People have been talking about omnichannel in eCommerce for a while now. In this post I’m not going to talk about success stories or how a mega-corporation applies omnichannel. I’ll try to explain the concept itself very simply, with a small example that could be real.
Consumer and channel:
As we all know, everything revolves around the consumer. The consumer profile keeps adapting to its environment and the possibilities it offers, and is becoming increasingly demanding.
Over time, consumers have gone from:
Buying through traditional channels (brick and mortar) or even digital channels, separately, to receiving a multichannel offering.
What is a multichannel offering?
Multichannel, as the name suggests, means reaching the consumer through more than one channel. For example, a physical store that also has an online sales platform and/or an app.
In recent years, many companies that only had a traditional sales channel have moved into the digital channel.
That in itself isn’t news. What is relevant is that more and more digitally native businesses are deciding to explore the “physical store” channel. In the end, it comes down to wanting to improve the experience they offer their users and increase their satisfaction.
At this point, all that’s left is to take the next step…
How is omnichannel defined?
We could define it as the merging of all the channels available to reach the user, creating a single, seamless interaction experience regardless of the channel used.
I’ll borrow this definition:
Omnichannel is the integration of all the channels on the market, creating interconnected paths so that a customer who starts a conversation through one channel can continue it through another.
From multichannel to omnichannel:
So the time has come to unify the different channels and let consumers interact with us from any channel they use. An example of an omnichannel experience could be:
- A consumer / user buys a shirt online (and also earns loyalty epoints that are added to their account).
- They pick up the order at the nearest physical store.
- Once in the store, they exchange it for another size because it’s too small.
- While in the store, they buy a pair of trousers to match the shirt.
- At that moment, the sales assistant offers a discount based on the epoints earned from the online shirt purchase, or the option to add more points to their account for the trousers.
- On the way home, the user notices the trousers have a defect. From the store’s app, they request a return, with the option of returning the item in store or having a logistics provider collect it from home.
What do we achieve?
A unified service at every level, taking the user experience and satisfaction to the highest level.
At TLG Commerce, we’ve been building and growing online sales projects for more than 19 years. If you need any kind of help with your project, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We’ll help you!
