Impact Of Multi-Channel Integration Quality On Consumers’ Cross-Channel Retention

The development of internet makes multi-channel purchase behavior being more and more popular. An study shows that more than 50% shoppers use more than one channel to interact with a firm. In order to response to the changes of consumers’ purchase behavior, traditional enterprises have expanded their business to the Internet. However, as lacking of multi-channel integration, many enterprises didn’t receive advantage from their multi-channel strategy. Multi-channel environment also entail challenges though, because consumer can move easily among different channels. Sometimes they search one retailer’s store but then purchase on another retailer’s Web site, and sometimes they search one retailer’s Web site but then purchase in another retailer’s store. That erodes profits and makes firms facing in the multi-channel era. The current study focuses much on the consumer switching behavior. But researchers focuses more on the consumers’ cross-channel free-riding rather than on the consumers’ cross-channel retention. In view of that, this paper is to study the impact of multi-channel integration quality on consumers’ cross-channel retention.We introduced the multi-channel integration quality to construct the model. Provide them a theoretical basis for enterprises to deal with the consumers’ cross-channel retaining behavior.Through empirical research, we found that information consistency and transparency of business have direct impact on consumers’ trust and have indirectly impact(though consumer’s trust) on the customers’ cross-channel retaining intention. The process consistency and business correlation have direct negative impact on the customers’ cross-channel retaining intention. Moreover, they also have indirect impact on the willingness of customers’ cross-channel retaining intention by influencing the on-line trust and perceived control. What’s more, the relationship of consumers’ trust, perceived control and consumers’ cross-channel retaining intention also have been confirm in this study.