Omnichannel caters to today’s digital-friendly consumer

Learn how to increase your customers’ satisfaction by providing a seamless experience through all channels

The landscape before retailers today is more brutal and unforgiving that any we’ve seen. The shrinking disposable dollar in consumers’ wallets, the impact of healthcare reform and the changing face of social media and online purchasing behavior require all of us to redefine ourselves or risk being left in the wake of those who do! While I am intentionally addressing retailers in this new Retail Successentials column, it will also serve as a great resource for others who want to better understand the retail consumer and learn how to better serve the retail industry.

First and foremost, we must always focus on the main thing—that is, how best to meet the known and even the unknown needs of retail consumers. Clearly, the bottom line is: Meet the consumer’s needs better than the guy down the street and you will succeed. Each of us as a consumer has a good idea of what our needs are, but we all need a bit of help with our unknown needs—the needs we can’t yet see, but are assuredly on the horizon. 

Most of us have gone into a home improvement store looking for an item to fix something at home. We thought we needed a washer or a float value, but because of some friendly help who had already experienced what we were about to go through, we learned we also needed some Teflon tape or some other items that we could not foresee based on our limited experience. The same is true for first-time parents, first-time Sunday school teachers, new believers, and the list goes on. The key is to present such knowledge to customers with solid, unwavering integrity, as consumers can see a sales pitch from a mile away. They don’t want to be sold, they want to be served.

In order to serve the consumer and create profitable business growth, there are several “retail successentials” we must master. At first some may ask, “I know what needs to be done, so what’s new?” The fact remains that even the teams that win the Super Bowl start every new season going back to basics, and so must we. The key is not in the basics themselves, but in our ability and willingness to master them that will put a Super Bowl ring on our finger. Those players who look to a coach to help them master the basics generally do far better than those who rely on skill and athletics alone.

The first and most important of the retail successentials is developing an omnichannel presence. But, omnichannel is not your mama’s multichannel strategy.

Multichannel is just that; it is about doing business across multiple channels. Most multichannel retailers struggle to present the same assortment, pricing and service to their customers. As a result, the customer is often left confused and frustrated at what is available where and at what price. Heaven help them if they want to return an item purchased from one channel to another. Time and convenience are new commodities that we must be sensitive to lest we find our customers choosing to shop elsewhere. 

Omnichannel goes beyond multichannel, but is not as formidable as it sounds. Omnichannel is simply a matter of presenting one seamless view of your business to the consumer so that they can shop for what they want, when they want, where they want, how they want and not have to jump through hoops and restrictive policies to do so.

So let’s break down omnichannel into five practical segments that any retailer can implement:

1. Brand. The number of channels you do business in is entirely up to you. The easier you make it on your customer, the more customers you will have. Your brand should always be the same to each customer no matter which channel they select. It’s OK to not sell via an iOS or Android phone app, but it is not OK to sell with this app and have it not represent your brand by allowing the customer to see the same assortment, pricing and policies. Think of each channel as another window to your business. No matter which window they look in, they should see and experience the same thing—your brand.

2. Assortment. It is true that some items do not sell well online or via a phone app. It is also true that some items do not ship well. Examples might be church baptisteries and steeples. This should not stop you, however, from making sure the customer can see such items, review product details, read customer reviews and more. Keep in mind that they may visit your store and buy from you online or do some research online before visiting your store.  Shrinking store space and higher rents may require you to have an interactive screen in your store since it is not possible to stock every item in every store. No matter how you do it, the goal is for customers to see everything you offer from any channel. Such is the mark of a good brand.

3. Price. Gone are the days of customers accepting different prices in your store and online. I know, I know, the e-commerce retailers are already saying they need to be more competitive so as to not lose business to Amazon. I agree. I just believe that the same rule applies to your in-store pricing. If you disagree, look into “showrooming” trends. Consumers are looking in-store, but using the Amazon or similar app to buy online at a better price. The net here is: Your price should be your price regardless of channel. We will cover pricing strategies in a separate issue.

4. Policies. Think returns, loyalty programs, gift cards and coupons. These are the most common areas where a customer can become frustrated. Don’t you want to shop where all of these policies are seamless and earn your points, redeem your coupons, buy and use gift cards and make returns without worry about the channel? So, give this to your customers—or your competition will.

5. Technology solutions. In order for your customer to have one seamless view of your brand, you must begin with one view of your customer within each of your channels. Fortunately, CRM solutions, web-development, phone apps and even kiosks have all come way down in price, making it affordable and easy to leverage technology to become omnichannel. Start by asking your current your current POS provider what other service applications they interface with. There should be a long list of low-cost options for you. If you hear, “Well, we can find a way to that,” it’s an early sign to hold onto your wallet and start looking for a modern up-to-date POS provider that has open-access application partners to meet your needs.

At the end of the day, your customer should be able to shop with you at any/all of your channels, see the same assortment, buy at the same prices, return goods to any channel and talk to someone anytime who views them as a name and not a number and is able to help them regardless of channel. 

NEXT ISSUE: Learn how to optimize your brick-and-mortar location as your most important retail channel.

Bill Nielsen is a 25-year Christian retail veteran who has served in C-level positions with Family Christian Stores, LifeWay Christian Stores and Berean Christian Stores. Nielsen currently serves as president of The Equation Team, a consulting firm that specializes in retail and publishing.

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