THE ROLE OF MULTICHANNEL RETAIL SYSTEMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF E-COMMERCE SERVICES

The article examines the economic role of multichannel retail systems in the development of e-commerce services. The analysis distinguishes the simple presence of several sales channels from their coordinated operation and argues that the economic effect of multichannel retail is formed through the consistency of product information, pricing, inventory, orders, payments, fulfilment and customer service. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between physical stores, websites, mobile applications, social media channels and digital marketplaces. The development of digital payment infrastructure in Uzbekistan is used to characterize the technological environment supporting cross-channel transactions. The study systematizes the main sources of coordination costs, identifies the risks arising from fragmented channel management, and proposes a staged approach to channel integration. The article concludes that multichannel retail creates sustainable economic value when channel expansion is accompanied by common data standards, shared inventory visibility, centralized order processing, integrated payment reconciliation and unified service rules.