In today's rapidly evolving ecommerce industry, businesses need to adopt innovative strategies to stay ahead of the competition and meet the changing demands of customers.
Omnichannel ecommerce is a strategy that has gained immense popularity. In this blog post, we will explore the significance of omnichannel ecommerce, its benefits over multichannel approaches, key statistics highlighting its impact, and practical steps to build a successful omnichannel strategy.
What is omnichannel ecommerce?
Omnichannel ecommerce is a strategy that seamlessly integrates various channels and touchpoints to deliver a consistent and personalized customer experience across all interactions. Unlike multichannel approaches, which focus on having a presence across multiple channels, omnichannel ecommerce strives for a unified and cohesive experience for customers, regardless of the channels they choose to engage with.
Distinguishing omnichannel vs. multichannel
While both omnichannel and multichannel approaches involve utilizing multiple channels, there are key differences between the two.
Multichannel strategies involve operating in various channels independently, with minimal integration between them. On the other hand, omnichannel strategies focus on integrating all channels to create a unified customer journey. The goal is to enable customers to seamlessly transition between channels while experiencing consistent messaging, branding, and service quality.
Benefits of omnichannel ecommerce
Omnichannel ecommerce solutions strategies present several benefits for any size ecommerce business––whether you’re a small business, mid-market, or enterprise. More specifically, this allows you to offer a better, more personalized customer experience, understand the customer journey better, and increase conversions.
Enhance customer satisfaction and increase loyalty: By implementing an omnichannel strategy, businesses can offer more personalized customer experiences. For example, you can tailor your messaging, recommendations, and promotions to individual customers based on their preferences, behaviors, and purchase history. This level of personalization enhances customer satisfaction and fosters loyalty. See more on personalized ecommerce here.
Optimize the customer journey: Omnichannel ecommerce allows businesses to gain deeper insights into customer behavior and preferences across channels to better understand the customer journey. By tracking interactions and touchpoints, businesses can identify patterns, pain points, and opportunities to optimize the customer journey and deliver a more seamless experience.
Boost sales: Businesses can capture more sales opportunities by providing a consistent and convenient shopping experience across channels. Customers can start their journey on one channel and seamlessly complete their purchase on another, removing friction and increasing conversion rates.
5 omnichannel ecommerce statistics
While there are several statistics to prove the benefits of an omnichannel ecommerce strategy, here are the top 5 we think are worth noting.
According to a study, 87% of customers believe brands should put more effort into providing a seamless omnichannel experience. Source: deckcommerce.com
Businesses with strong omnichannel engagement retain, on average, 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for those with weak omnichannel engagement. Source: Forbes
Customers who engage with businesses across multiple channels have a 30% higher lifetime value than those with a single channel. Source: Google
A study found that 71% of customers expect to view in-store inventory online, while 50% expect to buy online and pick up in-store. Source: IBM
On average, brands with a top-performing omnichannel engagement strategy achieve a 9.5% year-over-year increase in annual revenue. Source: Digizuite
Omnichannel ecommerce trends & examples
We got to some above, but there are so many things to consider for an omnichannel ecommerce strategy so you can offer the best customer experience. Let’s look at some of the recent trends you should consider for your business.
Headless commerce: Headless commerce enables stores to quickly customize the shop interface for different devices and channels, integrating various solutions through APIs and providing flexibility to meet evolving customer demands. See headless commerce examples here.
Mobile commerce: Mobile commerce allows customers to shop and make purchases through mobile devices, with the number of mobile shoppers increasing daily and predicted to reach over 187 million in the USA by 2024. See more on mobile commerce here.
Social commerce: Social commerce is gaining acceptance as a growing trend, allowing businesses to reach potential customers worldwide through platforms like Instagram and Facebook. They benefit from automated processes and time savings by integrating their social media channels with their online shops. See more on social shopping here.
Live video shopping: The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of digital commerce, and live video shopping allows for direct customer contact and personal advice, providing an opportunity to attract new customers who may have previously avoided online shopping. See more on video shopping here.
Modern technologies like AR: Augmented reality (AR) offers online merchants the opportunity to virtually integrate products into real environments, providing a better understanding of appearance, increasing customer interaction, reducing return rates, and positively influencing purchasing decisions.
Artificial intelligence (AI): AI in ecommerce utilizes advanced algorithms to analyze customer behavior, predict future purchases, optimize targeted advertising, automate inventory management, and drive sales growth.
Several successful and well-known brands have embraced omnichannel strategies to enhance the customer experience. Here are a few examples:
Starbucks & mobile commerce: Starbucks offers a seamless omnichannel experience through its mobile app, allowing customers to order and pay ahead. The app integrates with in-store systems, enabling customers to pick up their orders without waiting in line.
Nike & headless commerce: Nike provides a unified shopping experience across its website, social media, mobile app, and physical stores. Customers can seamlessly transition between channels, customize products online, and even reserve items for in-store try-ons.
Target & live video shopping: Following the success of their initial live shopping event in 2020, which garnered a Webby nomination and over 70k views on YouTube, Target fully embraced their live shopping strategy in 2022 by collaborating with Stage TEN to produce a 9-episode series centered around the popular Target Challenge trend.
More examples of an omnichannel customer experience consider every step of the customer journey.
Sephora: Sephora combines in-store experiences with its online platform. Customers can book beauty services, try on products in-store, and access their purchase history and personalized recommendations through the Sephora app and website.
Best Buy: Best Buy integrates its online and offline channels by offering in-store pickup for online orders. Additionally, the company provides personalized product recommendations and tailored promotions based on customers' browsing and purchase history.
Building an omnichannel ecommerce strategy
If the above trends and examples interest you, you should start building your omnichannel ecommerce strategy. It may seem like a huge undertaking at the start, but the truth is the benefits pay off. There are several steps you should take when building an effective omnichannel strategy for your ecommerce business, and we’ll take you through each one.
1. Map to the customer journey
Understanding your customers’ journey is crucial for designing an effective omnichannel strategy. Start by identifying the different touchpoints and channels your customers interact with throughout their buying journey. This includes online channels such as websites, mobile apps, social media platforms and offline channels such as physical stores or call centers. By mapping out these touchpoints, you can identify opportunities for integration and ensure a seamless transition for customers between channels
Consider the various stages of the customer journey, such as awareness, consideration, purchase, and post-purchase. Determine how each channel can support customers at different stages and how they can work together to provide a cohesive experience. This mapping exercise will serve as the foundation for your omnichannel strategy.
2. Create engaging content and define channels
Social commerce plays a huge role in ecommerce today, and it should be a channel to explore for your business. Tailoring content to suit each channel is essential for delivering a consistent brand experience. Each channel may have its own unique characteristics and requirements. To get the most out of it, you must adapt your messaging and content to resonate with customers on each channel while maintaining a cohesive brand image and voice.
3. Select the right engagement tools
Leverage various engagement tools and technologies to enhance customer interactions across channels. Examples include chatbots, live chat support, personalized recommendations, and social media messaging.
Integrate chatbots or AI-powered virtual assistants on your website or mobile app to provide instant support and personalized recommendations.
Live chat support lets customers connect with a representative in real-time, resolving concerns or providing assistance during buying.
Use social media messaging platforms to engage with customers and promptly address their inquiries.
These tools can provide real-time assistance, answer customer queries, offer product suggestions, and facilitate a seamless experience.
4. Ensure a mobile-friendly website
While online shopping via mobile devices is only increasing, having a mobile-friendly website is crucial. After all, when considering the customer experience, there’s nothing worse than someone having to wait for your site to load or a button not working. That means your website should be responsive and optimized for mobile devices to ensure a smooth and seamless experience for mobile users. Mobile optimization includes fast loading times, intuitive navigation, and user-friendly interfaces.
Additionally, consider implementing mobile-specific features such as mobile payment options (e.g., digital wallets) and location-based services to enhance the mobile shopping experience. By prioritizing mobile optimization, you can cater to the growing number of customers who prefer to shop on their smartphones and tablets.
5. Data analytics and testing
Data analytics are vital in optimizing your omnichannel strategy. Implement robust analytics tools to gather data on customer interactions, behaviors, and preferences across channels. By analyzing this data, you can gain valuable insights into customer preferences, identify pain points in the customer journey, and optimize your strategy accordingly.
Conduct A/B testing to compare different variations of your omnichannel approach. Test different messaging, content formats, or channel combinations to determine the most effective strategies for engaging customers and driving conversions. Additionally, gather customer feedback through surveys or feedback forms to understand their experiences and incorporate their suggestions for improvement.
Embrace the power of omnichannel ecommerce for your business
Adopting an omnichannel strategy in today's competitive ecommerce landscape is crucial for businesses seeking to deliver a personalized and seamless customer experience. By integrating various channels and touchpoints, businesses can better understand their customers, boost sales and foster loyalty.
Building an effective omnichannel ecommerce strategy involves mapping the customer journey, creating engaging content, selecting the right tools, ensuring a mobile-friendly website, and leveraging data analytics for continuous improvement.
As you embark on your omnichannel journey, consider exploring ecommerce platforms with built-in omnichannel capabilities. Shopware, for instance, offers a comprehensive suite of tools and features designed to facilitate seamless omnichannel experiences for businesses of all sizes. Embrace the power of omnichannel ecommerce to revolutionize your customer experience and drive success in the modern digital landscape.
Contact us today or request a personal product demo to learn more about how Shopware can help you execute an omnichannel strategy and deliver the best personalized and streamlined ecommerce experience for your customers.
