The idea of omnichannel is no longer new: it represents a consumer desire. Therefore, it is necessary to be flexible and develop an integrated model of access to the company to optimize customer satisfaction and obtain a series of other benefits. When we talk about this, we are referring to a powerful trend in digital transformation.
In this sense, it is always good to clarify the difference between omnichannel and the concept of multichannel. This way, each company will be able to assess its condition and understand whether or not it is closer to achieving the necessary results.
To learn more about the subject and get useful tips to apply in your work, be sure to check out the topics below!
What is Omnichannel?
Omnichannel is the simultaneous integration of all a company’s channels, in order to generate a unique experience for the customer, across all of them. Likewise, it represents a connection between the offline and online universe, in which there is a fluid transition between these channels to facilitate processes.
In other words, if the consumer begins contact or a transaction in one of these means, they can easily continue in another, without significant and noticeable interruptions. This is a strong current trend, in which customer behavior seeks this type of practicality. For this to happen, you need to think about the entire customer journey.
Most people use both offline and online means to reach a purchasing decision. They always move between different communication channels, depending on the need.
In other words, they can easily be in contact on social networks and then visit the physical store or start by chatting on the website and then access the page on one of the networks. The user’s journey, from the first time they see something from the brand to the purchase, is marked by several points of interaction, in which each aspect matters. In this sense, it is necessary to integrate all these points and effectively make them one.
This also includes the use of different devices. As crucial as the notion of omnichannel is that of mobility and responsiveness. The company must be able to be on different channels, as well as available to users who are using any type of device and system.
It is necessary to think about solutions for the mobile world (mobile first) and connect this universe to others. The omnichannel world represents a global change in the attitude of marketing, sales and customer service professionals, with a unified view of customers, which allows for better services and strategies.
Customer experience and user experience
The idea of omnichannel is associated with user experience, UX, and customer experience, CX. It brings together a set of efforts to generate the best possible experience at all points, which includes quality of service, use of information, time to reach solutions, personalization of contact, ease of purchase, among other issues.
By maintaining a standard of user experience, the company can guarantee its competitiveness. There are some peripheral concepts to the idea of omnichannel, as mentioned in the introduction.
Crosschannel, one of these, is already a path closer to what omnichannel is, in fact. There is an interesting diversity of channels and greater connections between them. However, omnichannel means evolving from this to the maximum level of integration possible, with concrete and flawless results.
What are the existing omnichannel channels?
Social media
Currently, social networks represent one of the pillars of Marketing 4.0, as they allow companies to listen and interact, in a more horizontal and human relationship and gather in-depth insights about their customers. Furthermore, in each network, there is the possibility of establishing direct contact with customers, in order to listen to their doubts, convince them and resolve problems and difficulties.
Thus, they become one of the most important channels that must be integrated into an omnichannel strategy. It is necessary to start in the networks and move on to others in a fluid way, as well as the opposite: starting in other points and reaching the networks in an imperceptible way.
In conclusion, brands can use social media to build brand awareness, sell and service (SAC).
Email is another very powerful means of contact. It allows for direct, personalized messaging that directly reaches customers at the right time and can help prepare them for their purchasing decision.
Behind each strategy, there is a set of tools (marketing automation, customer data platform, …) that work with data to know exactly what type of email to send, who to send it to and when to send it.
Chat
There are also instant messaging mechanisms, which make it possible to send and receive requests more quickly. Among them is chat which, in addition to existing on social networks, can be implemented separately on a company website. Therefore, they must be connected to allow people to be served with maximum proactivity.
Other Channels
We can also mention:
- telephone, which allows for more direct and real-time contact;
- SMS, which is a form of contact similar to social media chat;
- direct channels in the offline world, such as customer service and interaction with employees.
We also have the main website, blogs, hotsites and company applications. For example, the app can be used to optimize processes and shorten deadlines, in order to generate even greater satisfaction.
And in the end, a channel can still be incorporated or be part of another channel, such as chat within an app.
What are the benefits of an omnichannel strategy?
In this section, we will begin to address the benefits of an omnichannel strategy and shed further light on the subject.
Digitization and Process Integration
The most efficient way to make a company omnichannel is through technology. By itself, this process typically adds efficiency to the business. Furthermore, it allows the collection of more (digital) information and its correct storage.
Company loyalty
The first point is a considerable optimization of the consumer/user experience, which leads to these people’s loyalty. After all, omnichannel allows the organization to satisfy the needs of its customers, meeting them at each point of interaction and offering a consistent, quality service across all of them.
In this way, it is possible to develop the relationship with the customer, in order to make them loyal to the company. As greater value will be generated, with fewer problems in each contact, this allows people to find what they need without bureaucracy and errors.
Furthermore, it will be possible to think of optimized and segmented strategies, which combine different methods to make people’s lives easier, while overcoming geographical and temporal barriers. With the simultaneous interaction of channels, consumers can reach their goals instantly, as they desire.
So, based on this global UX improvement, the company is able to ensure that the consumer always comes back to contact and buy from the organization. It is also possible to make them become advocates for the brand, those who recommend it to other people and bring in new customers.
Process optimization
Omnichannel also implies the optimization of internal processes, as it reorganizes the operations routine. As the integration of technologies and tools is at the heart of the strategy, it is possible to achieve greater agility in everyday tasks and continuous improvements. This represents a considerable evolution for customers, as well as for the company itself.
At the core of this concept is digital transformation, with the use of innovative solutions in order to automate activities and eliminate common bottlenecks. In this way, companies become more proactive and efficient, offering greater value to users/customers and internal stability.
Time reduction
It is possible to create increasingly agile strategies for consumers when the company focuses on omnichannel. Integration and standardization favor quick and proactive actions at all points and channels, so that fewer errors and bottlenecks arise.
From this, the company can become more productive, dealing with more people at the same time and solving more demands, with the same quality and consistency.
Performance monitoring
Another advantage of having this digitalized control is the possibility of collecting data and monitoring all channels. This way, managers are able to make better decisions to optimize operations and performance at points of interaction, with data that monitors processes and insights that generate a broad vision.
This makes it possible to gather valuable information about what is happening and further optimize everyone’s work. This occurs through the ease of collecting data with reports and indicators of service, marketing actions and other areas.
This way, it is possible to identify possible performance problems and resolve these issues in a timely manner.
Collecting data about customers
In addition to collecting more data on employee performance, the omnichannel strategy also allows you to better understand who your customers are and what they are doing. Since the company is able to monitor all points, it is possible to monitor consumer behavior and understand them better.
From this, it becomes viable to investigate in more depth how the organization can offer personalized value to them and solve their pain points.
Cost reduction
By improving the overall experience, as we have already pointed out, it is possible to reduce the costs of acquiring new customers. This is a natural consequence of your audience’s loyalty.
After all, they start to contribute to your company and gain new contacts, so you don’t need to invest a lot in trying to find new contacts from scratch. It’s like having a recommendation machine working organically in your favor.
Alignment
If the company has several fronts, it probably needs strategies to standardize the way it works and communicates, in order to maintain control and consistency. Using the integration strategy, it is possible to achieve this result in a practical and natural way.
Improved communication
Omnichannel is one of the best approaches for managers who need different sectors of a company to communicate, share data and be able to truly work together.
This way, it is possible to guarantee a single organization at all points, with a strong spirit of collaboration. All of this helps with business expansion and easier access to information.
What are the main omnichannel strategies?
Within this category are approaches that combine offline and online or those that relate different instances of the digital, as defined previously. One of these actions is geofencing, which stands out with the connection between the real and the virtual world, enabling greater agility and proactivity in solving common consumer problems.
It works like this: when the user passes by the store, the company’s app starts to trigger some notifications, which could be discounts or specific offers to attract people. Thus, it is viable to ensure that they enter the store and buy something.
If they don’t take it directly, there is another omnichannel option that offers even more options at the time of the transaction. This is showrooming, which allows you to analyze products in the store and buy online, in order to receive the merchandise later and have a greater variety of payment options.
This is a solution, mainly, for companies to present a larger stock of products and satisfy the demand and needs of their customers.
There is also click & ship, which consists of viewing a product in the physical store, purchasing it on the mobile app and receiving it at home. In other words, from two integrated channels, the customer can easily start a process in the offline world and continue in the digital environment, without delays or interruptions.
Webrooming is a little different, as it works based on online research, with virtual products, and purchase at the physical headquarters. This is an approach that aims to reduce product delivery time, as well as speed up customers’ lives, as they do not need to waste time looking for items in the physical store.
It is also possible to have apps that contain information about products and allow access to them quickly, simply by reading codes.
Finally, multichannel call centers allow customers to obtain information themselves, consulting knowledge bases and opening tickets if necessary on the service portal. Also get in touch through different channels: telephone, SMS, social media and online chat. And in addition, customer service bots can help resolve many situations, using natural language.
Active omnichannel
As we already mentioned, the act of starting to be interested in a product on social media and being able to complete the process on the website or via email is also omnichannel in action. Likewise, a service that begins with a chat session and continues via email is omnichannel. In this case, all data is transferred, and the email message is already part of the chat history.
It is worth mentioning the forms of cross selling and upselling, which are manifested in different media. An example of this would be a purchase that takes place in the company’s app or website, being followed by an email with news of what the customer could get in addition to what they previously purchased. This increases the chances of new purchases.
What are the differences between omnichannel and multichannel?
Multichannel is based on a set of separate channels, in which the company is present independently. For example, a company works with strategies in its stores and is also on the internet with websites, social networks and emails.
It is a way of responding to customer behavior, which is currently found in different media and has a series of tools available for this. However, in multichannel, these channels are not interconnected. The consumer cannot move from one medium to another fluidly without noticing sudden interruptions.
Likewise, if a service starts on one channel, on the other, the consumer will have to start over, with all the data, as there is no unification of the information base. In other words, these means of communication do not converge on a single message about the company.
On the other side of this is omnichannel, with a connected approach, in order to eliminate bureaucracy and streamline operations.
How to make your business omnichannel?
Now, let’s check out some practical tips and ideas to make this strategy a reality in your company. Initially, it is essential to better understand the customer, as the strategy is centered on them.
Therefore, the organization must understand the consumer journey very well and map all points of interaction, in order to know where they actually are. This is a way of identifying customer preferences and knowing which channels the company should prioritize in its approach.
Next, work needs to be focused on eliminating bureaucracy in all forms of contact. In other words, the ideal is to also try to map the internal processes and services offered to customers, in order to try to identify possible stuck points and bottlenecks that can be optimized. From this, some actions involving transitions between channels will be implemented.
Therefore, it is necessary to actually integrate the channels. This involves creating a unified database and using management platforms that are accessible to employees. In physical stores, employees should be able to view the same data that is accessed by employees who deal with the website and the application. In other words, technology is fundamental.
In this sense, the company must use what was collected from users as a guide to know exactly where to apply its efforts. As we know, there is an incredible infinity of channels and means of interaction, but analyzing user behavior will help you know what is worth it.
It is also interesting to establish some standards for internal processes, as well as for the actions of professionals. This way, you ensure that everything works consistently at all times, with mutual cooperation between all parts of the organization.
What are the main challenges of omnichannel?
As much as this concept is so relevant and modern, with impacts and advantages demonstrated to everyone, it is necessary to reflect on the challenges. Access to appropriate technologies is one of these obstacles.
After all, you need to know what to invest in and which solution to prioritize to establish integration. However, there are several alternatives. Making the right decision to achieve the expected result can be a challenge.
Having a well-organized and precise technological infrastructure to ensure that users are always moving between points without problems can be a very complex issue. Lack of resources and investment is one of the main reasons for omnichannel not advancing, as 64% of companies responded in a CMO Club survey.
In some cases, the process requires the use of a centralizing system, such as an ERP. However, there may be a difficulty associated with implementing this type of software, so that there are no failures and insecurity.
The good news is that there are currently several software platforms that simplify this process, such as Salesforce and Dynamics 365. The latter also has the advantage of integrating ERP and CRM into a single platform.
The other issue is training the entire team to deal with this concept. It is a problem to align all members with new technologies and paradigms in order to achieve success with the strategy. Attention is needed to ensure that everyone is connected to internal needs and aware of the power of innovations to help overcome problems of lack of integration. Often times, it is necessary to change the company culture.
In this sense, we can mention the difficulty in aligning and standardizing all operations, in order to generate this consistent and necessary image.
What are the biggest examples of omnichannel in Brazil and around the world?
Disney allows its users integrated and dynamic control via the cell phone application. You can control the places visited, reservations and meal breaks. Furthermore, in the app, visitors can see what the queue is like for a particular attraction and can plan ahead.
Starbucks also offers control through the app, allowing orders and payments via cell phone. Thus, the user achieves autonomy, even when they are in a physical location, with employees.
Centauro, in turn, invested in practicality by enabling the exchange of products in a physical store. This means consumers can try out the items and have no problem purchasing the merchandise that is best suited to them next.
Magazine Luiza also modernized its operations with an application to facilitate transactions and product searches. Likewise, it is possible to buy items online and pick them up in a physical store, eliminating delays and shipping costs.
Timberland offers some devices that allow you to discover information about products by approaching them. Furthermore, over time, the system is able to learn about users and make personalized recommendations.
Netflix has another successful model: it allows the user to move from one device to another and continue exactly where they left off in a film or series they are watching.
Omnichannel strategies are nothing new. It is necessary to pay attention to the benefits of this approach, as well as ways of applying it so that companies remain competitive and stand out in the market. From this, it is possible to optimize the consumer experience and obtain more profit.
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