Omni-channel retail enablement: Long-term investment, instant returns

To accelerate business growth, it is important to establish a clearly defined strategy that is founded on a thorough understanding of your customers’ needs and shopping preferences. In response to declining store traffic and a pronounced consumer shift to online marketplaces, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are adopting digital retail channels. This gives them a competitive advantage over retailers that still haven’t embraced digital commerce.

However, most new online retailers don’t have a robust strategy that allows them to take full advantage of omni-channel user experience and order fulfillment. This blog post will explain how an omni-channel retail strategy can improve your bottom line and customer lifetime value. Continue reading to discover the ways that implementing omni-channel will deliver immediate results while also providing sustained benefits year after year.

Understand the role of digital channels

To achieve an omni-channel experience for the customer, begin with understanding the types of consumer that prefer shopping online, the specific platforms they prefer, and the features of the online shopping experience that appeal to them.

Most online shoppers appreciate the speed and simplicity of buying products with a few mouse clicks or taps on their smartphone and having them delivered to their doorstep. For this reason, it is crucial that you have a well-designed smartphone app and web store. An important aspect of this design is making your entire product catalog available across all shopping platforms and channels. If an item is available via your website, it should also be available for purchase at the same price using your smartphone app. Having a consistent shopping experience is absolutely essential.

Similarly, branding on social media is also very important. The more retailers engage with customers and invest in promoting their products via social media platforms, the better response they’ll receive.

Target different online channels

The rise of social media has given retailers virtually infinite opportunities for expansion. These platforms enable them to target very specific customer segments, promote more effectively, and build a fan following for your brand. Aggressively market your premium product launches to carefully selected customers on social media and send them personalized messages for a more emotionally significant connection. Being present on multiple platforms will help you determine which platform provides the highest return on your investment.

Engage in continuous digital transformation

From data analytics to digital marketing capabilities, new technologies have helped successful retailers reinvent themselves to stay aligned with consumer demand and other market forces. Three areas deserve special attention:

• Supply chain: Retailers that want to make click-and-collect retail an essential component of their omni-channel strategy need to understand the importance of effective supply chain operations. Omni-channel enablement gives your customers and sales team accurate real-time information on product availability and allows you to centrally process orders for all channels.
• Clienteling: Analyze your business data to create a unified customer profile that helps you understand their expectations and personalize your brand message accordingly. This enables you to align yourself with actual consumer preferences and establish long-term relationships with your customers. Apply machine learning techniques to their purchase history to discover and recommend other products they’d like.
• KPIs: Companies need to update their performance measurement systems for the digital world. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are making a shift from sales per store to sales per customer or home as more retailers transition to omni-channel distribution.

Conclusion

It’s crucial for retailers to design the best possible customer experience across all retail channels to achieve maximum operational proficiency and omni-channel retail capabilities. Continued analysis of business data and evaluating the needs and expectations of customers can guide channel management and enhance profitability.