Want to give your customer a seamless online shopping experience? Then having an omnichannel strategy is the way to do it. Retail is by no means dead. Sure, people still like to shop in-store but, the eCommerce world is thriving. Now that retail shopping can be done online via smartphones and social media businesses are having to rethink their strategies. To survive and thrive in the world of eCommerce, you need to embrace the digital transformation era.
And this is why your omnichannel strategy should be your next big focus.
Here is everything you need to know.
What Is Omnichannel?
To put it simply, it’s a sales and marketing strategy that will provide your customers with a fully integrated shopping experience. Everything from the brick and mortar to mobile browsing and all that comes in between. If you don’t know where to start, you can begin by asking yourself questions like: Can they browse your online shop for new products or styles on your social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram? Can they redeem in-store coupons? Can they scan it on your app? Does your data have in-store purchases so customers can get notified when a similar item they have bought is released? These are the types of things that your store should be able to do, plus so much more.
Here are a few tips to get your strategy right.
Know Your Customer
This is the first and most effective step. But you will be surprised at how many businesses overlook it. Think about it. If you don’t know your customer, you won’t know about their buying behavior or understand their needs and wants. The more insights you gain and the more data you collect will give you a better idea of what you have, the more you can sell. Which social media channels do they use the most? What questions are they asking? What products or services do they like or don’t like?
Do your research. And do it well. After you do this, it’s time to leverage and fix up your social media. By understanding your customers, it becomes easier to define and map out your omnichannel strategy. Let’s say that the majority of your customers spend much of their time on Instagram. Provide them with the Instagram shopping experience. One important thing to remember with social commerce is that each platform has specific requirements. You must be able to integrate them to be able to create a consistent omnichannel experience.
Align Your Team
Everything from your sales to marketing to your director of e-commerce needs to be on the same page. This will save you a lot of time, confusion, and stress if each has a clear set of responsibilities. Aligning teams across the board allows you to orchestrate your strategy smoothly.
Make Every Point Shoppable
You should grab every opportunity you can to make a sale. For instance, if your customer adds a product to their cart via your website. Make sure it can show up in their mobile app as well. If they land on a social media page, like Facebook or Instagram, suggest products to them that they have previously viewed.
These connections between channels make the shopping experience for your customer much easier. And they will be more inclined to buy. Not only that, but it will drive even more traffic to your website, which is a double whammy.
Consumer Financing
Your checkout page is the customer’s last step, and it’s perhaps the most crucial. To ensure your Point of Sale action is completed, you need to make it super easy. Buy Now Pay Later is one of the most popular payment methods among consumers today. There are no two ways about it. If you want to make a sale, then you need to provide cart financing. Online financing gives the customer the affordability option and you the sale.
It’s a win-win especially when partnering with POS finance providers like ChargeAfter.com
The Bottom Line
If you haven’t yet implemented an omnichannel strategy, then you need to make your focus ASAP. The world of e-commerce is complex, and competition is fierce. To survive and thrive, you need to be on the top of your game. So get to it before your competitors do.