Today's customers are much more aware of the products, brands and prices than ever before. The typical characteristics of today's buyer are the presence of a smartphone to collect information on products and prices. They can thus shop in a single store and go to the checkout without waiting in the queues.
To respond to such a complex set of customers, omnichannel marketing is an easy -to -use interface. It allows marketing staff to view and sell products. It generates automated catalogs, launches campaigns by e-mail and follows sales performance.
What does the term "omnichannel" mean?
omnichannel term , we have on the one hand the prefix "omni", which in Latin means everything and whole, and on the other hand "channel" which is a French word used to replace the original English term, "channel ». That is to say that the closest meaning would be something in the sense of all chains.
However, this is not enough to understand the power and scope of this term. When we limit ourselves to the semantics of the word, we can confuse omnichannel with multichannel and/or cross-channel-other terms also widely used.
All refer to the user experience with the channels proposed by brands, which is why they can transmit the false feeling of having the same meaning. To avoid this, we have separated each of the terms below with their respective definitions and examples:
Multichannel
When we talk about multichannel, we have the “multi” prefix which refers to several. An example of a multichannel strategy is when a company offers several purchasing channels, such as the site, the application and the physical stores.
However, they are not connected. Sellers working in the physical store are not aware of purchases that were made by the application and/or on the site and vice versa. There is competition between the purchasing channels and no exchange of information between them.
Cross-channel
The prefix "cross" in French means "crossing".
In a cross-channel strategy, the channels of a brand can be crossed as follows: the purchase can be made online on the company's website and the withdrawal of the purchased product can be made in the physical store .
Thus, there is no competition between the channels, as soon as they complement each other.
Omnichannel
As we said at the start of the article, the prefix "Omni" refers to everyone. In this case, all the channels of a company are connected. You can, even when you are inside the physical store, use the brand application to check if the specific product you want.
If you find it thanks to the request, you can order it with one of the sellers of the physical store and choose to have it delivered to your home. In this way, a channel helps the other to offer a better shopping experience and further strengthen online and offline relationships.
In addition, the information gathered on consumer movements in all channels contributes to making your sales funnel more efficient.
Why are we talking so much about omnichannel?
The strategy of transforming consumption into a unique and increasingly practical experience is a challenge that several companies are trying to take up. Indeed, consumers are increasingly demanding and want more comfort.
Offering online channels for shopping and customer service is no longer a novelty, but a requirement for brands that want to survive in such a competitive market.
As we have seen, the omnichannel offers a new and more complete purchasing experience to the user and that is why this term has been used in recent times.
Although it is practiced by certain brands, this strategy is still relatively recent and can constitute the differential your business needs to stand out from competition.
The advantages of an omnichannel strategy
Investing in a better experience for your customers will bring you various advantages, in the end, all this work aims to leave them more satisfied. By leaving them happy, your business is better to improve:
- services offered;
- sales;
- the loyalty process;
- and your brand image.
Thanks to this strategy, all contact points with your customers will be developed to optimize these processes. And this will represent a precious gain for your business which can develop thanks to the analysis of the corresponding measures.
How to transform your business into an omnichannel?
Now that you know more about the omnichannel strategy and its advantages, let's learn to apply it in your business. As we said in this article, the objective is to improve customer satisfaction. And to take up this challenge, the first step is to know the buyer of your business.
Once created, it will be possible to know countless information, including their purchasing habits. This knowledge will allow your business to better understand the requirements of these customers and to offer them something really precious and appropriate.
After creating your person, you can take the next step: integrate the channels of your business. Once the channels are defined, it will be necessary to personalize it according to the information obtained in the construction of your customer's profile.
This integration implies the alignment of online media on the offline media so that there is no gaps for the user and, of course, the alignment of your business areas (sales, marketing, support, etc.).
After that, it's time to test everything that has already been done. In addition to verification of operation, it will also be necessary to assess the quality of integration and sectors.
To do this, ask for help from people who have a profile similar to that of your buyer - after all the actions have been focused on this profile - to test the implementation.
By following these steps, you will decrease the risks and possible failures of your omnibus strategy and you will also know if changes or adjustments are necessary before launching it on the market.
What are the main challenges of omnichannel?
In the previous subject, we discussed how to implement the omnichannel strategy in your business and we now want to specify that it is not so easy. Integrating channels and providing excellent experience to customers is a big challenge.
In addition to relying on technology for this integration, you also need in -depth knowledge of the company and attentive monitoring of all sectors.
To this challenge is added that of customer satisfaction, a sensitive question that implies the expectations and the opinion he has of your business.
We reached the end of the position and hope that you have learned enough about the omnichannel to apply it in your business. Among the discoveries, we have seen that the omnichannel is a challenge, but if it is well developed, it can provide incredible results for your business and the differential so dreamy on the market.
And to help you launch this strategy, you can contact an agency specializing in omnichannel . So you can learn how to align marketing and sales teams to increase the performance of your business!
