February 12, 2021
With new norms being set into place, online ecommerce has become even more relevant. The already growing channel is thriving more than ever putting traditional retail stores in danger. Moving into the reopening of retail stores, it is important to acknowledge this ever-growing channel and the way consumers are shopping now. Extensive research has shown that winning companies are using omnichannel techniques to stay at the top.
What is an omnichannel?
With growing technology and a quick moving society, companies can no longer just be online or offline, they need to work with both channels and both channels need to be seamless. In other words, an omnichannel is giving consumers a seamless experience between online and offline channels – these channels are not different, they are the same and they work together.
Ok, well why is this so important?
Consumers have so much technology and information at their fingertips, causing them to naturally want to move quickly. Since they know the technology is available, they want to have seamless experiences through all channels. In other words, it is important that you are giving consumers the same experiences through online and offline channels. Especially now that online shopping has been so prevalent, it is important to give the same offline experiences through your online channel, like your website or social media.
Believe it or not, but customers have memories.
Meaning, they know what they have been told on one channel, so they expect to go to the next channel and see the same thing. Again, the experience needs to be seamless.
Where does traditional media come into play like TV, Radio and Direct Mail?
Well for one, these are offline channels that can be useful depending on your business. Being able to utilize these channels and direct consumers to your store or website is beneficial and guarantees a greater likelihood that that consumers will visit your online store – utilizing multiple channels only increases the chances that you reach your target market and the chances this market will partake in a conversion.
However, again, it is important that the movement from this offline channel to the online channel is seamless. Meaning, if you send direct mail and you hope there is a conversion on your website, put a QR code on the mailing. With this, it is important your website is up to date to match the current mailings. This is another important factor of seamlessness consumers are looking for because again, they have memories and went to the website because of the direct mail. If the mailing and website do not match, it will result in many questions, confusion and frustration.
This seamless, omnichannel technique is imperative for any relationship building between a consumer and your brand. The easier it is to move from channel to channel and the more they feel appreciated, the more likely they are to purchase or convert.
