Omnichannel marketing in e-commerce creates a seamless and consistent shopper experience across all platforms and devices. So customers can engage with the brand in the way they want to shop. It brings together different ways of shopping, be it online, on mobile, or even in physical stores.
Actually, this is the way of omnichannel marketing. It’s a strategy that connects all your shopping channels, from online to in-store, making every interaction feel seamless and personalised as your wish.
Curious how it works behind the scenes and how businesses pull this off? Let us explore the same in detail.
How Omnichannel Marketing Works
Omnichannel marketing creates a consistent and personalised experience wherever customers shop. Here is how omi-channel marketing works for E-commerce businesses.
- • E-commerce Marketplaces : Selling on Amazon or eBay while maintaining the same branding and experience everywhere.
- • Mobile websites and apps : Ensure your websites and apps are mobile-friendly for users who want to shop on their phones.
- • Social marketing, retargeting, and sales : Advertisements are displayed using Facebook or Instagram once someone has browsed your products and you have enabled purchases from social media.
- • Messaging and SMS : Through text or WhatsApp Apps, order updates, promotions, or reminders are given allowing for instant communication.
- • Personalised email marketing : Sending tailored emails based on what your customers like will make them look much more relevant to them.
- • The metaverse : Considering virtual shopping experiences where customers can interact with your products in newer digital ways.
The Four Pillars of Omnichannel
We have discussed omnichannel marketing and how it works. Now, let us answer this question: What are the 4 pillars of omnichannel?
1. Unified Customer Data
The first pillar is having a view of the customer data across all points of contact: whether you need to have a source of truth for contacts, purchase history, and preferences. By consolidating all this data into one place, you can give customers personalised experiences no matter how they interact with your brand online, in the store, or with your app.
TechMonk is the best platform for e-commerce omnichannel communication. This customer data platform unifies customer data from websites, CRMs, and other customer touchpoints. Therefore it lets you ensure personalised communication across channels.
2. Seamless Integration
Seamless integration between all of your channels is the second pillar. This way, customers are able to fluidly transition from one touchpoint to another without encountering interruptions or inconsistencies.
For instance, if a customer starts a conversation on social media, that interaction should flow into a chatbot. The conversation should not begin from scratch. This can make for a much smoother and more connected experience.
3. Consistent Messaging
The third pillar is consistency everywhere. All interactions with the brand, whether social media, email, in-store, etc.- must have a brand voice and values. They need to understand they're talking to the same brand, no matter what channel. This is how you build trust and where your brand comes to life.
4. Ongoing Optimisation
The fourth pillar of omnichannel marketing is constant optimisation. This refers to constantly updating your omnichannel strategy by continuously assessing and optimising. Collect feedback from customers, and monitor the trends around technology. It will help you make the necessary adjustments to ensure you are offering the best experience possible.
Multichannel E-commerce vs. Omnichannel E-commerce
Both omnichannel and multichannel e-commerce use multiple channels to reach retail customers. However, they differ in their level of integration and customer experience. Let us compare them in detail for a better understanding.
Benefits of Omnichannel E-commerce Marketing
1. Enhance Customer Engagement
Perfect omnichannel marketing can easily enhance customer engagement. Omnichannel marketing keeps customers engaged as they interact with your brand across various channels such as social media, email, and your website. Customers will probably stay connected if they can switch between platforms without some form of disruption.
For example, TechMonk is a platform that improves e-commerce customer engagement through omni-channel marketing. It helps businesses trigger campaigns automatically through customer actions. Therefore, companies can ensure maximum engagement by reaching their customers through relevant messages and offers through different channels.
2. Make the Customer Experience Better
You can ensure an uninterrupted experience when the customers can quickly shift from one platform to another without experiencing disconnection. This leads to a smooth shopping experience and thereby increases satisfaction and good brand perception.
Example, a shopper added an item to the cart on your mobile app and bought it without a hitch on their desktop for the convenience of shifting seamlessly between the two.
3. Increase Customer Retention
A seamless and personalised experience through multiple channels ensures that your customers will return to your store. After being valued and recognised, they will most probably keep returning as repeat buyers.
Example, once a customer has purchased, personalised product recommendation happens by e-mail or whatsapp to the customer to return and buy again.
4. Leverage Competitive Advantage
Omnichannel marketing provides you with an advantage over those who concentrate only on individual channels. With a unified experience, you can differentiate your brand and help it stay atop the mind of customers.
For example, while competitors only communicate through their website, your omnichannel approach facilitates communication through social media, SMS, and email to make your brand more accessible to your customers.
5. Enhance Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Consistency across channels increases the chances of customers sticking longer to your brand, increasing lifetime value.
For example, when customers consume your brand through multiple channels, such as mobile apps and personalised emails, they feel more connected. It keeps them coming back for more purchases, improving the CLV.
6 Omnichannel E-commerce Trends
The way customers shop has drastically changed over the past few years. E-commerce businesses cannot afford to not keep up with the latest trends. Here are the six omnichannel marketing trends with real-world omnichannel marketing examples.
Stay at the forefront of Omnichannel E-commerce Trends with TechMonk's advanced AI solutions.
8 Exceptional Omnichannel E-commerce Marketing Strategies
1. Outline Your Goals and Objectives
Do you want to drive more online sales, increase foot traffic, or convert one-off buyers into your loyal fan base? If you define your goals beforehand, you will be able to develop an omnichannel strategy that gives you specific avenues to achieve them. Once you know where you're headed, it's much easier to develop a winning strategy.
2. Know Your Customers
Have you ever wondered what motivates your buyers? If not, develop an outline of the different kinds of customers you are working with - your buyer personas. Now, try answering these questions.
What are they looking for? Do they have specific interests? Which platform will they be active on? This information lets you touch them individually, relevantly, and interestingly.
Example: Imagine you are an online or high-street fashion retailer. To younger customers who spend their whole lives on Instagram, a picture-led, trend-based feed may be the most effective use of the application. Personalised offers could work better for older customers who check their email daily.
3. Build Cohesive Brand Identity
It should feel like one experience across all channels: your website, social media, and physical stores should all feel like ''you.'' Consistency in messaging, tone, and visuals helps to build the ability for customers to recognise your brand wherever they encounter it, helping to build trust and familiarity.
Example: Think about your favourite brand-whatever much you love them, their ads, social media, or stores feel connected. That's what you want to create.
4. Integrate Your Data and Systems
In order to achieve an integrated view of all your customer interactions, you will need to integrate your inventory management, customer relationship management, and order processing systems. Such integration streamlines processes and delivers real-time access to data through all channels, thus ensuring that your team always gets clear and up-to-date pictures of their customer activity.
Multichannel attribution takes this to the next level by showing you what role specific marketing channels, such as email, social, SEO, or PPC ads, played in getting a customer to the point of purchase. This lets you focus efforts where it counts and create a seamless experience at each touchpoint.
5. Create a Seamless Customer Journey
What consumer behaviour features impact buying decisions in e-commerce? Take the case of a customer who first sees your product on Instagram, then adds it to his or her online cart, and then buys in the store using a discount you e-mailed. That's what an effortless journey looks like! Lay out these paths, identify the worst bumps in them, and make it easy for customers to change channels without missing a beat.
6. Personalise the Shopping Experience
Everyone prefers a personal touch. Customer data enables your business to personalise product recommendations, targeted promotions and content within several channels.
For example, third-party cookies or login information about customer behaviour on your website can inform personalisation for repeat visitors. If a customer frequently visits the outerwear section, their homepage will include more elements from that category to make it more relevant and engaging.
7. Provide Extraordinary Customer Service
Excellent customer service forms an integral part of the omnichannel strategy. This kind of service is built in the form of loyalty: a customer will get quick answers on live chat, helpful advice in-store, and instant replies by email. That's the kind of service that builds loyalty.
Excellent customer service forms an integral part of the omnichannel strategy. This kind of service is built in the form of loyalty: a customer will get quick answers on live chat, helpful advice in-store, and instant replies by email. That's the kind of service that builds loyalty.
8. Keep Agile and Switching
E-commerce trends are changing fast. What works today may not work tomorrow. Keep looking at your strategy and listening to consumer opinions to change as necessary. Adaptability is the name of the game when it keeps you competitive and in touch with what your customers want.
Takeaway
As we discussed, being omnichannel is far from just mere presence on multiple platforms, but it also guarantees a seamless connected experience that keeps customers involved and consequently builds loyalty.
With the right approach, you will unlock the true power of omnichannel marketing. TechMonk is here to guide you - a group of expertise in customer engagement and omnichannel marketing strategy-all to help map your clear, effective plan. Ready to elevate e-commerce experience? Then connect with us, and begin to build a united customer-centric strategy today!
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