Omnichannel commerce: The Seamless Customer Experience in Retail

Omnichannel commerce is a business strategy which means providing seamless shopping experience across all the channels of a business, be it in store, or through online. The prefix "omni-" comes from the Latin word "omnis," meaning "all" or "every." A channel is a medium or pathway through which information, communication, goods, or services are delivered or exchanged. So "Omnichannel" describes a strategy or an approach that integrates all available channels to create a unified and seamless customer experience. It ensures that regardless of how or where a customer interacts with a brand (whether online, in-store, or through another channel), the experience is consistent and connected.Omnichannel Commerce encompasses both the physical and digital aspects of retail, ensuring that customers can interact with a brand in multiple ways and still receive a unified experience.

The reason omnichannel is important for its customers is that enables higher customer engagement. It has been found that this strategy helps to retain about 89% of their customers compared to 33% for brands that do not focus on omnichannel.

Five top examples of brands who have been using this strategy: -

1.Sephora:

Makeup retailers never allowed make to be tried on before purchasing. Now it becomes very difficult a customer to decide which shade to buy without trying them on. They may buy something and can be dissatisfied with the purchase. So Sephora introduced virtual make up trail, a try-before-you-buy model for their makeup.

Sephora was able to make shopping experience engaging by using this strategy and make this whole experience so positive for the customers that they recommend Sephora to others.

2.Target:

Target is a place where people go to buy stylish things at a very affordable price. Partnering with Pinterest’s Lens feature target took social media engagement to another level. When customers take a picture of an item that they like on Pinterest, the app by target recommends sales based on those pictures.This is a very good strategy as it makes online shopping hassle free and more in line.

Along with this target had also started a drive-up option for grocery shoppers during the pandemic, though target sells a very low percentage of grocery. These days it has placed some of the Starbucks coffee shops at few of its location. The reason they have done so is to give convenience to its shoppers who won’t have to hop somewhere else if a coffee shop or grocery store is near buy. The result more customer flocking in the stores.

3. Disney:

Disney land is a place where people just love going to so much so that there are huge ques for rides or food. Disney reduced wait times with the Disney Experience tool.Be it creating a personalized itinerary, checking wait times ordering food while in the park, purchasing lightning lane passes to cut down wait times and enjoy the other offers in the theme park, Disney has made it customer experience seamless now with omnichannel strategy.

4. Nordstrom:

Nordstrom is a leading American luxury department store chain, known for offering high-quality fashion apparel, shoes, accessories, beauty products, and home goods.Nordstrom has made their shopping experience seamless by allowing shoppers to purchase directly from Instagram posts whenever they like any product. It benefits for from impulse purchases even when its customers are not there in the store or browsing for the product online.

5.The Home Depot:

This store is a super store and finding what you need is a tedious task. The customers have to go up and down to ask to find the product, but the Home Depot have created app that directs you to the product that you’re looking for in the superstore. You can take a similar picture of the product before you go to the store or search for the product online and the app will lead you to the aisle where the product is there. This is a very good way of helping your customers out and giving them a satisfying shopping experience.

Business’ are trying their best to incorporate this strategy as much as possible to retain their customers. As consumer expectations continue to evolve, businesses that successfully implement omnichannel commerce will be better positioned to meet these demands, fostering long-term loyalty and driving growth in the competitive retail world.