Why Focus on Omnichannel Customer Experiences

71% of consumers want a consistent experience across all channels, but only 29% say they actually get it - says a report by Gladly. 

Customer experience (CX) has become increasingly important for businesses that want to define and capture new markets. Enterprises are fast realizing that not much differentiation can be created among their offerings. What they need instead is to deliver great customer experiences that will help them stay ahead of the competition and create a loyal user base.

Delivering omnichannel customer experience is one of the key ways to make it happen. Research shows that omnichannel customers are more likely to engage with a business’ channels, and  are also more valuable because they spend 15-30% more than single-channel customers.

Let’s take an in-depth look at what an omnichannel customer experience entails, and why it is important for your enterprise.

What is an Omnichannel Customer Experience?

Simply put, an omnichannel experience is all about creating a unified, connected experience for customers across all touchpoints of your business. So irrespective of what device or channel they use, your customers will have a consistent and seamless experience throughout. 

The result? A delightful experience that ensures customer satisfaction and engagement. At the same time, customers are able to switch devices without worrying about any information lost.

Consider a user landing on your website to buy a pair of sports shoes. He scrolls through a few of them, adds one to the cart, and then closes your web page without buying. There could be two reasons - the shoe is beyond his budget, or he is unsure of the fitting, and wants to check out more options. 

Now without the omnichannel approach, there are very limited options for what you can do to enhance his experience and help him in his buyer journey. But the omnichannel approach multiplies this possibility. Here’s how:

• You can send an in-app notification on his phone about the item in his cart, and its drop in prices
• Show him ads across devices and multiple channels like Facebook, Instagram, other websites around a range of sports shoes that match his search requirements
• Re-target him on Facebook, and give him an in-store redeemable coupon. So he can try out the shoe in his nearest store, and at the same time look at more options and try them out as well 

As a result of this approach, the customer may eventually find a pair of shoes he likes, and purchase it online or at a nearby store. This is what omnichannel is all about - to create a seamless experience for the user, no matter where or when he is buying, and whether from his desktop, mobile device, or at a brick-and-mortar store.

But to enable this, organizations need to have a close integration between their distribution, promotion and communication channels. Plus, a set of highly interconnected technologies that can bring efficiency, ease, and power to this approach. 

But why is the omnichannel approach so important for enterprises in 2020?

Why Should You Adopt an Omnichannel Strategy? 

Take into account the following stats: 

• 9 out of 10 consumers want an omnichannel experience with seamless service between communication methods
• Companies with omnichannel customer engagement strategies can retain 89% of their customers on average. On the other hand, those with weak omnichannel strategies can retain only 33%
• Omnichannel customers spend 4% more in store and 10% more online than single-channel customers. For every additional channel they use, customers spend more money
• Brands that improve the customer journey see their revenue increase by 10 to 15% while also lowering costs by 15 to 20%

That briefly sums up why adopting an omnichannel strategy is important for your enterprise:

• Customers want it
• It improves customer retention
• It increases your revenue, and also lowers down your cost

In fact, considering that the omnichannel approach involves a full integration of customer interaction data, unified customer experience, and business systems involved across the customer journey, the benefits are immense. Think of all that customer data unified at one place and you can identify ways to leverage it for enhancing customer interaction and experience at a hyper-personalized level.

Brands like Alibaba, Disney and Netflix are leading the game by delivering a consistent experience supported by data, analytics and a whole set of integrated systems at the backend. 

Here’s a look at the benefits an omnichannel approach can bring to your brand:

Better Data Collection and Analysis

Using an omnichannel strategy enables you to collect and unify customer data from disparate channels and systems such as cookies, device IDs, shopping carts, social media, mailing lists, point-of-sale (PoS) systems, loyalty and referral programs. 

As a result, you can maintain a 360-degree view of each consumer who engages with your brand. You can use this data to analyze your customer behavior, interests, and intent for better campaign design that will ultimately lead to higher conversion rate.

Improved Targeting

Conducting a consumer data analysis will help you identify your ideal customers and segment them according to their intent. This will empower you to create better campaign designs and improve your targeting.

So if a customer has bought a double bed, you can cross-sell or upsell to them by showing ads for sofa sets, or dining tables.

Creates Contextual Experiences across all Channels

An omnichannel approach creates better synergy across all channels by engaging with consumers through any channel they prefer, as well as connecting those conversations across other channels — without losing any data or context. 

Walgreens’ mobile app allows users to manage their pharmacy prescriptions, fill out rapid refill requests, find deals on products in the stores, as well as make orders that they can pick up at the nearest location. Because of your integrated processes, they can enable all those activities in no time, and help improve a user’s in-store experience.

Owing to these advantages, an organization adopting the omnichannel approach will be able to quickly differentiate themselves and gain a critical advantage over their competitors. In fact, moving to an omnichannel perspective may be the single most important project for improving the customer experience that any organization can undertake this year.

The next question to tackle would be how to roll out an omnichannel strategy, the challenges to expect, and how to get past them. Additionally, take your time and research an effective digital omnichannel solution that matches your needs, and to carefully plan out your digital customer journey.

Looking to build and scale omnichannel solutions for your enterprise? Drop us a line and our expert team will be in touch.