Leveraging on cross-channel integration (CCI) to assimilate and co-ordinate multiple online and offlinechannels for engagingand retainingcustomers continues to be an elusive challenge for retailers[1–4]. De-spite an abundance of past studies on the operations of CCI[3,5,6], littleis known about how CCI affects customers' reaction. Consequently,disentangling the effects of CCI on customers has been acknowledgedas a critical but underexplored topic in the context of omnichannel re-tailing[2,3,7,8]. By centering on operations in multichannel retailing[9–13], prior research does not yield adequate understanding of howCCI drives customers' reaction. To advance this line of research, we at-temptto shed lightonthe distinct mechanismsthroughwhichCCIinflu-ences customers in omnichannel retailing.Omnichannel retailing is a prevalent channel strategy among con-temporary retailers[7]. It is distinct from multichannel retailing interms of customer involvement and retailer control[14].Whereasomnichannel retailing derives synergy from full channel integrationby streamlining cross-channel interactions with customers,