Blog.
Tag
Category
Blog
Publication date
What does omnichannel retail mean?
Omnichannel experience means integrating physical and digital shopping experiences for the public by leveraging certain conditions and services. Now, what does that mean?
Speaking in retailers’ language empowers customers to select the most functional purchase route best suited to their needs. They can choose the combinations of buying actions they are most comfortable with. For example, they can order online after viewing the collection and then pick at the store or simply exchange goods directly at a physical point of sale. In a way, omnichannel lets buyers choose what they want and prevents them from giving up on any aspects inherent in the shopping experience.
With the Omnichannel strategy, buyers can visit the store, scan the item from the dedicated app, save it, and buy it online when they are ready. Moreover, they can directly order from the warehouse even when the product they desire is not available in the physical store. Lastly, they can take advantage of their loyalty rewards when they shop from their favorite brand by accessing their respective application and retrieving the same product from the nearest shop.
In simple words, businesses intending to keep up with shopping trends should consider studying strategies to create an omnichannel retail experience in 2022.
Now, are you ready to give your customers a memorable experience?
In short, in 2022, the realities that wish to be in step with the trends of the moment in terms of shopping should consider the study of strategies aimed at giving life to omnichannel retail. Are you ready to give a memorable experience to your customers?
What are the advantages of omnichannel retail?
The question still remains the same, why should one occupy oneself of the omnichannel strategy?
Let us answer the question by citing two crucial studies before listing the benefits of creating Omnichannel retail.
The First Study: The Harvard Business Review
This study surveyed 46,000 shoppers who shopped for 14 months from June 2015 to August 2016. They found that 7% of these purchases were exclusively online, whereas 20% were from specific physical stores. But, the most exciting finding of the study was that a staggering 73% of people chose multiple channels during their purchase journey. The majority in the latter is qualified as omnichannel customers, as they have opted for a combination of the traditional physical store and the world of the web.
The Second Study: Business Insider
On the contrary, this study highlighted that users who browse across multiple channels make more frequent purchases than those who don’t. Now, that’s quite interesting, isn’t it?
Moving on to more recent data, an article published in McKinsey & Company analyzed the pre-pandemic data and the same from April 2022. The findings highlighted that the retail trade remained the same, whereas the variations have occurred on the channels selected by the consumers. Specifically, online shopping increased by 28% compared to the previous year.
The same article also reported that 70% of the consumers went for omnichannel shopping to get the best of both worlds experience, i.e., traditional stores and the web world. Besides, there is an in-depth analysis on the same portal in which four industry experts speculated the scenario of omnichannel purchases in 2030. They called it ‘the physical‘ and ‘the digital‘ shopping experience, including highly personalized shopping with online stores designed around the needs of the shoppers.
Now let’s get to the real benefits of an omnichannel strategy:
- Increased margins and revenue; the first and obvious benefit as customers are fascinated to buy from more extensive catalogs than those with limited options at physical stores.
- Brand loyalty; consumers get a personalized and positive shopping experience catering to all their needs; from the choices of purchase methods (i.e., online booking and in-store collection) to easy returns (where they can return items at the point of sale and get a replacement or even have the whole collection at their home without additional charges).
- The focus on the brand is more substantial as it is conveyed on multiple touchpoints, thanks to which customers receive the right message at the right time.
- Better visibility of the inventory, i.e., guaranteed optimal management of the warehouse and related available stocks.
- A better understanding of customers due to proper analysis of purchase data. Businesses become able to learn about the desires and preferences of buyers about the collection.
Omnichannel Retail and Order Management: A Successful Integration
At first, we need to understand how to create omnichannel retail that can benefit both customers and the brand. Then, we can highlight the ways to integrate the same with effective order management solutions or even order management processes.
An omnichannel strategy enables you to effectively monitor the interest and inclination of the customer towards particular purchases. It effectively manages the stocks in the warehouse, which ultimately makes it essential for a constant monitor of orders received. Besides, it allows you to optimize the work of the staff.
An omnichannel strategy is essential for those who wish to expand their business. However, those who need an extra boost for the businesses can integrate omnichannel with order management solutions for a better future.
Retail omnichannel e order management: un’integrazione di successo
Se da un lato abbiamo capito come la scelta di creare un retail omnichannel possa risultare vantaggioso sia per il cliente che per il brand, dall’altro possiamo evidenziare come questa possa venire integrata con soluzioni di order management efficaci, ovvero con il processo di gestione degli ordini.
Una strategia omnicanale consente infatti un monitoraggio maggiore sia in termini di interesse e propensione d’acquisto dei clienti, che nella gestione delle scorte a magazzino, rendendo di fatto imprescindibile anche il costante monitoraggio degli ordini ricevuti, con ottimizzazione dell’operato del personale.
Insomma, la scelta di orientarsi verso una strategia omnicanale per chi desidera incrementare il proprio business, è ormai imprescindibile e noi lo sappiamo bene, e per metterla in atto al meglio sfruttare l’integrazione con soluzioni di order management è praticamente lo step successivo per chi desidera dare una spinta in più al proprio business.