In the retail word, all anyone seems to talk about these days is omnichannel.
They talk about it with good reason, but what’s not being talked about is the pervasive trend of “fomni” – or fake omnichannel.
Desperate to deliver a consistent brand experience across channels and to compete with the omnichannel leaders, some retailers are trying to adapt their existing systems to provide customers with the experience they’re looking for. Others are trying to stitch together a collection of disparate systems that can never actually communicate with each other.
This type of infrastructure can’t give retailers a unified view of their customers, which, in turn, means they’ll be unable to provide the consistent, personalized experience across channels that consumers are demanding.
Warning Signs
In order to determine whether your solution is masquerading as omnichannel, you should look for these signs, according to Retailing Today:
- Your IT team needs to work closely with marketing to implement new ways to engage with shoppers
- Shoppers are frustrated with the lack of visibility into inventory on your e-commerce site or when they are in-store
- Your prices are inconsistent across channels
- You don’t have visibility into every customer interaction
- You’re sending out marketing emails advertising products that aren’t in stock at the nearest store
- Your sales are declining and you’re giving away market share to more digitally adept competitors
If you nodded your head to any of these warning signs, then you’ve probably got fomni and that means you need to re-examine the foundational system you’re using to run your business.
The Bottom Line
A good omnichannel solution is not something you can cover up. Your customers will notice and they’ll start shopping elsewhere.
While the fundamental transformation that must occur to rid your brand of fomni is daunting, it’s also necessary in order to survive in retail today and tomorrow.
The most important element of omnichannel retailing is achieving a single view of your customers and understanding how they interact with your brand across channels. Achieving that requires adopting a completely new business culture and implementing the right technological and analytical solutions.
To learn how Buxton can accelerate the development of a single customer view and the execution of cross-functional omnichannel capabilities, let’s talk today.
