To dramatically improve the buying experience for customers, retailers need to combine the strengths of unrelated departments. Marketing’s compelling campaigns. IT’s seamless tech integrations. Sales associates’ helpful in-person assistance. Operations’ flawless inventory management.
When these teams unify and create a cohesive shopping experience, they’re practicing omnichannel customer engagement, also known as omnichannel CX — a strategy that’s integral to retail business success in the digital age.
Why is an omnichannel engagement strategy important?
The goal of omnichannel engagement is to create a consistent and personalized experience for customers, no matter which channel they use to interact with a brand. Having a strategy in place is a must. Here’s why.
Meets expectations
The modern consumer may want to browse on a mobile app, compare prices in-store, and complete their purchase on a computer, all while receiving consistent branding, information, and service. An omnichannel strategy makes meeting these expectations possible, increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Maximizes sales and revenue
Research shows that omnichannel customers spend more, make more frequent purchases, and have a higher lifetime value than their single-channel peers. By providing a unified shopping experience, retailers encourage people to engage across multiple touchpoints, boosting sales and revenue.
Creates a competitive edge
The retail landscape is crowded, and offering an exceptional omnichannel experience sets a business apart from competitors. By integrating offline and online channels, you can attract new customers who value convenience and high-quality, personalized service.
Improves customer retention
When retailers provide consistent messaging, personalized recommendations, and convenient options like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), they nurture strong relationships with customers and encourage repeat business. This also helps reduce churn since competitors have a hard time stealing satisfied shoppers.
Informs data-driven decisions
An omnichannel strategy lets retailers collect more valuable data on customer behavior. Use it to gain insights into customer preferences, optimize omnichannel marketing campaigns, and improve overall business performance.
The challenges of omnichannel customer engagement
Implementing a successful omnichannel strategy isn’t easy. Here are a few hurdles.
Integrating disparate systems
Retailers often have a patchwork of legacy systems to manage systems for inventory, customer relationship management (CRM), and finance. While integrating them creates a seamless flow of data and information across channels, it’s a complex and costly undertaking.
Maintaining consistency across channels
Ensuring a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints is easier said than done. From messaging and visuals to product information and pricing, it requires careful planning, coordination, and ongoing attention to detail — which takes effort.
Managing inventory effectively
Omnichannel fulfillment can strain your inventory management system. Tracking stock levels across multiple locations, fulfilling orders from various channels, and handling returns and exchanges quickly becomes overwhelming without the right systems and processes in place.
Personalizing the customer experience
While customers expect personalization, delivering it at scale is challenging. Collecting and analyzing vast amounts of data and using it to create targeted offers and recommendations requires sophisticated technology and a deep understanding of customer behavior.
How to create a successful omnichannel customer engagement strategy
Creating a successful omnichannel strategy requires a comprehensive and well-thought-out approach. Here are the key steps.
1. Identify preferred customer engagement channels
The first step is understanding how people prefer to interact with the brand. Conduct surveys, analyze website and social media analytics, and gather feedback from customer service interactions to identify the most popular channels.
Channels that speak to customers could include any or all of the following:
- Websites
- Social media platforms
- Email marketing
- Mobile apps
- In-store interactions
- Customer service channels
Focus efforts on the ones that resonate most with your audience to maximize engagement and drive conversions.
2. Map out the customer journey
To create a seamless omnichannel experience, map the customers’ journey from the moment of contact to their post-purchase interactions. This involves identifying all the touchpoints where people interact with you, both online and offline.
Some common touchpoints include:
- Awareness: Social media ads, search engine results, blog posts, word-of-mouth referrals
- Consideration: Website product pages, online reviews, comparison shopping sites, in-store visits
- Purchase: Online checkout, in-store purchases, mobile app purchases
- Post-purchase: Order confirmation emails, shipping notifications, product usage, customer service interactions, loyalty programs
After identifying relevant touchpoints, analyze how people move between them. Are there any bottlenecks or pain points that make them drop off or switch channels? Are there opportunities to provide a more personalized or engaging experience? Visualizing and analyzing the journey refines your engagement strategy to improve conversions and increase loyalty.
3. Offer omnichannel customer service and engagement
Make it easy for people to move from channel to channel without losing context or repeating information, like inputting their address more than once. A unified communication system lets customer service representatives access a shopper’s history and preferences across all channels to provide personalized support and resolve issues efficiently.
4. Empower customer service representatives
Arm your customer service team with the knowledge and tools they need to handle inquiries, no matter where those inquiries come from. Give the team access to a centralized database so they can track interactions from anywhere.
5. Use an omnichannel customer engagement platform
Investing in a robust omnichannel platform significantly streamlines your efforts, centralizing data, automating marketing campaigns, and tracking interactions in real time. Deliver a smoother, more personalized experience to customers and your team.
6. Create an omnichannel company culture
Omnichannel engagement is as much about mindset and culture as it is about technology. Ensure a cohesive approach by encouraging collaboration and communication between business departments. Train employees to provide a consistent experience and empower them to make decisions that prioritize customer satisfaction above all else.
7. Measure and optimize omnichannel performance
Implementing an omnichannel strategy is an ongoing process, so aim for continuous improvement. Track key metrics like satisfaction, average order value, and customer lifetime value across all channels to identify areas for improvement and optimize your strategy over time. To refine the approach, gather feedback from employees and buyers regularly.
Take your business to new heights with Fishbowl
Fishbowl’s comprehensive inventory management solution empowers you to manage inventory across every sales channel. Access accurate tracking, efficient fulfillment, and a unified shopping experience for your customers — and a better experience for your team.
With seamless integrations for platforms like QuickBooks and Shopify, Fishbowl bridges the gap between accounting, eCommerce, and inventory data. You can access real-time stock levels, automate reordering, and optimize inventory allocation for maximum efficiency.
Ready to elevate your omnichannel customer engagement strategy? Schedule a demo of Fishbowl today.
