I admit it: I'm a gadget geek. I've been looking for the longest time for the ideal in voice/data convergence, all packaged up in a sleek (and stylish, of course) device that will let me make and receive calls and email, surf the Internet, and maybe even conduct some business by reviewing and editing a few docs here and there. That's asking a lot, I know. I know because I have yet to find the convergence I seek.

I am always on the lookout for convergence in retail, too -- I'm asked all the time about which retailers are leading the way in true multichannel processes. Unfortunately, at this point in its evolution, that's like asking me who was leading the way in converged mobile phones back when they had to be bolted into your car: We're so far away from real retail convergence, it's hard to see who's at the forefront. But while it's still not clear who is ahead of the curve, I do know that some basic process capabilities need to be implemented before anyone can really lay claim to retail convergence. Here are just a few:

• In-store inventory management. The first stage of multichannel convergence is buy online/pick up in store. Circuit City put a stake in the ground for this service last holiday season by offering its 24/24 guarantee -- a product selected online for pickup in the store would be ready in 24 minutes or the consumer would receive a $24 gift card. Retailers are sure to raise the ante this holiday season, but until in-store inventory can be managed with the same precision and accuracy as a warehouse, retailers have a tricky equation to balance: the opportunity cost of not promising a customer because the retailer can't be sure of in-store availability versus the very real consumer disappointment of arriving at the store to find it doesn't have what was promised. Item-level RFID may be the answer -- it's an obvious solution for keeping track of highly mobile inventory, but it comes with a lot of baggage, including ROI uncertainty and consumer backlash.

• Cross-channel fulfillment workflows. You can rig a buy online/pick up in-store scenario with the proverbial chewing gum and baling wire in the short term, but long term, there need to be workflows that automate this process. For example, what happens if there are multiple items in my online basket and I want to pick up in the store? Should I have to indicate my priority? And how should the right store for pickup be located? At what point is there a tradeoff between availability of the items and proximity of the store? And these are the easy questions -- the harder ones include: How do you organize store staff to enable in-store pickup? And what happens if they try to get an in-store pickup order and the merchandise isn't there? Is there a provision to alert the customer? How does that play out if it's one item in a multiline order? Until these basic process questions get sorted out, there is very little that technology can do to automate and enable.

• One-stop loyalty and promotions. There are too many promotion engines in retail. The POS system likely has one, the commerce platform probably has one, and either the merchandising system or the marketing automation system has one too. The result? Too many promotions, and not much linking them together. For consumers, this is confusing, contradictory, and erodes brand promise. For retailers, system and operations constraints inherent in separate online and store businesses prevent a single promotions and loyalty strategy. It's frustration on all fronts: If a consumer loves Borders, how satisfied is she when she goes to Borders' Web site and sees Amazon everywhere? And how satisfying is it as a retailer to explain to a consumer why he received an email offer for a discount on something he just bought at full price in the store?

Research Referenced In This Issue Are Online Retailers Promoting Too Much? (38708) How The Web Is Changing In-Store Experiences (37988) Online Shopping Habits Of The Price-Insensitive (38709) Q2 2006 Online Retail: Strong, Broad Growth (39915) Retailers' New Software Buying Habits (39820) What Drives Retail Consumer Loyalty? (39390)

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