Before, you’ve heard of omnichannel, but how do you create an omnichannel strategy? In short, you must take a multichannel approach to market and sales to provide your customers with a seamless experience. Research has shown that 73% of customers prefer to use multiple shopping channels. The Harvard Business Review has compiled a simple 3-step strategy for creating an omnichannel experience. First, map out your customers’ shopping journeys.
Ensure that the experience is consistent across all possible shopping channels
A customer’s journey may be comprised of multiple touch points, ranging from the first contact with a brand to the last interaction. Consistency across these touch points is essential for high customer satisfaction and loyalty. Several studies have found a direct correlation between the character of the customer experience across different touchpoints and the overall performance of a company. For example, in one study, a team of undercover shoppers visited 50 branches and contacted 50 call centers to assess their customer experience. The highest-performing banks had the best overall customer experience, while the worst-performing ones had the most significant variability across branches and call centers.
Leverage customer data and insights to personalize the user experience
Using customer data and insights, companies can personalize the user experience across channels and increase customer satisfaction. Personalization has yielded a five to eight times ROI on marketing spend. In addition, leveraging customer data can help companies analyze their customers’ data to target their offerings better and make real-time decisions. Using big data is one way to do this.
To understand which channels are working well, companies must consult all levels of staff. By consulting employees and other stakeholders, businesses can identify their customers’ wants and how to best cater to their needs. In addition, the omnichannel strategy can help companies to overcome challenges such as internal objectives. Taking the time to consult with employees helps overcome obstacles and reminds them of the same goals.
Big data can transform marketing initiatives but doesn’t magically transform results. Marketers must understand how to use the data to improve their business and create an unforgettable consumer experience. Many marketers are focused on customer experience, and ensuring a good experience will increase the likelihood that customers will recommend the company. By combining these channels and methods, marketers can personalize the user experience for all channels and boost revenue by up to 95%.
Map out customers’ shopping journeys
When creating an omnichannel strategy, it’s crucial to understand your customers’ shopping journey. This way, you can identify gaps and improve customer engagement from a single dashboard. In addition, omnichannel customer journey mapping can help you understand the different touchpoints of your customer’s journey from purchase to service. For example, an airline business can focus on frequent flyers and travel, while a hotel chain can target customers in the same city.
To create a successful omnichannel strategy, identify your customers’ touchpoints with your brand. These are typically divided into three main categories: physical stores, eCommerce sites, and POS systems. Next, map each touchpoint and evaluate the ease of purchase and security of payment for each. This information can help you make the most relevant offers for your customers. After mapping out the customer journey, analyze the collected data, as it will provide you with invaluable insight into how to make your customers’ shopping experiences even better.
Map out your customers’ shopping journeys in every channel to create a frictionless experience for each customer. A recent study by Forbes Insights and Arm Treasure Data revealed that 75 percent of consumers would purchase based on their knowledge of a brand. Moreover, 77% of customers consider the quality of an experience just as important as the quality of the products. Moreover, omnichannel predictive analytics can help you identify touchpoints likely to influence customer behavior.
