**1. Introduction**

Nowadays retail industries are changing sharply. Sales are not only happening in physical stores but also in many new touchpoints. One of the challenges is to coordinate these channels and have the same information among them e.g., price of the product, which refers to one of Omnichannel's features. More touchpoints mean more data; therefore, the need for data analytics is inevitable. With the help of data analytics tools, data that are generated from the touchpoints like social media can be analyzed and entered into each related PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) disciplines and make a change. The missing loop here is, data from PLM disciplines should also be transferred to the touchpoints because always all alterations cannot be practical and beneficial; therefore, before applying a change in the product lifecycle, the feedback whether positive or negative should as an input come to PLM, and the manufacturer should know the consequences of each small changes in design.

If channels work independently like the multi-channel concept, one of the issues would be creation of fragmented supply chains. Also, it would be difficult to deliver a consistent and reliable consumer experience. Besides, this independence leads to data mismatch, product/order information inconsistency, and poor inventory efficiency are more probable to happen. In the Omnichannel concept, the consumer can switch among channels easily e.g., they can search for a product in one channel and buy it in another channel and receive the product with a home delivery option which is the third channel.

Omnichannel has a vital role in sales by providing a seamless shopping experience for customers. The Omnichannel phase is more agile than before due to increasing the number of sales channels and also increasing the number and variety of new products. Customers are more demanding than before; therefore, to meet customer demands a strategy should be considered to be not only agile but also ahead of competitors. In the B2C phase, the most important factor which leads to profit is customer satisfaction. When a customer is satisfied, it is more plausible that another purchase is realized. Customer satisfaction is an important goal of Omnichannel strategy. For creating a seamless shopping experience different modes of delivery are considered in Omnichannel strategy like STS (ship-to-store), BOPS (buy-online-and-pick-up-instore), Click & Collect, Click & Return, packet stations, home delivery, etc. Some of the benefits of applying Omnichannel are incremental sales due to new channels and devices, higher average sales to existing customers, a higher proportion of consumers making a purchase, promotional synergies across channels, lower inventory costs, reduced shipping costs due to in-store pick-up, and lower product returns.

The beneficial role of Omnichannel in sales and profit is clear, given that sales are also related to PLM and exist in PLM disciplines, and PLM has a vital role in all aspects and phases of the product, but a connection between Omnichannel and PLM is not considered yet. One of the objectives of this chapter is not only to relate these two concepts but also to consider a role for Omnichannel in PLM disciplines. Omnichannel is going to be embedded in the B2B concept.

For connecting PLM and Omnichannel a mediator is needed. Because Omnichannel is more agile and it grows rapidly day by day due to increasing the number of sales channels, increase the use of the internet, marketing strategies, etc. On the other hand, PLM is slower, and it is not like Omnichannel up to date. The relation between these two areas can happen through a mediator to balance the speed between them and also can transfer data.
