DEMYSTIFYING OMNI-CHANNEL COMMERCE

'SAYING' VS 'BEING' OMNI-CHANNEL

Say the term 'omni-channel' to almost anyone, even those working in the digital or eCommerce space, and each of them is likely to have a different interpretation of exactly what that means. And even then, what it means to each of them is often evolving too, right alongside the ever evolving expectations of the always on, always connected consumer.

Almost every single business that I have had anything to do with has aspired to be an omni-channel business. Many of them even thought they WERE omni-channel. Trouble is, they were often far from it and didn't even know it. The reality from the first paragraph above makes this even more challenging to consider, design for and take action on.

In other words - it's far easier to say you're an omni-channel business than to actually be one. So how do we start to bridge this gap and close the chasm of both understanding and action?

And bridge it we must if we are to be and stay relevant to the consumers we are all so rabidly courting.

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

As someone who has worked in digital for over 15 years and helped many businesses implement effective omni-channel strategies, systems & processes, I am uniquely placed to share from my experiences.

So let's try and unravel this thing a bit shall we?

I believe we are sitting at a fundamental apex of change in consumer society. We are at a very unique place where the last best shopping/buying experience becomes the lowest common expectation for future experiences (in other words - the new normal). And this is cross vertical, cross border and across B2C and B2B.

So, if one of your customers travels to say Sydney, Tokyo, Beijing, LA or London (physically or virtually) and has a mind blowing shopping experience (eg: VR, AR, Voice, AI, 3D/holograms - whatever), you can bet they are going to be wondering why you are not offering them the same or better the next time they shop with you. And let's not forget their social enterprise/responsibility, ecological and other moral/ethical expectations that now come along for the ride.

This means they could care less how difficult, unrealistic or expensive it is for you to give it to them. For them, the bar has been set and anything less is going to be a disappointment, it's that simple. It does not mean that they will immediately abandon your substandard shopping experience, it just means that the MOMENT something better/easier/faster/cheaper/sexier comes along, your business is pretty much dead to them - yes, I'm looking at you Amazon.

In other words (retailer) brand loyalty is dead.

And remember, you are no longer just competing against other retailers either - the squeeze on margins means that most manufacturers are now finding direct to consumer (DTC) routes to market via bricks & mortar, online, marketplaces, social or all of these (and more). Traditionally B2B only businesses are rapidly upskilling (and 'up-teching') and bringing in external B2C talent to help tackle the DTC beast.

Welcome to the wonderful world of retailing in 2018.

BREAKING IT DOWN

It's common knowledge that people often fear what they do not understand. I have found that the easiest way to remove the 'fear factor' from retailers is to help them understand the true nuts and bolts of omni-channel. There is art and science to this. Creative & tech working in harmony & blended seamlessly create next generation shopping experiences.

The proper technical foundation sets the stage for you to support WHATEVER new (sales/marketing) channel comes along and whatever shopping experience you want (or need) to create. You can't build a house on quicksand and you can't build a sustainable retail empire on technically antiquated & bankrupt systems and processes either.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Have a good hard look at the following systems & data flow diagram. Then look at it again. Don't look at it and be intimidated - look at it to understand.

This is one modern approach to achieving omni-channel supremacy. There are others and you can unplug some components, plug in others and also link/integrate them in different ways, but the goal is ultimately the same: a totally customer centric, flexible, scalable, highly personalised, channel agnostic system that has a rock solid functional core.

The above layout would (for example), allow you to plug in a new immersive VR shopping experience with relative ease, once you selected your VR channel engine. It would also allow you to plug in an in-store electronic shelf pricing display system and so on. Imagine how powerful this is once you overlay your customer journeys and internal business process workflows on top.

The integrations depicted above are based on near real time REST based integration (vs SOAP, EDI or CSV/batch based integrations), which is fast becoming the norm for cutting edge businesses and business systems. Systems are also depicted as SaaS based for ultimate scalability, flexibility & security.

In other words, the above is robust, modular and relies on core systems that do not change often (in fact very very rarely).

FEAR FACTOR

Oh, and don't let the acronyms scare you, they all make sense once you understand what they are and do:

• POS - Point of Sale Platform - your in-store and physical channel sales platform
• ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning Platform - the beating heart of your business, manages all your financials and is the single source of truth for all core business and customer data.
• CRM - Customer Relationship Management Platform - provides a single customer view across all channels and integrations.
• OMS/WMS - Order/Warehouse Management Platform - these process your orders and get them to your end customers where logistics/shipping is concerned.
• PIM - Product Information Management Platform - where you enrich (add images, descriptions etc) base product data (eg: name, SKU, price, qty) from your ERP in preparation for the push to sales and/or marketing channels.

THE END GAME

Short of Amazon eating the world of retail and putting us all out of business, I know one thing for certain: the retailers of the future will have built something like the above if they are to survive and thrive in the brave new world of new commerce.

If you do not have systems like this in place, it's probably well past time for you to be planning and budgeting for them. Your very business life depends on it.

So, as with most sea changes in business, you can either bury your head in the sand or hit it head on and embrace the change being forced on you by choice or circumstance. Isn't it better to be doing so on your own terms so YOU are the one setting the standard for your competitors to follow?

May the odds be ever in your favour!

Jason Greenwood - #learnwithjason