International faculty introduce an optichannel strategy that uses data, ethical governance and leadership to focus investment on the touchpoints that create real value.
“The transition from omnichannel to optichannel marks the shift from a logic of presence to one of relevance.” Gómez Buroz, Stigliano and de la Vega (translated from Spanish)
For retailers, being everywhere is no longer synonymous with serving customers well. A new strategic analysis argues that the next stage of retail is optichannel: selecting, strengthening, connecting and, when necessary, retiring the touchpoints that deliver the greatest value to defined customer segments and to the business.
Published in the July 2026 issue of Harvard Deusto Business Review, the article, titled From Omnichannel to Optichannel in Retail, brings together the perspectives of Manuel Gómez Buroz, Giuseppe Stigliano and Iván de la Vega. Their affiliations span Centrum PUCP in Peru, IESA in Venezuela, Universidad de La Sabana in Colombia and UCL School of Management in the United Kingdom, giving the analysis a cross-regional perspective on a challenge facing retailers worldwide.
The authors contend that indiscriminate channel expansion can create duplicated technology, rising operating costs and fragmented journeys without guaranteeing better customer outcomes. Optichannel strategy replaces the pursuit of ubiquity with a more disciplined question: which interaction is most relevant for this customer, at this moment, and what contribution does it make to the overall relationship?
A three-dimensional customer journey
The article describes a customer journey that now unfolds across physical, digital and virtual environments. Each dimension serves a distinct role: virtual environments support exploration and creativity; digital channels enable efficient transactions; and physical spaces provide sensory confirmation, community and high-value human interaction. Coherence, therefore, does not require every channel to offer identical functions. It requires each channel to play a clear part while preserving service quality and brand identity throughout the journey.
Examples involving Zara, Nike, Amazon’s checkout-free technology, On and Sixth Street illustrate how stores, applications, logistics networks and immersive experiences can work as specialized but connected assets. The central management challenge is not to replicate the same capabilities everywhere, but to remove friction at the moments when customers move between channels – often because they are seeking information, reassurance, a better price or a tangible product experience.
Data must lead to decisions, not merely accumulation
Artificial intelligence, real-time analytics, the Internet of Things and extended reality can help retailers detect channel-switching behavior, personalize offers, optimize inventory and direct customers to the most effective next touchpoint. Yet the authors caution that technology alone does not create agility. Organizations need the capacity to convert signals into operational decisions and to measure each channel by its contribution to the full customer journey rather than by stand-alone sales.
That distinction changes investment decisions. A digital channel with modest direct revenue may still warrant support if it drives discovery and conversion in stores. By the same logic, a costly platform that adds little customer or strategic value may need to be redesigned, consolidated or discontinued. In this model, data becomes an instrument of strategic discipline, supporting decisions that are often difficult to make when channel presence is treated as an end in itself.
Trust is part of channel performance
The expanded use of behavioral and biometric data raises a parallel requirement: ethical governance. The analysis argues that the benefit perceived by customers must outweigh their sense of intrusion. Transparent data practices, understandable consent and a clear value exchange are therefore not compliance details added after the experience is designed; they are conditions for trust and for the long-term viability of personalized retail.
The authors also position technology as a means of strengthening, rather than eliminating, high-value human service. Automation can handle routine efficiency and personalization at scale, while employees focus on empathy, expert advice and the resolution of complex needs. This combination of technological capability and human judgment is central to the hybrid retail model described in the article.
Implications for retail leaders
Audit channel contribution. Evaluate touchpoints using customer lifetime value, journey contribution, operating cost and strategic relevance – not only direct sales.
Design deliberate transitions. Identify where and why customers change channels, then build specific bridges that reduce uncertainty and prevent abandonment.
Govern data ethically. Define clear limits for biometric and behavioral data, and explain the tangible benefit customers receive in exchange for its use.
Protect experimentation while enforcing discipline. Fund emerging virtual and immersive formats selectively, while being prepared to withdraw from channels that dilute value or profitability.
For international retailers managing margin pressure, rapid advances in AI and increasingly hybrid customer behavior, optichannel strategy reframes digital transformation as a leadership choice rather than a race to activate more platforms. Competitive advantage depends less on the number of channels available and more on the coherence, relevance and measurable impact of the decisions behind them.
About the authors
- Manuel Gómez Buroz is Professor of Experience, People and Leadership at Centrum PUCP, IESA and Universidad de La Sabana.
- Giuseppe Stigliano is Adjunct Professor of Strategic Marketing at UCL School of Management, as well as an executive advisor and keynote speaker.
- Iván de la Vega is Associate Professor at Centrum PUCP and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Business Systems Laboratory and the European Network for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Fecha: 14/08/2026 
