Omnichannel: How Is It Thriving Ecommerce Retail Market?

Do you know more than 80% of retail customers conduct online research before buying any product?

As consumers tend to switch between different channels, their retail experience is somewhat disconnected. In this fiercely competitive digital era, if you have only a retail store sell your products, you may not be able to sustain the market competition for the long run. Hence, retail business owners are adopting the eCommerce platform and another medium to deliver an omnichannel retail experience to the shoppers. This article us a comprehensive guide that gives you detailed information about how omnichannel thrives eCommerce retail market.

But, before we move on to further details, let’s understand the basics.

What Is The Omnichannel Retail?

The omnichannel retail experience aims to provide consumers seamless, continuous, and integrated shopping experience as they switch between channels the retailer is offering. Generally, omnichannel retail unifies both online (with mobile devices) and offline (in-store) shopping experience. In short, omnichannel retail is a complete integrated approach to eCommerce which extends to social media, eCommerce marketplace, and traditional stores.

Omni-channel eCommerce solutions usually go beyond brick-and-mortar to online stores including;

Ecommerce platforms
Social media marketing, retargeting, and sales
Messaging and SMS
Mobile websites
Mobile applications
Personalized email marketing, etc.

At its core, omnichannel marketing is a multi-channel approach to sell products. It provides customers with a unified overall shopping experience. They can transition from shopping online on a desktop, laptop, or tablet, to the phone, or a brick-and-mortar store, and the experience will be flawless. This experience cultivates a greater sense of acquaintanceship and relationship with the brand. And, surely, it impacts positive brand image and retention rates.

Its sole purpose is to provide a single buyer journey on any platform of the retail business. The multiple ways to purchase a product from a company attracts customers to stay connected for a long time. In fact, because of this approach custom eCommerce solutions are in demand. More and more retail business owners want to create an online platform to boost sales.

Now, let’s look at how the omnichannel approach works for eCommerce retailers.

Enhanced Productivity

When you develop an omnichannel retail strategy, it enables you to provide a consistent experience to the potential consumers across all platforms (online and offline). It also allows retailers to respond to their customers’ needs with a standard, central database of products, offers, prices, etc.

The consistency on all platform increase overall productivity for your retail business. Thus, the consumer can experience the brand with commodities and promotional offers that are consistent across all the retail channels. So, the physical outlets become expansions of the main supply chain. Although the purchase occurs in a retail store, the buyer researches the same products on several communication channels.

Higher Profit Margins

A well-developed online sales structure on an eCommerce platform reduces the occurrence of various discounting schemes. In the traditional retailing, huge discounts are offered only to those merchandises that are not getting sold quickly in particular shops. However, with omnichannel retailing, businesses can sell these products to their consumers at the full price easily without offering additional discounts.

Improved Data Collection

You can personalize customer experience if your business becomes visible over multiple channels. It will be easier for you to track customers’ behavior, preferences, and shopping habits. These data help you to identify the strategies to increase sales. The unique tactics will encourage your customers to come out and get involved while shopping at the physical stores which raises the likelihood of impulsive purchasing.

Moreover, when you are building the omnichannel strategies for your eCommerce business, you need to consider the two vital aspects to map customer behavior and boost engagement rate. Understanding the customer decision-making process is key to entice them to make more purchases with your business. More precisely, look for the following consideration while mapping their shopping habits;

What they purchased?
When the item was purchased?
What products are most popular?
What is the frequency of purchase?

On the other hand, while boosting customer engagement you can encourage their participation by;

Offering a special discount on various occasions like Christmas, Newyear
Sending reminders about the offer or sale
Sending proximity notifications
Posting engaging content on social media

In addition, multiple communication channels enable you to access more information about targeted customers. Follow these data streams to satisfy your consumers’ needs and demands. With the integrated analytics, you will be able to comprehend, quantify, and reviewing the communications with them.

Additionally, businesses should leverage innovative modern technologies like VR (virtual reality) and iBeacon amongst others so that they can bridge the gap between the physical and online stores and deliver seamless, consistent customer experiences across all platforms. According to a study, about 80% of customers said experience with a company is equally important to a product or service.

Hence, you can empower your business growth with the omnichannel retail approaches. It not only allows you to increase productivity but also boost sales with increased customer satisfaction. There is no doubt that eCommerce retail businesses need to adopt the omnichannel approach to sustain market competition and increase profitability.

Therefore, if you are in a retail business, you should look for creating opportunities to increase online sales via eCommerce development or mobile application development. There are many IT companies out there who provide eCommerce development solutions to expand your business growth. Just opt for the right custom eCommerce development company to embrace the new era of omnichannel retail business. The more sources you offer to explore your products, the more customers will engage with your business.

Biography:

Jayaram Bhat CEO of Smart Sight Innovations, an eCommerce Web Development Company since 2014. He is a highly motivated individual with a mere focus on smart IT and web-based solutions.

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Author: Harshal Shah

Harshal Shah is CEO & Founder of Xhtmljunkies, Located in Gujarat, India, XHTML Junkies is one of the best companies that offer unique eCommerce solutions by the virtue of its dedicated professionals. Our professionals are extremely proficient in offering development services pertaining to eCommerce. You can find Harshal on Google+ and Twitter.