Establish an integrated trading structure where the customer can move seamlessly across channels.
Multichannel sales is more comprehensive than simply offering products through multiple channels such as stores, dealers, franchises, wholesalers, e-commerce, marketplaces, call centers, and field sales teams. A successful structure requires these channels to operate with the same customer, product, price, stock, order, and service information.
When channels are managed independently, customers may encounter varying prices, inconsistent product information, inventory that doesn't actually exist, or orders that aren't visible on one channel. An integrated business model, however, allows each channel to maintain its own commercial role while operating under common corporate rules, data, and operational processes.
This approach is even more crucial in the furniture industry. A customer can explore a product online, examine fabric and material options in-store, complete measurements or project work with a sales consultant, modify their order via a call center, and track delivery or assembly services through another channel. All these interactions need to be managed as parts of a single customer journey.
Single and consistent product information: Channels use the same product, variant, size, color, material, and visual data.
Shared customer view: Holistic tracking of a customer's contact, offer, order, delivery, payment, and service history.
Realistic stock and delivery commitment: A combined assessment of saleable quantity, bookings, products to be produced, and expected deliveries.
Consistent pricing: Managing differences across channels, customers, regions, and campaigns with centralized rules.
Centralized order lifecycle: Tracking the order through a single process, regardless of the channel it originated from.
Cross-channel service: The ability to continue a process started on one channel on another, within the framework of authorizations and business rules.
Measurable channel economics: Evaluating the sales, cost, discount, service, and profitability results of each channel.
From multi-channel structure to integrated trade.
The maturity level of a multi-channel structure should be measured not by the number of channels, but by the integrity of information and processes between them. The goal is not merely to connect separate systems through data transfer, but to unify sales, orders, inventory, pricing, and customer service around a common business model.
Manage the entire relationship a customer has with your business, not just which channel they use.