Essays on Omnichannel Retailing: Customer Channel Adoption and Pricing Implications

Abstract

The rapid growth of digital shopping channels has prompted many traditional retailers toinvest in e-commerce websites and mobile apps. While prior literature shows that multichan- nel customers are more valuable, it has paid less attention to how the motive for adopting a new channel shapes post-adoption behavior. In this dissertation, I study consumer behavior and firm strategy in multichannel retailing. Chapter 2 examines how different online-channel adoption pathways relate to post-adoption customer behavior and customer value. Chapter 3 studies how the adoption of a retailer’s online channel affects consumers’ subsequent re- sponses to price changes during offline purchase occasions, that is, offline price sensitivity. Together, these chapters highlight the importance of incorporating online-channel adop- tion behavior and heterogeneous adoption pathways into omnichannel retailers’ decisions on channel management, customer value forecasting, and targeting, with the goal of improving long-term customer value creation.