective. Furthermore, our approach enables retailers to infer the most important sales-influencing touchpoints. Here, findings indicate that retailers should be selective in providing the right touchpoints for their customers, as some of them can have a direct or indirect negative impact on sales. Retailers can use these insights to support their touchpoint-selection and thus decision-making process through thought provoking impulses.