The focal point is to coordinate
processes and technologies across channels to provide the customer with a consistent, seamless, and
relatable customer experience.
Your different channels must cooperate; otherwise, it can create problems with supply chains, and it can be challenging to develop a consistent and relatable customer experience. An omnichannel mindset sheds light on this issue. The focal point is to coordinate processes and technologies across channels to provide the customer with a consistent, seamless, and relatable customer experience.
Omnichannel is about giving your customers a consistent cross-channel experience, thus improving the customer experience. The key is integrating the various touchpoints that the customers encounter on their purchase journey with the technical solutions that ensure that prices, selection, and pick-up options are the same across channels.
Hopefully, you have now gained an understanding of what the focal point in an omnichannel mindset is and why it can be valuable to implement as a business model.
To obtain a deeper understanding of omnichannel, however, it may be relevant to turn back time a bit and look at the journey from single channel to multi channel, from multi channel to cross channel and from cross channel to omnichannel.
Before the Internet was a fundamental part of every customer's daily life, most retailers only sold their goods through a single channel - the physical store. With the advent of the Internet, many have expanded their presence, but the single channel business model still exists. Single channel means that you only sell your products through one channel. It can be either a physical store, a webshop, or something completely different.
Omnichannel is perceived as a further development of the cross channel. The aim is that your customer's shopping journey, across your channels, work even more smoothly. They must be offered an even more seamless and relatable shopping experience - no matter which channel they choose to shop on. With a cross channel business model, your channels are connected. With an omnichannel business model, they are integrated. This is reflected in the fact that information your customers have entered on one channel can be transferred to other channels - both physical and digital. For example, your customer can create a profile on your webshop that will also be available on a mobile device application, and which they may also be able to access from a screen in your physical store.
When you integrate your various channels, you only need to maintain data in one place, and that is, in addition to streamlining your time, associated with several benefits. You get more valid data, and you ensure that your customers experience consistency in prices and stock across your channels. That way, your business becomes more reliable, and your customers more loyal.
Unified commerce is a further
development of omnichannel, which briefly explained is a total solution that allows you to execute on your omnichannel business model.
Unified commerce is a further development of omnichannel, which briefly explained is a total solution that allows you to execute on your omnichannel business model. Your database is integrated and exchanged directly between your channels. Thus, you achieve an overall picture of your customer that gives you insight into your customer's needs and desires here-and-now. With this knowledge, you can tailor personalized offers to your customers, and give them a personalized service when shopping in your physical store. That way, you can increase your chances of both upselling and additional sales.
An example of a Danish retail company that has had great success in implementing an omnichannel business model and using unified commerce to execute this is Matas. In a presentation for FDIH Customer, Insights and Omnichannel Manager, Stefan Kirkedal, says that Matas has access to data from 1.5 million people through their members club Club Matas. With access to this data, they can create a unique experience for their customers no matter what channel they are shopping on. According to Stefan Kirkedal, the number of omnichannel customers has grown, and they also shop more. Today, omnichannel customers are an increasing share of Matas' revenue. In addition to Matas, Bog & Idé has been successful in implementing an omnichannel business model.
For Bog & Idé, Click and Collect has proved to be valuable. According to Impact, 65% of Bog & Idé's online orders are picked up in their physical stores. Even though their industry, in general, is having a hard time, they have experienced growth in 2018 - two years after they implemented their omnichannel strategy. Like Matas, Bog & Idé also uses data to get the most value out of their omnichannel business model. Impact writes that Bog & Idé's physical stores with the tool Raptor use real-time data from their webshop to gain insight into which books their customers buy. With that knowledge, they can strategically place popular books visibly in their stores.
Earlier this year, Føtex launched their loyalty application føtex Plus,where they provide personalized offers and discounts to users of the app. This is another example of a retail company that has created a successful omnichannel business by focusing on the value of the data they receive from their customers.
