When I hear terms as multi-channel marketing, multi-channel retailing, multi-channel publishing and other multi-channel things I can’t resist thinking that there also must be a term called multi-channel data quality.
Indeed we are getting more and more channels where we do business. It stretches from the good old brick and mortar offline shop over eCommerce and the latest online touch points as mobile devices and social media.
Our data quality is challenged by how the way of the world changes. Customer master data is coming from these disparate channels with various purposes and in divergent formats. Product master data is exposed through these channels in different ways.
We have to balance our business processes between having a unique single customer view and a unified product information basis and the diverse business needs within each channel.
Some customer data may be complete and timely in one channel but deficient and out of date in another channel. Some product data may be useful here but inaccurate there.
I think the multi-channel things makes yet a business case for multi-domain (or multi-entity) master data management. Even if it is hard to predict the return on investment for the related data quality and master data management initiatives I think it is easy to foresee the consequences of doing nothing.
Liliendahl on Data Quality 
“Even if it is hard to predict the return on investment for the related data quality and master data management initiatives I think it is easy to foresee the consequences of doing nothing.”
Excellent points and a great summation, Henrik. IDC Research uses the term “omnichannel marketing” to express the sense of customers being immersed in purchasing opportunities in the mobile/social era — thus making it more important than ever to have sound product (and other) data for use in all channels.
Here’s my take on the importance of quality product data in the “omnichannel” world:
Mobile and social media: From multichannel to omnichannel commerce.
http://enterworks.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/mobile-and-social-media-from-multichannel-to-omnichannel-commerce/
Thanks Frank. Good read. And hey, we got the same WordPress theme 🙂
This is a good article. I think I understand what you’re talking about. For me, I understand things from the perspective of single-source of content where all information regardless of the channel or the profile of the end-consumer of the information comes from a single source of truth. Is that what you’re getting at?
Thanks Liz. Yes, it is about “a single source of truth” balanced with the special requirements for each channel in question.