Ed's Take: Keeping Customers Happy, Regardless of Channel

Cross-channel retail integration can mean many different things to many different people.

It can refer to integrating a brand across a variety of channels, such as retail store, website and catalog, for example, which Brent Niemuth discusses in "The Integrated Shopper," beginning on page 13. Niemuth explains that for consumers to really connect with a brand, they must have the same brand experience online, in-store or with its catalog.