Evolving RGM Protocols for the Omnichannel Shopper and Consumer
In today’s retail landscape, the path to purchase is anything but linear. Consumers scroll, search, and shop across a dozen channels—expecting it all to feel effortless. Traditional Revenue Growth Management (RGM) models, rooted in siloed pricing and channel-specific strategies, no longer hold up in this new reality.
Revenue Growth Management has become more than a function of margin protection; it is now a strategic imperative. The rise of omnichannel shopping—where consumers seamlessly interact with brands through physical stores, online platforms, mobile apps, and social media—requires a holistic approach to value capture. Companies must adapt RGM protocols to align pricing, promotions, and assortment strategies across all touchpoints.
This article blends practical insights from client engagements at Prior Wise with broader industry trends, offering a hybrid perspective: strategic, grounded, and action-oriented.
Understanding the Omnichannel Shopper: A New Mandate for RGM
The Shift: According to McKinsey, over 73% of shoppers use multiple channels in their buying journey. A customer might discover a product on TikTok, check reviews on a brand site, compare prices on a retailer’s app, and complete the purchase in-store.
This fluidity demands consistency and coherence. Traditional RGM protocols, optimized for individual channels, fall short in this landscape. Brands must now orchestrate pricing and promotions that make sense across all customer interactions—without creating conflict or confusion.
Consulting Insight: In our work with clients, the biggest barrier is rarely technology—it's alignment. Marketing, pricing, and sales often operate in silos, each optimizing for different outcomes. Evolving RGM requires shared goals and synchronized execution across functions.
Consumer Expectations and Behavior:
Modern shoppers expect seamless, personalized experiences. Real-time inventory visibility, flexible fulfillment options (like BOPIS or curbside pickup), and tailored offers are no longer differentiators—they're baseline expectations. According to Salesforce’s 2024 Connected Shopper Report, 76% of consumers expect consistency across channels.
This directly impacts how RGM teams operate. Promotions must be timely and personalized. Pricing needs to be transparent. Assortment must reflect both local demand and online behaviors. When done well, the payoff is customer trust and deeper loyalty. For instance, augmented reality (AR) tools are now being utilized to allow customers to visualize products in their own spaces before making a purchase, further enhancing the omnichannel experience.
Core Challenges in Evolving RGM
1. Data Fragmentation
Retailers collect data from POS systems, e-commerce sites, loyalty apps, and social media. Yet many lack a unified view. This fragmentation undermines decision-making and prevents holistic performance measurement.
Solution: Unified Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) and cloud-based data hubs that connect insights across departments. When combined with AI-driven forecasting, these tools unlock new RGM opportunities.
2. Pricing Consistency vs. Channel-Specific Strategy
Online channels often come with different cost structures than physical stores. Yet pricing discrepancies can confuse or alienate shoppers.
Solution: Create dynamic pricing models that account for cost-to-serve and demand elasticity—but ensure transparency. Educating customers on value-added services or exclusive bundles can soften perceived inconsistencies. Consumers may perceive a brand as less premium if they discover significant price discrepancies between online and offline channels, so a clear communication strategy is critical.
3. Promotion Management in an Omnichannel World
Overlapping promotions across channels can cannibalize margins. Without orchestration, brands risk offering deep online discounts while stores are left with full-priced inventory.
Solution: Integrated promotion planning tools that model cross-channel impact in advance. Personalized offers—based on purchase history or loyalty status—help reduce cherry-picking behaviors. Omnichannel shoppers often “cherry-pick” deals—buying discounted items online while avoiding full-price purchases in stores. This behavior calls for more tailored, data-informed promotions.
4. Inventory and Fulfillment Alignment
Omnichannel shoppers expect product availability and flexible delivery. But if inventory systems aren't connected, stockouts, delays, and over-discounting follow.
Solution: Real-time inventory systems (like RFID), ship-from-store capabilities, and smart fulfillment algorithms are essential RGM enablers.
Strategic Levers for Future-Fit RGM
Personalization at Scale
Consumers are increasingly open to sharing data in exchange for relevance. Personalized pricing and promotions drive conversion and loyalty—if done ethically. According to Deloitte, 59% of consumers welcome personalized offers when value is clear.
Dynamic and Transparent Pricing
AI-powered models can optimize pricing by location, channel, and customer profile. But with great precision comes great responsibility. Fairness and clarity must be embedded into every pricing decision.
Cross-Channel Promotion Orchestration
Instead of launching isolated campaigns, use coordinated promotions that link online discovery to in-store action. For instance: digital coupons redeemable in-store or mobile-first loyalty perks.
Customer-Centric RGM Governance
Move beyond channel KPIs. Design incentives and governance models that reward total customer value, not just revenue per channel.
Case Studies: What Good Looks Like
Walmart: Real-time pricing and fulfillment synchronization ensures consistency and profitability. Their use of BOPIS and AI-driven forecasting reduces waste and lifts customer satisfaction.
Sephora: Uses a CDP to integrate customer behavior from online and offline, powering personalized offers through its loyalty program and AR-powered mobile app.
Unilever: Adopted centralized promotion management to reduce cannibalization and align strategies across global retailers and direct channels.
The Future of RGM: From Financial Control to Strategic Enablement
Emerging technologies like AR, VR, and blockchain will continue to shape the shopper journey. These innovations will create new opportunities for immersive product experiences and personalized commerce, requiring adaptable and forward-thinking RGM strategies. Blockchain technology may also play a role in enhancing pricing transparency and supply chain traceability, building greater consumer trust and enabling more sophisticated revenue management models.
But the core of RGM evolution lies in mindset: shifting from internal optimization to external orchestration.
Success will require:
Real-time, integrated data ecosystems
Pricing and promotion agility
Cross-functional alignment
Deep customer understanding
Ethical, transparent practices
Transparent pricing, responsible data use, and equitable promotional practices will be essential to maintain consumer trust and brand reputation.
This is exactly what we help our clients build at Prior Wise.
If your team is navigating omnichannel complexity and seeking smarter revenue strategies—let’s talk.
DMs are open. Or learn more at Prior Wise.
