Omnichannel marketing has never been more relevant as consumers demand more from their shopping experience.
Consumers are now channel agnostic, meaning they don’t see a difference between online and offline. They engage with your brand across multiple channels and their buying decisions are based on experience, convenience and price.
Are you offering an omnichannel or “fomnichannel” experience?
While 50 percent of consumers want retailers to use their personal information to create a seamless experience, only 35 percent of retailers have a plan to implement an omnichannel strategy in the near future. In order to succeed, retailers need to redevelop every aspect of their business to fit this new wave. Where do you fit in?
Why customer insights are key to your omnichannel strategy.
Using consumer data, and your customer analtyics data when available, enables retailers to identify how a shopping experience can be tailored to each shopper. When data is shared freely between different departments of your organization, you can paint a more detailed picture of customer behavior.
How omnichannel solutions can help your business
Here are a few examples of businesses building true omnichannel marketing strategies, and why they work:
- Starbucks has blended the in-store and digital experience through their mobile application. Waiting in long lines is a pain point for many Starbucks customers, with the app they are now able to skip the line and order ahead. The coffee chain has also made payment even easier by giving customers the ability to reload their Starbucks card balance right from their mobile device, the Starbucks website or in-store. The balance updates in real time across all channels.
- Crate & Barrel found that shoppers frequently switch between desktop and mobile when researching products and took this as an opportunity to make the user experience more convenient. Customers adding products to a digital shopping cart is a crucial stage for retailers in the buying process, and Crate & Barrel recognized this. They now give shoppers the ability to save their carts so they can easily switch from mobile, to desktop, to tablet and back until they are ready to complete their purchase.
- Another retailer succeeding in both omnichannel solutions and retail real estate is beauty retailer Sephora. Sephora has turned their customer loyalty program into an omnichannel commerce experience for shoppers. The “Beauty Insiders” program allows members to view past purchases and repurchase quickly through the mobile app. Insiders can also input their loyalty card and gift cards into the iPhone Passbook, simplifying the checkout process. Additionally, customers can scan bar codes in store and read ratings and reviews, taking omnichannel to the next level.
How to get started with developing an omnichannel strategy.
The first step to defining and shaping an omnichannel strategy is knowing who your best customers are. This means looking beyond demographics of who you think are your best customers, and integrating consumer behavior and lifestyle data through psychographics into your customer profiles. Once you have a clear understanding of your best customers you can create a more cohesive omnichannel marketing strategy across all facets of your business and fully understand the relationship between your customers and what they are seeking in their shopping experience.
To learn more about how an omnichannel strategy can improve your business growth, download our full report here: Omnichannel Retail’s New Battle Ground.
