Simply put, an omnichannel retail strategy showcases your products and services available for sale. You can display your products on every available platform. Such as social media, conventional stores and even apps. Doing this helps improve a brand’s visibility levels and reduces friction in communication. This inevitably leads to an increase in client acquisition rate. An omnichannel strategy applies to B2C retail businesses. Such as clothing, consumer goods and even the food sector. Â
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Creating an Omnichannel Strategy
It’s a need more than a want. Every company should develop a unique strategy to help stand tall in the market of sameness. You can’t snap your fingers like Thanos and expect a strategy to fall into place. Work is needed, so you would have to coordinate with various departments and ensure that operations are streamlined. Get in touch with several departments in your company and ensure everyone is on the same page. This ensures that a robust strategy comes into play.
Once everyone understands the objective of creating an omnichannel strategy. And which departments would be the forerunner of this initiative. Once the details have been hammered out, you can plan the transition model. Develop a plan outlining which departments would make changes first. When everything is clearly mapped out, things become much less hassle down the road. A brand’s strategy should have a coherent and aligned experience. If this is implemented successfully, expansion plans become much more sustainable.Â
Brands That Use Omnichannel Retail Strategy
Apple
Apple elevates the omni-channel experience by providing seamless communication between devices enabled by the user’s iCloud account. This implies that the user’s messages, photos, and connected devices will be consistently displayed regardless of the particular Apple device in use. Once a customer sets up an Apple device and signs in through their iCloud account, all their relevant data, information, and settings will be automatically downloaded to the new device.
Although achieving this level of connectivity between your company’s products and services may appear challenging, you can imitate Apple’s omni-channel experience by ensuring that customers are not required to repeat information when they contact your team. This strategy works because various devices, accounts and platforms can integrate with one another seamlessly.
Spotify
If you are an avid music listener, you must have heard of Spotify. It has become an ingrained part of one’s routine, whether working out or having a party at your place. Spotify is a prime illustration of providing an omni-channel experience on the product level.
The company presents not only a web app, desktop app, and mobile app but also synchronizes all apps when they are open simultaneously. If users are streaming Spotify on their phones, the desktop or TV app will display the song currently being played. This integration on the go makes Spotify an ideal example. However, note that there’s very little variation in user experience.Â
Google Chrome
Google exemplifies the benefits of offering omni-channel experiences through its web browser, Google Chrome. By logging into their Google accounts, users can have their browsing history and activity automatically synchronized across all their devices. This means users can even access tabs left open on their laptop through their phone app, creating a seamless browsing experience.
The success of this approach is demonstrated by Google Chrome’s dominant market share, which averages above 65% in the internet browser industry. This highlights the importance of providing an omni-channel experience not just in marketing, sales, and service efforts but also within the product itself. The strategy works like a charm for Google due to its smooth and user-friendly interface.
Benefit Cosmetics
Benefit Cosmetics created a noteworthy omni-channel campaign in the UK by introducing “brow bar” experiences for its customers. After running a competition in the UK, the company brought the brow bars to the region as part of its “BrowMobile” campaign, providing the service to the winners. It also organized a beauty drive-thru that offered free eyebrow waxes and product samples.
Kyra White, the company’s former head of brand activation, pointed out that the campaign “demonstrates our willingness to reach customers wherever they are. Additionally, the campaign is highly shareable on Instagram, which is perfect for a brand like ours that doesn’t rely on traditional above-the-line advertising.”
This campaign was highly effective, with the company’s market share for brow products in the UK increasing to 60%. Channeling into the mobile-responsive market is a huge stride. It allows users to add items to their shopping carts with ease.Â
Omnichannel Retail Strategies
Shopify
One of the perfect examples of brands that use an omnichannel retail strategy is Shopify. It has a robust ecommerce product that’s used interchangeably as a marketing tool. Shopify helps business owners to create powerful email and social media campaigns. It covers engagement through every stage of the consumer acquisition funnel.
The ecommerce platform allows businesses to develop personalized experiences. Brands can optimize their sales to generate revenue and simultaneously measure the impact of marketing campaigns. You would see ads in your inbox or even when you are browsing the web. This diversification ensures long-term revenue growth for the respective store.
ActiveCampaign
If you are looking to skyrocket the sales of your brand, then consider using ActiveCampaign. It combines a variety of automation, marketing and CRM tools. This helps create experiences for the store and its customers. Its features are segmented into four parts. Such as Reach, Nurture, Convert and Grow.
On the parallel side, ActiveCampaign offers customer support services along with free online training. This can help you become an expert in an instant. Why should you have a store on this platform? Simply because it’s stackable. You can create a hybrid model consisting of tools, applications and channels. This assures that your marketing aligns with your value proposition.
Hubspot CRM
This is an all-in-one tool, an umbrella that encompasses everything. HubSpot provides a comprehensive CRM platform that serves as a versatile marketing automation tool capable of meeting the specific requirements of your business.
Whether your objectives are centered around increasing sales, generating more leads, enhancing customer service, or building a website, the HubSpot CRM can proficiently handle all these tasks across different platforms.
The HubSpot platform consists of five distinct hubs: Marketing Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, Sales Hub, and Operations Hub. Each offers a range of robust features that can effectively facilitate business growth. The platform helps attract new as well as well-established businesses. Hubspot ensures that everything works together seamlessly.
Tips for Implementing Omnichannel Retail Strategy
Boost Customer Engagement
Once retailers have understood customer behavior, they should create detailed customer route maps to identify relevant triggers across channels that maximize customer engagement and drive sales.
Examples of customer triggers include:
- Organizing events and sales.
- Sending proximity notifications.
- Reminding customers about offers and discounts.
- Engaging in active dialogue on social media.
These triggers can help to remind customers to make purchases and act as a shopping goal, provide highly tailored notifications based on customers’ location in the store, offer discounts and loyalty points to encourage purchases, and boost brand value through social media engagement. Effective use of triggers can drive customer engagement and build sustainable brand value.
In addition to analyzing customer behavior and setting up appropriate triggers, retailers and brands can leverage innovative technologies like VR (virtual reality) and iBeacon to deliver seamless and consistent customer experiences that bridge the gap between the physical and online worlds. The following sections provide further insights into the best approaches for building an omni-channel experience.
Incorporate VR/AR
Stores can utilize technologies such as AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) to offer enhanced virtual experiences. It will enable customers to explore environments that may not be feasible in-store.
These virtual technologies will allow retailers to present engaging experiences. This includes endless virtual aisles that showcase a vast assortment of products. These are usually not available in-store or in a virtual mirror. Such a technology enables customers to digitally try on clothes and products.
Lowe’s, the home improvement store, has implemented an intriguing use of VR technology; the Holoroom. Customers can use the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset to customize various aspects of individual room sizes.
Loyalty Program
Integrating a loyalty program that spans both online and physical platforms is an excellent method to consolidate and enhance customer engagement. Offering customers rewards for online participation is an effective way. This helps expand the online customer base.
A compelling instance of this strategy can be observed at the widely recognized clothing retailer Marks & Spencer. Through its customer-centric loyalty program, Sparks, the store offers customers incentives for engaging with the brand online and in-store.
Future of Omnichannel Retail Strategy
Consumers increasingly take control of their shopping experience. This democratization of retail is taking shape. However, this trend is not new, as shoppers have been demanding more control for a while now. Amazon has played a pivotal role in shaping these expectations. Setting high standards for fast delivery and buyer experiences.
Previously, getting a great price was the top priority. However, this is no longer the case. Shoppers now have instant access to price information and can compare prices across different retailers. Therefore, the future of omnichannel retailing will be centered around convenience. Customers will expect to be able to make a purchase with just a click.
Featured Image: Buxton
