So, customer experience is important. We get that now. But what can actually be done to improve it? Well, brands and retailers need to make sure that the channels they work with are customer-centric. This is what defines omnichannel retail, and it’s what sets it way above the rest.

While other retail strategies focus on the product - and how to sell it through multiple channels - at the heart of omnichannel retailing lies the individual customer. It’s not just about selling stuff, it’s about selling the right stuff, at the right time, to the right person.

It’s not just us saying this either. Jeff Bezos, founder and chairman of a company called Amazon (perhaps you’ve heard of it) once stated that “rather than ask ‘what we’re good at and what else can we do with that skill?’, you ask, ‘who are our customers? What do they need?’ And then you say ‘we’re going to give that to them regardless of whether we currently have the skills to do so and we will learn those skills no matter how long it takes’”.

Customers today don’t see channel boundaries. Online and offline channels, and sales channels and brand channels have all merged together as one overall experience for the customer, who uses them all interchangeably. So, it’s not about how you can sell to customers, it’s about how you can serve them, and you should do so in a seamless and personalised way...

Say hello to Dimitri. He’s looking for a gift for his son’s birthday. After coming across a fun product on Instagram, he wants to find out more, and a quick click takes him directly to its product page on the brand’s website, bypassing the homepage and product category. He browses different sizes and colours, and takes a look at the product description and reviews until he knows for sure that his son will love it. He adds it to his basket, but unfortunately, his lunch break is over and he needs to get on with some work, so he doesn’t continue with his purchase.

When he gets home from work, Dimitri opens up his laptop and lo and behold, he’s received an email reminding him of the product in question, and offering him a 10% discount. It’s a nice touch, and it’s encouraged Dimitri to make the purchase. He clicks on the link provided and finishes the purchase on his laptop without having to repeat the process of finding the product and adding it to his basket all over again.

He pays with his PayPal account so that he doesn’t need to get up and figure out where on earth he left his credit card. He also decides to collect the product in-store instead of opting for home delivery, because he cares about the environment, and there’s a store not so far away from his workplace. The next day, Dimitri gets a text message - his gift is ready for collection. When he goes to pick it up, the store employee recommends some other items that would complement his purchase. And, to say thankyou for his business, the retailer gives him the chance to join its loyalty program. This way, he can collect points for his purchase which can be redeemed to buy more stuff later on.

Integrating channels so that they’re simply compatible isn't enough anymore, they need to be as smooth and consistent as possible. They need to be seamless - allowing customers to move between them without friction or interruption - and this is exactly what omnichannel retail strives for.

In fact, the clue’s in the name. ‘Omni’ is basically a fancy way of saying ‘every’ or ‘all’. Admittedly, that’s quite vague, so you’d be forgiven for feeling a little in the dark, but what it tells us is that this retail strategy uses every channel - well, every channel that customers use and expect to find your business - and it uses all of them together in union to empower and allow the customer to experience the brand how they want to, on their terms.

Omnichannel retailing also seeks to make customers feel like the relationship they have with a brand is personal, and like the messages and experiences they encounter across channels are personalised. Why? Well try this: 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalised experiences, and when they’re not provided with tailored content, it’s not at all unheard of for customers to leave a brand and go to a competitor.

Providing these kinds of customer experiences is about knowing and responding to individual customer needs. Personalisation requires brands and retailers to bring all available data sources together to generate a single view of the customer in order to identify who they are, what they purchase, when, where and why. Which, despite all the technology available, remains a challenge for most.

By taking a look at these ideas of seamlessness and personalisation, what we can come to understand about an omnichannel approach is this: instead of asking “how can we use each individual channel to sell more?”, it asks the question “how can we use all of our channels as one to serve each individual customer?”

So, while other strategies are channel or product focused, omnichannel retailing is entirely geared towards the customer.

But, all this is very much easier said than done. Providing a customer-centric and seamless experience actually takes a lot of work, a lot of understanding, and a lot of data.

Omnichannel Explained