Omni-Channel Retailing and Firm Performance from a Customer Lifetime Value Perspective

In the digital era,retailers are keen to find out whether omni-channel retailing helps improve long-term firm performance.In this paper,we employ machine learning techniques on a large consumption data set in order to measure customer lifetime value(CLV)as the basis for determining long-term firm performance,and we provide an empirical analysis of the relationship between omni-channel retailing and CLV.The results suggest that omni-channel retailing may effectively enhance CLV.Further analysis reveals that this process is influenced by heterogeneous consumer requirements and that significant differences exist in the extent to which the omni-channel transition may influence CLV depending on consumer preferences for diversity of commodities,sensitivity to the cost of contract performance,and sensitivity to warehousing costs.Hence,retailers should provide consumers with a complete portfolio of goods and services based on target consumers’heterogeneous requirements in order to increase omni-channel efficiency.