• 3 min read 📖
2017 saw a huge amount of progress when it came to connecting channels and taking on an omnichannel approach to selling, with retailers across the globe realising the importance of merging their stores with online platforms, sales channels and social media sites.
This year it’s likely that even more will be looking to integrate with the relevant channels in order to offer the best service for the modern day consumer.
By definition, omnichannel selling is the fully integrated approach to selling, that provides consumers with a smooth shopping experience through both online and offline channels. For example, omnichannel shopping may stem from a brick and mortar store, through to ecommerce websites, mobile shopping, online marketplaces, social media and even shopping ads.
The idea of omnichannel selling is to be everywhere.
Towards the end of last year, omnichannel selling started to appear as a global retail trend, with many businesses now claiming to have an omnichannel strategy in place, ready to grow in the upcoming year.
These days retailers can’t afford to have a separate online and offline experience, with the evolution of the internet things have changed and consumers are wanting to start the shopping process on one channel and end it elsewhere.
With so many now spending more time online researching and browsing before they make a purchase, be it online or in store. This means that everything has to be the same across the board, meaning the consumer is left with a smooth shopping experience from the get-go.
There’s no reason retailers can’t reap the rewards of omnichannel selling, but only if they know how to connect in the right way, with the more desirable customers. By understanding how shoppers behave and collecting insights on this behaviour, it becomes easier to develop an omnichannel strategy that works well for their business.
With huge brands such as Amazon becoming more focused on omnichannel selling and on the discipline behind it, it’s fair to say that omnichannel shopping presents a change in how we all think about retail and that customer expectation is likely to shift in new ways.
Bringing together the customer experience seamlessly can be a major challenge, however, the next chapter for omnichannel needs to be about developing a much larger system, which is built around the customer. By communicating in smarter ways omnichannel becomes less about just selling and more about creating a solid relationship between your business and the consumer, perfect for business growth.
