Omnichannel Marketing: What It Is and How It Benefits Retailers
Few years back there was a frenzy for multichannel enablement of every business and now the emphasis has shifted to Omnichannel. E-commerce has been touted as the channel of choice for retailers, with U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the first quarter of 2022 totaling $231.4 billion. Today, consumers want to be in control of their shopping experience as they are using social media as a tool to find the best online deals. As a result, many retailers are now adopting a new consumer-based strategy known as the “omnichannel” approach to improve a customer’s experience and their overall business performance.
Understanding the Difference: Multichannel vs. Omnichannel
To understand the current landscape, we must define the two primary strategies used in modern retail.
- Multichannel retail: According to Nick Winkler, multichannel retail (i.e., “many” channels) revolves around your product and lets customers engage and purchase natively wherever they shop but often treats channels as silos independent from one another. Each channel in a multichannel strategy exists as a separate purchase opportunity.
- Omnichannel retail: This approach (meaning “all” channels) revolves around your customer and creates a single customer experience across your brand by unifying sales and marketing experience even if the user moves from one to another.
The following table illustrates the key differences between these two approaches based on the provided material:
| Feature | Multichannel Retail | Omnichannel Retail |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Product-centered | Customer-centered |
| Channel Relationship | Independent silos | Unified and integrated |
| Customer Experience | Confined to specific channel | Seamless across all touchpoints |
| Strategy Goal | Multiple choices to engage | Single view of the customer |
As a result, retailers who choose to use omnichannel strategy are 91 percent more successful than those who don’t.
How Omnichannel Strategy Works in Practice
Omnichannel retail provides a more immersive experience. All channels—web, social, mobile, email, physical, and instant messaging—provide a single view of the customer as well as offer a single experience to the customer for all types of commerce. In an omnichannel approach, different consumer touch points are in constant communication and there’s inventory visibility across all the channels.
The Customer Journey: A Case Study
Consider how this works in a real-world scenario adapted from Nick Winkler’s research:
- A customer adds a queen mattress to their cart but leaves without purchasing.
- She receives an email with a “$100 off” incentive and is simultaneously served ads for the same mattress on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube.
- The brand switches its approach to feature ads highlighting its social responsibility efforts, which finally prompts the customer to engage.
- The customer returns to the website, watches a video, and visits the king mattress product page instead of the queen.
- In response, a new round of social ads appear, and an email is sent featuring the king mattress with an incentive raised to “$150 off.”
- The brand detects that the customer’s address is near its New York showroom and sends a personalized invitation in their physical mailbox to test the mattress.
- The customer purchases the mattress at the showroom using a credit card at the POS channel, which automatically updates their account.
- The customer provides a review exclusively through Facebook Messenger, completing the unified experience.
Essential Tips to Optimize the Shopping Experience
Although many businesses have recognized the need to adopt an omnichannel approach, many are having trouble remaining consistent across all channels. These essential tips will help any retail company significantly optimize the shopping experience:
1. Optimize for mobile devices
Smartphones are overtaking computers as the primary source of traffic in e-commerce. As a matter of fact, 62 percent of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device in the last 6 months. Make sure your mobile app or website is optimized for various smartphones and tablets and has a simplified navigation process.
2. Retarget consumers
According to Google, 85 percent of shoppers start a purchase on one device and finish on another. Therefore, you should be able to stay in touch with consumers on various channels for a better shopping experience. This means using technology for personalizing emails or retargeting consumers on Facebook and other ad platforms.
3. Learn more about your customers
The needs and interest of the consumer should inform your entire marketing strategy. Use various tools, like surveys, to gather useful information to complete your customer profile and learn more about their preferences and interests.
4. Automate your processes
Today, everything from email marketing to inventory management can be automated, eliminating human error and enhancing productivity. Consider leveraging software and apps that streamline your processes. Here is a list of must-have automated technology:
- A social media management tool, like Hootsuite or Buffer.
- A responsive eCommerce theme (i.e. design for both mobile and web).
- An inventory management app.
- An email marketing platform, like Hubspot.
- POS card readers and shipping software.
