At the end of this module you will be able to:

• Grasp the omnichannel essentials, strengths and weaknesses
• Learn how to differentiate it from multichannel actions
• Know more about proven omnichannel strategies

It’s a model that aims to give customers a tailored experience via a variety of communication channels, to turn visits into sales. 

It enables a wider range of opportunities to get in touch with potential customers.

This exclusive experience covers: 

• Physical visits (to stores) to see and touch the product 

• Online visits (to e-shops) and demonstrations of product characteristics and specifications

• Taking into account potential customer features and desires, marketing on social media

• Multichannel: The use of all channels (physical store, mobile, online marketing) to contact customers without a connection between the channels.

• Omni-channel: a modality that provides seamless integration and response between the channels.

Now, let’s get a glimpse of how an omnichannel experience works that englobes both physical and online stores:

1. Mobile. A social media user sees a friend posting about her brand new laptop. Coincidentally, this user is also searching for a laptop, so she enters the link her friend included in her post to see if the product’s specifications match what she is looking for. Almost out of battery, the user locks and puts away the phone

2. Online Marketplace. Once home, the user remembered the laptop again and entered the link from before. The store recognizes the returning user and the laptop pops up as a recently viewed item. Now, she can have an in-depth look at the laptop, and also compare it to other options available.

3. Physical Store: Still not convinced, our user wants to see the chosen product(s) live to get an idea of its physical features (touch, weight, size, ergonomy…), so she goes to a physical store that has it. When connecting to the store’s mobile network, the staff learns about the user’s laptop searches, which allows them to better assist her and therefore be closer to landing the sale.

4. Delivering: After the purchase, our user can choose between taking the product home or having it shipped home. If delivery is chosen, the process can be tracked using smartphones, tablets or laptops.

5. After-sales: Having checked the product has been successfully received, the store makes a follow-up call to assess the current (great) level of satisfaction of the user. However, some days later, she has some queries for customer service, having saved all the information on her order, the staff is able to answer all her queries swiftly and effectively.

Benefits:

1. Integrated Communication and Analytics. In order to harness the near-endless amount of data generated by all communication channels, customers’ needs and desires must be always considered. To do so, an Omnichannel approach opens a world of possibilities: its cross-channel possibilities allow businesses to effectively administer customer data regardless of their source and execute platform-wide profile comparisons.

2. Meet customers where they are. Client profiles should be handled as single entities across all channels in order to avoid potential information loss or corruption, which will result in higher quality, bespoke customer service and being able to reward customers no matter the chosen platform to make their purchases. 

3. Obtain data from every transaction. Every individual transaction counts. Together, these bits of information work like tiles forming a mosaic and it is this “final picture” which will allow businesses to track and sort customers by demographics, profiles or buying persona. In turn, this is a crucial aspect of business system basic management.

4. Specific Audiences Targeted. Having established proper customer and transaction analysis, marketing and retail experiences can be fixated on selected target markets. You can use inbound links to tailor your online marketing campaigns to a definite group of people.

5. Business Integration. It is composed of five elements: 1) Customer service, 2) sales, 3) merchandising, 4) inventory, 5) enterprise resource planning. These elements combine to enhance the level of both customer service and products. 

6. Experience and Service Focused Shopping. Providing multi-channel services and products is key to offering customers the best service available. To do so, Omnichannel management is paramount to providing proper service-focused shopping.

Challenges:

1. Service unification might prove difficult when taking into account the price variances within channels.

2. Order management might not be good enough.

3. Stock-related inputs might not be as precise as needed.

4. Customer Support might be incomplete or inexistent.

5. Loyalty programs might not be as productive as needed.

6. The merger between physical and digital worlds might not be completely clean due to culture clashes.

7. Partners might not have previous experience with Omnichannel management

• Omnichannel provides a tailored experience to turn visits into sales
• Customers will experience seamless integrations between all channels’ content
• This modality also opens a vast array of customization, tracking and targeting possibilities
• Implementation is heavily reliant on coordination and customer services