Omnichannel
How Omnichannel Attracts More Customer
The term omnichannel refers to a multichannel sales strategy used by traders and companies to provide their customers with a flawless experience when shopping with them. The approach gives a perfect faultless experience and is able to combine online, telephone, or even brick and motor shopping experiences (Bell, Santiago, and Antonio 7). The ability to integrate customers’ experience in all these platforms makes it a convenient approach as compared to other sales approaches. The approach allows customers to feel treated in a more meaningful manner and may in turn remain loyal to the business.
Just as the term omnipresent means being in many places at the same time, so does the term omni-channel refer to being able to do shopping in multiple channels. The trick behind omnichannel attracting more customers is therefore its ability to provide customers with multiple shopping platforms and its tendency to create loyalty among clients (Dorman 3). Unlike the traditional programs which had to wait for the business to acquire clients before they start engaging and retaining them, omnichannel do all these at the same time; it acquire, grow, engage and retain clients at the same time.
The approach is also able to attract more clients because it maximizes on marketing across many platforms and channels. This is intended to create a lifetime loyalty among clients. Omnichannel manages to attract more clients than the multichannel approach because, despite its integration of many channels, it provides customers with a surprisingly simple ,fun and engaging experience, it is also available 24/7 every day (Brynjolfsson, Yu and Mohammed 23). Omnichannel has succeeded to create effective customer engagement, and this has only helped to promote customer loyalty of the businesses that apply this sales approach.
Benefits of Omnichannel to Small Company
Small companies have always had the disadvantage of limited space, hence limiting the number, and variety of products that could be stocked or supplied by the small company (Bell, Santiago, and Antonio 13). It is now possible to have a product sold by a retailer without displacing a product from another company from the shelf. E-commerce sites have enabled retailers to have large assortments of goods and products on their online stores without displacing others. The retailers can now try out a new product from a company on their online stores and only have them in their brick and motor shops after gaining customers.
It is true to say that omnichannel is important to small companies. New companies have one sole aim – to reach out and find clients for their products. Small companies are able to obtain data from they get from interactions with the customers online(Golombek 16). This is done through the inquiries made by clients, purchases done online, social media conversations and this helps small business to improve on its customer experience. Doing this would enable the business to build customer loyalty with time and start realizing profits necessary for growth.
Omnichannel approach also improves a small company’s competitiveness and makes it able to compete with other established companies on a level-ground. It is therefore important of small business to ensure that they create very reliable and effective channels, which clients can trust to satisfy their needs. Clients need to feel like they have the power to compare prices and the chooses on the one they are comfortable with, they are also looking for great deals and need faster shipping of their products to where they are(Golombek 12). Omnichannel provides all these and every modern client browses online for business that would provide them with such services. A small business, which wishes to survive the competition must therefore strive to provide customers with all these services, which are only possible through omnichannel.
How Omnichannel Increases Sales
Retail sales done online and on mobile devices are estimated to be over $ 1.25 trillion because of the revolutionized retail sector by the e-commerce. Clients are connected everywhere with their mobile phones and other mobile gadgets. Consumers are able to use the tools available on these devices to research products before making a decision to buy them. The omnichannel approach is able to increase sales of a business integrating all the marketing strategies and maximizing all the channels available to a business.
The approach has connected traditional shops, applications and even the e-commerce platforms and the clients who do their shopping online are likely to spend 208% more than the clients who shop at the physical shop (Brynjolfsson, Yu, and Mohammed 27). Clients need options and that is exactly what omnichannel provides them with, they need to do their research and then choose the best product. The ability to do shopping and then the product is shipped to their place encourages clients who would otherwise have ignored the product because of the distance. Increased sales are possible because of the repeat customers who do regular shopping with a business. The approach has increased sales because of its leveraging on five main strategies;
- increasing business and securing new clients for a business
- driving increased sales from returning loyal clients
- reducing attrition, that is losing the existing clients
- maximizing on the effectiveness of marketing strategies
- leveraging on data from clients and potential clients
- Building brand loyalty, which ensures steady sales.
Works Cited
Bell, David R., Santiago Gallino, and Antonio Moreno. “Inventory showrooms and customer migration in Omni-channel retail: The effect of product information.” (2013).Retrieved from < http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2370535>
Brynjolfsson, Erik, Yu Jeffrey Hu, and Mohammad S. Rahman. “Competing in the age of omnichannel retailing.” MIT Sloan Management Review 54.4 (2013): 23-29.Retrieved from < http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/competing-in-the-age-of-omnichannel-retailing/>
Dorman, Alec J. “Omni-channel retail and the new age consumer: an empirical analysis of direct-to-consumer channel interaction in the retail industry.” (2013).Retrieved from < http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1667&context=cmc_theses>
Golombek, Jessica. Omni-channel: The Future of Retailing. Working Paper, The Pennsylvania State University, retrieved from http://www. personal. psu. edu/users/j/l/jlg5690/images/White Paper. pdf , 2013.