Omni-channel retailing transcends what has been largely siloed, multichannel consumer communications with personalized and consistent engagement across all channels and touch points. The days of simply talking about omni-channel as a theory or future capability are past. Leading retailers now recognize that omni-channel sales and service engagement is no longer a differentiator but instead is fast becoming the new norm and a cost of doing business if you expect to retain and grow retail consumers – and particularly the most loyal consumers with the highest spend.
Retail Systems Research (RSR) Retail Insight report found that while omni-channel retailing is top of mind with retail executives, 94% of e-retailers have not yet executed omni-channel strategies. “The move toward omni-channel represents a ‘reset moment’ for the retail industry,” advises Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at RSR, “… rising consumer expectations remain relentless, particularly around omni-channel fulfillment.”
Research from Forrester echoes the challenge. A Forrester study titled, “Customer Desires vs. Retailer Capabilities: Minding the Omnichannel Commerce Gap,” found that retailers view omnichannel maturity as a key brand differentiator for their companies, and improving their ability to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience across all channels as a top priority but that 94% of retail decision-makers surveyed said that their companies face significant barriers to becoming an integrated omnichannel company.
Despite the undeniable mandate to meet consumers in the channels they frequent, achieving personalized and consistent consumer conversations across channels is a complex undertaking.
To meet this challenge, retailers must recognize omnichannel as more than an integration exercise as any technology deployment in the absence of accompanying strategy and supporting processes will result in the all too predictable scenario where systems are always trying to catch up to consumer demands and retailer objectives.
Retailers should further recognize that omnichannel retailing is much more about the consumer experience, not just channels of communication. Omni-channel retailers will interact with customers in stores, websites, chat, tablets, kiosks, mail, catalogs, contact centers, social media, mobile devices, and many more forums. But these channels are just the mediums, not the strategy. The primary omni-channel goal is to let customers experience the brand rather than the channel. The channel is the means to the goal, not the goal itself.
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