Opportunities for Innovation in the Delivery of Retail Interactive Services

Leonard L. Berry, Texas A&M University
Ruth N. Bolton, Marketing Science Institute
Cheryl H. Bridges, Texas A&M University
Jeffrey Meyer, Bowling Green State University
A. Parasuraman, University of Miami
Kathleen Seiders, Boston College

In today’s volatile economy, innovation in providing interactive services to consumers through a variety of channels is critical in retailing. Interactive service innovations offer opportunities for retailers by creating new markets or offering new benefits in existing markets. They also pose threats as existing customers encounter new alternatives offered by competitors. This article explores some of the most promising opportunities in interactive retail services; namely, the increasing power of consumers, channel synergies, pre- and post-transaction service, optimal use of resources, and consumer heterogeneity. In discussing these areas of opportunity we identify knowledge gaps and suggest research questions relevant to these gaps that warrant attention. Collectively, these questions offer a research agenda for the topic of interactive retail service innovation.

 

*This paper is published in Journal of Interactive Marketing, May 2010, pp. 155-167.