“Having an omnichannel strategy” has gone from being a buzzword to a must-have for retailers, and it’s easy to see why. After all, our consumer needs change regularly. The channels we use to purchase our products vary enormously: physical stores, online stores, social media, and more.
But that doesn’t mean our shopping experience has to fluctuate in the same way.
What is an omnichannel strategy?
Most retailers already use multiple distribution channels. They have a website. Perhaps they also have a physical store, a mobile app, multiple social media profiles. Or even a chatbot or answering machine. Deliver integrated shopping experiences
But it is only through seamless integration that india telegram data these can move from being “disparate channels” to an “ omnichannel operation .”
A centralized approach
The goal of an omnichannel strategy is to harmonize the touchpoints and channels you use to interact with your customers, in order to offer them a seamless experience. Deliver integrated shopping experiences
An omnichannel strategy ensures that you’re always where your customers are—and that they can enjoy the same quality of service everywhere.
While this may seem daunting to accomplish, keep in mind that all retailers, from the largest to the smallest, have something to gain by adopting an omnichannel operation.
According to Harvard the case of digital telephony for example Business Review, 73% of consumers use multiple channels during their shopping experience. It’s a fact: your customers already combine distribution channels when they shop. If you don’t give them the tools to do the same with your business, they might as well go elsewhere.
Multichannel vs. Omnichannel Deliver integrated shopping experiences
Multichannel and omnichannel strategies are often confused. However, there is a major difference between the two: the essence of an omnichannel strategy is to centralize the customer experience and make it as seamless as possible.
While both multichannel and omnichannel offer products or services across different channels and platforms, the goal of omnichannel is to provide a seamless, seamless, and interconnected service. With multichannel, a retailer could sell products in their online store and on their website without centralizing anything—the two channels would operate completely independently of each other.
Let’s look at what this means with the following scenario:
You order a pair of pants online, you try them on, they don’t fit. You want to return them.
Multichannel : You want to do it in the brand’s physical store, since you live nearby, but since you bought it online, that’s impossible. You have to return it by mail.
Omnichannel : You can do whatever b2c fax you want, return the pants by mail or bring them back to any store of the brand in question.
The omnichannel strategy truly unifies the customer experience: consumers can juggle between different distribution channels with extreme ease.
Omnichannel in action
Let’s take a look at some examples to see how omnichannel can take your business to the next level .
Nike, a giant among retailers, has made significant strides in its omnichannel strategy. The Nike app automatically connects with the brand’s physical stores, allowing consumers to check which items and sizes are in stock. The app also allows for rewards for loyal customers. Moreover, it is even directly linked to the operation of new products that use technologies like geolocation and augmented reality to offer consumers unique interactive experiences.
However, you don’t have to be Nike to benefit from an omnichannel strategy! Retailers like Lightspeed customer Exclucity are leveraging the full potential of their omnichannel strategy to provide their customers with the most seamless shopping experience possible.
Thanks to the mutual integration of its physical stores, social media, and website, the brand is able to harmonize the shopping experience it offers. Moreover, since consumers can purchase Exclucity’s products directly from some of its Instagram posts, the transition between the desire to buy and the purchase itself becomes seamless.
When you combine multiple distribution channels and leverage their respective strengths, you can create even more effective shopping experiences. Your business becomes a true ecosystem, as all its touchpoints are connected and feed off one another.
How to implement an omnichannel strategy
Not every retailer can access a high-tech facility like Nike’s. However, there are techniques that even the smallest stores can implement to reap the benefits of omnichannel commerce.
Click-and-collect is a perfect example. If you have a website and a store, you should have a robust system in place to allow your customers to pay online and pick up their purchases in-store. Click-and-collect can help you reduce the costs of delivering (and/or returning) your products by attracting customers to your store. Once they’re there, you can try to entice them with other products or services.