Multi-Channel Strategies for Retail Financial Services

:The retail financial services industry is undergoing fundamental changes, as better informed and more demanding customers decide for themselves how, when and where they purchase personalised product solutions. Distribution, i.e. managing the exchange processes with the customer, remains the only sustainable competitive advantage. Multi-channel strategies have therefore been designed to improve the management of customer relationships and simultaneously to reduce overall distribution costs. Patrick Dahmen analyses the internal and external dimensions of multi-channel strategies. Based on his professional experience in the industry and the results of an international benchmarking study he develops a management framework for the strategic design and operational implementation of multi-channel strategies. Case studies illustrate the underlying managerial challenges.