In March of 2020, the world as people saw it officially changed when the novel coronavirus outbreak became the Covid-19 pandemic and dramatically affected the lives of millions of people around the globe. Wearing facial masks became ordinary, and social distancing became the societal norm.
Due to the fear of getting sick, people did not leave their homes to shop, so they did the next best thing—they shopped from their homes’ comfort for everything they needed while on their computer or cell phone.
From groceries to clothes and from toilet paper to electronics, people had the online convenience to shop for all they required and all they wanted, thereby boosting the eCommerce industry into a digital stratosphere the world has never seen before but will probably see again.
How though? By way of omnichannel retail marketing.
Read on and learn more about this digital phenomenon, how learning about it can help your digital marketing agency, and the three reasons it is the ultimate future of the eCommerce industry.
What is Omnichannel Retail Marketing?
In short, omnichannel retail marketing bridges the physical world with the digital world. In the long-form, omnichannel retail marketing is the fully integrated marketing approach to multichannel retail and commerce, which provides a unified and seamless consumer experience across all channels and touchpoints. Such channels include cell phones, eCommerce marketplaces, computers, in-person storefronts, TV, radio, mail, catalogs, social media, etc.
Overview of Omnichannel Retail Marketing
According to Salesforce’s studies, 55% of consumers say there is somewhat of a disconnect while switching between channels during their retail experiences. Yet, Statistica’s additional research suggests that only 22% of retailers in North America consider omnichannel experiences a top priority as many of them have only been using multichannel marketing strategies.
Multichannel vs. Omnichannel
While omnichannel and multichannel get often used interchangeably, they are two different ideas.
Multichannel refers to separate and disconnected channels, while omnichannel talks about the connection between the digital and the brick-and-mortar and their ability to seamlessly work together to improve a customer’s buying experience journey.
Another distinct difference between multichannel and omnichannel is their ultimate goals.
Multichannel concentrates more on the sale and doing everything it can to make the deal happen. On the other hand, omnichannel marketing focuses more on merging a brand’s physical world with its digital world to improve customer retention and provide a laid back, unforgettable, and consistent shopping experience–something every digital marketing agency needs to know about.
But how do you deliver an omnichannel retail experience?
First, you need to understand your consumers’ behavior and become familiar with their journey using multiple channels, including online, eCommerce, social, mobile, and in-store. You must understand your customer and what influences them, drives them, and keeps them coming back to your store. By gaining a deeper understanding of your customers, you will need to expand your number of touchpoints in a purposeful way to deliver what the customer wants before they even realize they want it.
Second, brands must implement technology that can share inventory and product data with customers in real-time, through any channel, but can gather information to personalize the buyers’ shopping experiences.
But early 80% of retailers state they fail to offer consumers a unified brand experience because they are falling behind, and here is a list of the reasons why:
- Lack of internal organization (39%)
- Lack of consumer analytics across channels (67%)
- Siloed organization (48%)
- Low data quality (45%)
- Inability to identify consumers across shopping trips (45%)
You can start to overcome the obstacles above, with not only the help of a digital marketing agency, by understanding the potential of omnichannel and why its strategies are critical to your campaigns’ success.
Why an Omnichannel Strategy is Critical for Campaign Success
Omnichannel retail marketing will not just track consumers across one or two channels, but all of them. Omnichannel retailers will allow consumers to experience a brand and not only a channel within a brand.
Omnichannel retail marketing must be implemented sooner rather than later, to uphold a competitive advantage.
The omnichannel user experience leverages data about one sales channel to invite the customer to participate in another, thereby allowing their actions to feel inherent to the given medium instead of forced.
One primary reason an omnichannel strategy is critical for campaign success is that nearly 75% of shoppers state they use multiple channels to compare prices, look for deals, or use in-store tablets to shop on the internet. Besides, omnichannel customers spend 4% more on each in-store shopping occasion and 10% more online than single-channel shoppers.
In short, the more channels a customer uses, the more money they spend.
Read on and discover 3 Reasons Why Omnichannel Retail Marketing is the Future of eCommerce, and how a digital marketing agency can help.
3 Reasons Why Omnichannel Retail Marketing is the Future of eCommerce
More Personalized Experiences
When consumers feel like the brand knows them, it personalizes their shopping experience. The goal of omnichannel retail, after all, is providing shoppers with one easy, cohesive, and smooth shopping process.
An online business needs to consider what people want to see, and no matter how shoppers interact with the retailer, they need to get the same positive impression of the retailer’s brand.
Shoppers care about personalization. According to an Evergage study, 96% of marketers have improved customer relationships by providing personalized shopping experiences. In comparison, 88% of the study’s respondents said their customers and prospects expect a personalized experience.
In short, consumers want things to be personal for them, which is one primary reason why omnichannel retail marketing is the future of eCommerce.
Detailed Information About Customer Behavior
Omnichannel retail marketing will give consumers personalization, but it will provide data about their behavior to satisfy their needs.
With all the different ways to enter into a brand’s ecosystem, retailers need to understand their consumers and their behavior more than they have ever had to before.
According to Harvard Business Review research, approximately 7% of participants shopped exclusively online, while only 20% shopped solely in retail stores. The remaining percentage favored a mix and used multiple channels throughout their shopping journey.
Due to this eclectic combination, it is imperative to know when a customer first encounters your brand and when they end up finally converting. Gaining access to these different pathways can help companies better understand how to give improved experiences to their shoppers and recognize the key touchpoints, thereby funneling their marketing budget adequately.
Retailers Can Concentrate on the Most Effective KPIs and Effectively Target Customers
If you have a better understanding of the various touchpoints customers use and how they navigate their way through your brand, you can more effectively and efficiently optimize the points they convert.
Approximately 71% of consumers use their phones to research products before buying them—even while they are already in the store. So, developing an omnichannel marketing strategy that targets and converts potential shoppers at precisely the right time is essential.
Suppose brands better understood how consumers use each channel (whether to purchase or research). In that case, they could put additional resources into the conversion point—or any other point that pushes the customer to convert and buy the item).
Brands need to track data and make more informed decisions based on it. There are five key touchpoint areas worth considering: awareness, engagement, trial, conversion, and loyalty—the two most important of conversion and loyalty. Why? Conversions drive new business while loyalty drives repeat business.
Not every touchpoint will create conversions or even drive conversions to the right touchpoint, so they may either not need any attention or may need more attention than ever before. Additional data does not equate to better decision making, so understanding that while you may have more KPIs (or key performance indicators), it is critical to focus on the ones that drive your growth and customers’ experiences. An experienced digital marketing agency can assist you with this very thing.
Besides, omnichannel marketing relies on holistic approaches to measure success.
So, when your brand starts thinking about omnichannel retail marketing, or if you have questions, concerns, or circumstances you would like to discuss, Digilant is here to help. For over ten years, Digilant has helped digital marketing agencies and brands with omnichannel digital advertising strategies that are data-driven, actionable, and effective. Digilant’s success is due to continual innovation to help its clients with purpose-built solutions tailored to their needs. So, do hesitate. Contact Digilant today!