Latest update: March 2023 | by Lili
Is going omnichannel worth it?
Table of contents
Omnichannel marketing is “the integration and cooperation of the various channels organisations use to interact with consumers, with the goal of creating a consistent brand experience.” Including both physical and online outlets, omnichannel aims to give consumers a seamless, enjoyable shopping and brand experience.
Rather than working in parallel, various channels of communication work together so that the customer benefits from engaging in different ways. For example, customers starting their shopping journey in the physical store, then checking out products on the brand’s website, and finally, concluding their purchase on a desktop computer are able to do so without interruption and annoying loss of data across channels.
The benefits of omnichannel
An omnichannel approach helps brands widen their reach, increase sales and drive traffic to their sites. Since omnichannel integrates all channels into one overarching experience, it incorporates the entire shopping journey of a customer, starting from the marketing funnel and finishing at after-purchase customer care.
This means that omnichannel also helps brands streamline their strategies across channels and create a more consistent, more reliable image.
Find out why your brand’s image matters!
At the end of the day, the biggest benefit is a happy and loyal customer. Instead of starting over when they’re switched from one channel to the other, customers are able to go on their journey right where they left off on the previous channel.
This ensures a seamless, fast and organic customer journey minimising frustrations that may arise out of repeating the same steps (e.g. selecting the product, giving their data, etc) over and over again. No wonder that omnichannel customers spend 15-30% more than single- or multichannel shoppers.
Which brands use omnichannel retail?
Mulberry began its successful omnichannel approach a few years ago with the help of technology firm Farfetch. The goal was to strengthen consistency across platforms, including their flagship store in London and e-Commerce sites, and to reach a new global audience looking for luxury products online.
Another great example is US department store Target, known for its red bulls’ eye logo and heavy discount sales. Target teamed up with Pinterest and integrated Pinterest’s lens feature into Target’s own app. The result: when customers point the Lens to an object, the Target apps displays a product listing closely matching it, allowing customers to purchase the desired object right away.
Screenshot of target.com’s homepage
The omnichannel approach resonates with most retail companies because aligning content and messaging across all channels makes absolute sense.for them to align all of their content to fit.
Another well-known example of omnichannel is Disney. A company with such diverse assets from theme parks to TV channels, blockbuster movies to traditional physical stores, Disney really needs to coordinate messaging and streamline its operations.
A good starting point for any customer is the central Disney website. From then on, journeys can branch off to parks, the Disney + platform, stores and movies. But whichever way you’ll go, you’ll find a consistent company image, streamlined messaging and a seamless way forward to whatever type of Disney entertainment you’re choosing that day.
Screenshot of disney.com displaying the various starts to customer journeys
What are the risks of an omnichannel approach?
Every coin has two sides, and benefits seldom come without risks. Indeed, omnichannel retail poses certain challenges for brands that you should be aware of before taking the leap.
Bottlenecks in data synchronisation
When doing omnichannel, you have to make sure that all channels are on the same page all the time. If data streams pouring in from your channels don’t fit together perfectly, information may get lost and significant bottlenecks can arise. These result in glitches, unfulfilled orders and ultimately, dissatisfied customers.
To prevent this from happening, you need to have a good e-Commerce system in place that is able to quickly synchronise and manage both incoming and outgoing data to and from all your channels. Also, consider running regular tests to make sure that all channels are functioning properly without any bottlenecks.
Ineffective integration
For the omnichannel approach to work effectively, all channels should be treated equally. However, if any one channel is given priority over the others, customers in the neglected channels may suffer delays and other problems which may fall back on your brand.
This issue can also be solved through a good e-Commerce system that ensures the equal treatment of all channels and customer orders, as well as the regular testing of your operations.
Threat of IP infringements
An omnichannel retail approach requires an omnichannel brand protection approach. First and foremost, this obviously includes the protection of your brand’s name and IP assets on all of your sales channels. And also on channels you’re not even present on.
Whether you like it or not, fraudsters may choose to offer fake, grey market or lookalike versions of your products on your chosen sales channels, and also those (e.g. less reputable online marketplaces, app stores, etc.) you probably decided not to use for your brand.
globaleyez’s services are geared towards detecting and stopping such practices. For example, our marketplace monitoring service uncovers unauthorised product listings on over 150 online marketplaces worldwide, while our social media monitoring service detects infringing content like ads, posts and listings on social media platforms.
Second, our services can assist you in fine-tuning your omnichannel operations. Our test purchase service, for instance, can help you determine the efficiency of your sales channels. We can set up test purchases across all of your sales channels and markets to give insight into their operations, potential bottlenecks and areas of improvement.
Conclusion
The omnichannel approach has countless benefits for brands, but it’s not without its challenges. globaleyez’s online brand protection services can assist you with setting up and testing the performance of your omnichannel approach, while protecting your IP rights across all channels.
Contact us if you have any questions about our assistance with omnichannel retail, or any concerns about the protection of your IP rights.
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