Multi-Channel Retailing: Multi-Channel Retailing is Not Exactly New--American Department Stores Were Opening up the Wild West by Telegraph and Mail Order in the 19th Century--But the Recent Explosion of Possible Channels to Market Represents a Challenge to Supply Chains Old and New. Manhattan Associates Recently Hosted a Round Table on the Subject, and Sam Tulip Sat in (Multi-Channel Retailing‪)‬

Scoping the potential debate, Martin Christopher (see panel below for affiliations) pointed out the increasing importance of the customer experience as a key differentiator that goes beyond the classic maxims of marketing and which manifests itself as one of the ways in which we manage supply chains: "In the multi-channel world, the words are Concurrence, Choice and Customization of the whole experience, not just of the product itself. Concurrence means not just price, but also time. Choice is a challenge in classic supply chains and tends to require significant volumes of inventory, while the beauty of the internet is that it can offer significant choice without a drastic increase in inventory. Customization represents a combination of supply chain management and creative marketing: how do we make this product and this experience different for different customers?" Christopher cited research indicating that 40% of under 25s shop on the internet, compared with less than 4% of the over 60s. "So there is a big wave moving down," he said, which suggests a change in the way we view the supply chain. "Traditionally, the customer was the end of the supply chain, but now the customer is the starting point. This is a democratization of supply chains--customers, not operations, are in the driving seat."