The omni-channel retail world is evolving at warp speed as was evidenced at the recent eTail West event in San Antonio, Tex. Retailers from all ends of the industry converged to immerse themselves in digital marketing and omni-channel strategies that will propel their organizations forward.
Top-of-mind for many retailers these days is building seamless, customer-centric experiences across all digital channels and brick-and-mortar locations to provide the customer with an immersive experience — and making data optimization and holistic analytics second nature to their marketing strategies.
During a keynote presentation, a major box and online retail brand focused on several touchpoints for omni-channel success:
- Fix the basics
An omni-channel retail strategy is about understanding, analyzing, and enhancing the entire customer experience — whether it’s online, in-store, or an international/global-scale transaction. Make the purchasing experience as seamless and rewarding as possible across all channels. Be as transparent as possible and receptive to customer feedback wherever that data generates – and have common customer identification across all channels for customer continuity, whether they are on a mobile device or interacting from a different access point.
- Iterate and grow
Internal and external objectivity is critical to understanding your pitfalls, pain-points, and strengths. Be honest about what’s working and what’s not. Be willing to adjust processes accordingly and grow from there. Build out internal teams with knowledgeable personnel that bring insight, foresight, agility, and speed to the organization.
- Raise expectations
Be the best you can be. Raise the bar across the industry and with it, the high level of service and experience you offer the customer. The intent is to be as customer-centric as possible, as one brand, one product. Provide them with the same quality experience via whatever channel they choose to access your product or message. Make it the best experience possible at every point.
- Adopt the right technology
Avoid silos and poor customer visibility by bringing technology resources in-house for greater control over company data, search, insights, and analytics for a single customer view – and the ability to react to them wherever and whenever they are. That way a retail brand can more accurately understand the client’s preferred journey – either online, in-store, or on a mobile device.