In today’s digital era, retailers increasingly integrate online and offline channels through omni-channel services such as buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPS) and buy-online-return-to-store (BORS) to meet evolving consumer expectations. As these services redefine the customer experience and reshape competitive landscapes, understanding the value generated by these seamless integrations is becoming a critical determinant of retail success. This dissertation explores how retailers can leverage their omni-channel capabilities to enhance customer engagement and drive revenue growth, particularly by transforming returns into exchange opportunities and encouraging product exploration. While prior research on return management has largely centered on reducing returns, this work instead views returns as touchpoints that, when effectively managed, can lead to retained or even expanded revenues. In an omni-channel context, where different channels can be used for various purposes (purchases, returns, and exchanges), retailers can influence customer behavior by guiding them toward the most beneficial channels. Drawing on rich transactional data from a large Dutch omni-channel fashion retailer, the three interconnected studies presented in this dissertation employ advanced econometric methods to examine customer exchange and exploration behaviors across online and offline channels. Together, these studies shed light on the multifaceted value of omni-channel interactions in modern retail operations. Study 1 explores exchange behavior as a post-return stage, introducing the concept of a return journey that begins with an initial online purchase and extends through possible exchanges and returns. Using a generalized random forest model with instrumental variables, this study quantifies how store visits during the return journey of online purchases influence consumers’ likelihood to exchange returned items and, ultimately, keep the products they select. Further, it considers the heterogeneous effect of these store visits across consumers based on the recency-frequency-monetary value (RFM) framework. The results demonstrate that in-store visits during the return journey of an online purchase increase the likelihood of an exchange, particularly among customers who have historically been less valuable. These findings highlight the critical role of physical stores in helping online shoppers find the right products, thereby converting potential losses into retained revenue for retailers and paving the way for customer development. Study 2 extends the previous study by considering both online and store-initiated return journeys, thereby assessing the symmetry of channel effects. Using a quasi-experimental approach, the study compares store interactions in the return journey of online purchases to online interactions in the return journey of store purchases. The findings reveal a marked asymmetry: while guiding online customers into physical stores yields substantial gains in exchange likelihood, keep likelihood, and retained revenue, steering store customers to online channels results in a much smaller lift in retained revenue. By quantifying these asymmetric channel effects, this study provides actionable insights for omni-channel retailers. It suggests that while channel integration matters, prioritizing certain paths – particularly those drawing online customers into the physical stores – can more effectively boost revenue. Study 3 extends its scope beyond exchanges to investigate how omni-channel services stimulate customer exploration and lead to subsequent incremental in-store spending. The analysis encompasses a range of customer decisions in order and post-order stages (order placement, fulfillment, returns) and their corresponding channels, leading to several distinct groups of orders. Employing a multiple-treatment approach through a Generalized Boosted Model (GBM), this study quantifies the value of in-store services – particularly BOPS and BORS – in driving additional in-store purchases. The results indicate that offering in-store services not only helps customers find suitable replacements for returned products but also encourages the exploration of new product categories. BOPS, in particular, emerges as a powerful driver of product exploration. Meanwhile, BORS encourages customers to shop within the same product categories as their original basket. These findings underscore the importance of physical stores as centers of product exploration and customer engagement, expanding the retailer’s revenue streams. Taken together, these three studies provide an integrated understanding of how omni-channel capabilities, once established, can be leveraged to enhance customer engagement and achieve sustained revenue growth. They advance the literature on omni-channel retail operations, return management, and customer management by reframing returns as exchange opportunities, revealing nuanced heterogeneity in customer responses, quantifying asymmetric channel effects, and underscoring the role of physical stores in stimulating product exploration. Beyond their scholarly contributions, these findings hold practical relevance for retailers operating in an omni-channel environment. By guiding online shoppers to physical stores during the return process, tailoring strategies for different customer profiles, and deploying in-store services to encourage exploration, retailers can realize meaningful revenue gains and foster customer engagement in the rapidly evolving retail landscape.