Including Diversity and being an Omnichannel business
A channel is a medium to connect two items. It completes the communication between two endpoints.
e.g.,?The English Channel?connects France and England
The Radio/Television Channels connect the speakers and the audience/spectators and complete the information transfer.
Similarly, businesses today need to reach out to the customers to provide their services with the comfortability of the customers.
Co-locating with customers could mean being in the time zone, geographical location, language, or even the customers’ devices. The banks no longer remain in the branches; they are accessible on our mobile phones or even smartwatches.
Some important aspects that an omnichannel solution must cover are
Device Inter-operability
Devices are the medium a business can reach near the customer and in their hands. Customers can access the firm's services at the time and place of their convenience. The
An omnichannel software system must typically support the different channels of communication that are applicable e.g.
Multi-lingual
The eighth schedule of the constitution of India consists of?22 languages.?If we talk about unofficial spoken languages having native speakers in India,?the number easily crosses 19,000.
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India is a land of diversity, which is visible even in the taste of water. Language is something that connects people to their roots. Languages are a significant part of the culture. There have been intellectual and physical fights over language supremacy.
The most important reason businesses adapt to multi-linguality is to adjust to the local culture and include the untapped business potential from all regional languages.
Customers trust businesses that speak in their native languages. Understanding a language helps us embrace the culture and needs of the people and allows us to adapt our business to the needs of our customers.
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An omnichannel solution must be able to localize and internationalize the content and services.
Always Available
Customers have different preferential timings to operate, even if the business is located in a single country.
There are early birds and night owls who need the business services, and hence, to operate a business successfully, the services providers should adopt a 24/7 model to cater to the customers at all hours. Being always available becomes highly essential in the case of critical services like banking or medical services. Imagine an emergency when you need to make a payment to the hospital for an accidental admission at night.
Unavailability of banking or medical services in such a situation will impact many lives if the bank or hospitals are not available at odd hours.
Now, count the blessings the business gets when they are available for the customers in the hour of their needs. And in India, blessings hold a value that is probably way bigger than money.
Inclusion and Diversification
Human society is so diverse that no single definition can comprise every individual in the society. We all differ by color, height, weight, names, surnames, genders, sexual orientation, etc. The list is endless.
This diversity is the key reason we survive despite the different historical catastrophes.
If the human society is so diverse, so can be our customer base. The businesses should cater to reach to include maximum diversity in the customer base, which helps make the system robust and sustain during disastrous situations. The stability of a business is directly proportional to the network and diversity of its customers and service offerings.
Technological advancement allows businesses to reach out to the special needs of the customers and make customer’s life convenient.
Remote Access
Although the prices of the internet are having a downward trend and are becoming more affordable and reachable, there is a significant section and the world where internet reachability is an issue. The internet might not be reachable, or the connectivity might be unstable.
Businesses are reaching out to those places by finding innovative and alternate connectivity solutions. A lot of places, especially the toll booths, don’t have proper connectivity and work in offline mode. The daily refresh rate of transactions allows businesses to work seamlessly.
Banks are setting up remote ATMs, which cost lower than running an entire branch but provide most services.
After the floods last year, businesses are reaching their customers and supporting them in whatever way possible—for instance,?Airtel Payments Bank set up an ATM on the boat for their customers.
Being Omnichannel requires a strong mindset along with robust software systems.
Software service providers like Xebia IT Architects are great solutions for developing, managing, and supporting omnichannel solutions.