Omnichannel eCommerce Strategy: What Does It Take to Win?

Dear LinkedIn Community,

Welcome back to Velvetech’s IT Talks! ??

Recently, one eCommerce company turned to us with a request to implement a range of changes to their tech infrastructure. Those changes should help them support an omnichannel strategy and streamline partnership management. And while having understood the importance of such a strategy for retail businesses long before, this request made us realize it once again.

Indeed, one can’t underrate modern consumer's expectations for convenience, personalization, and accessibility. Companies should allow customers to engage with a brand through their preferred channels while helping them enjoy a consistent and connected experience. That’s exactly what an omnichannel strategy can help with.

Plus, this strategy is always deeply interconnected with managing 3PL providers, supply chain, and warehouse, dealing with order management, and handling their fulfillment. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that all this requires a coherent approach and effective eCommerce technology to support it.?

Of course, the topic is broad, but we’ll focus on its core aspects related to technology. So, let’s head on over to the first of five questions we picked for today’s edition. ??????

Q1: What technology platforms or tools are essential for implementing an effective omnichannel strategy?

Well, ideally, you should have a robust platform that would integrate with the key tools crucial for building and supporting your omnichannel strategy. To be truly effective, these tools have to span customer experience, partnership management, and backend operations like order and warehouse management. ????

For the customer experience, CRM systems like Creatio or HubSpot are integral, as they help businesses track customer interactions across all channels, enabling personalized marketing and support. Additionally, eCommerce platforms such as Shopify or Magento allow for seamless integration across online stores, mobile apps, and social media. And that’s what ensures a consistent brand experience and unified customer journey.

On the backend part, ERP solutions like SAP or Oracle NetSuite are critical for connecting various business processes, including inventory management, financials, and supply chain operations. These tools help maintain real-time visibility across processes and make sure that inventory levels are accurate and orders are fulfilled efficiently. WMS systems further enhance this capability by optimizing storage, picking, and shipping activities.

For partnership, you need to consider data exchange tools and API integration. With them, you can be sure that information flows seamlessly between your business and 3PL providers, suppliers, and other partners you work with. In other words, you all stay aligned on inventory levels, shipping schedules, and order statuses. Plus, you can also use order management solutions to centralize the order processing workflow, from receiving orders across various channels to managing returns and exchanges

Q2: How can we reduce friction in the customer journey across different touchpoints?

Basically, it’s all about creating a seamless and consistent experience, regardless of where or how customers interact with your brand. But again, how? ??

One key strategy here would be to ensure that all channels — whether online, in-store, mobile, or social media — are integrated. This can be achieved by using technologies like unified customer profiles, which consolidate customer data from various touchpoints into a single view. It will help you personalize interactions and maintain consistent messaging.?

Another critical aspect is streamlining the transition between all these touchpoints. For example, you can enable customers to start shopping on their mobile devices and seamlessly complete a purchase in-store, or vice versa. This can significantly reduce friction. On top of that, offering features like saved carts, synchronized wish lists, and consistent pricing across platforms ensures that customers don’t face disruptions or inconsistencies.

Finally, there’s the all-mighty data. And its usage plays a pivotal role in reducing friction across multiple channels. By leveraging data analytics, you can gain so many insights into customer behavior and preferences! And then use it for, let’s say, real-time personalization and predictive recommendations.

Read more about Data Analytics in Retail

Q3: How to use data from multiple channels to personalize customer experience?

The previous answer could make you naturally wonder about the ways to leverage all this all-mighty data so it really proves it is all mighty. ??

Here's how this can be done effectively:

??Unified customer profiles. We’ve already mentioned them — they provide a holistic view of each customer, including their preferences, purchase history, and engagement patterns. So you can tailor communications, product recommendations, and offers to individual customers based on their unique behaviors and preferences.

??Real-time personalization. Data analytics and machine learning will help you with real-time personalization across channels. For example, if a customer frequently views certain products online but hasn’t made a purchase, targeted ads or personalized email offers featuring those products can be triggered. Similarly, when a customer visits a store, sales associates can access the customer’s online browsing history to suggest relevant products, creating a more cohesive shopping experience.

??Predictive analytics. Data from multiple channels can also be used to anticipate customer needs and behaviors through predictive analytics. Guessing what products or services a customer might be interested in next is not a big deal anymore. It’s achieved by scrutinizing past interactions and purchase patterns. For instance, if data shows that a customer regularly buys certain items on a recurring basis, you can send timely reminders or offer subscription services.

Explore more ways to use Predictive Analytics in Retail

Q4: How do we balance automation with the need for personalized human interaction in an omnichannel environment?

It’s obvious but you need to leverage the strengths of both while addressing the specific needs and preferences of customers. What are the ways for that? ????

1. Strategic Use of Automation

Automation is actually invaluable when it comes to handling routine tasks. For example, order processing, inventory management, or just basic customer inquiries. By automating such activities, it’s easier to ensure efficiency, accuracy, and consistency across channels.

Let’s consider a few examples here. Chatbots are good for dealing with common customer service questions and automated marketing systems can deliver personalized offers based on customer data. However, automation should be designed in such a way that more complex or sensitive issues are escalated to human agents.

2. Enhancing Human Interaction with Data

While automation handles routine tasks, human interaction can be enriched with data-driven insights. Business intelligence, data analytics, and various AI-based solutions help dig deeper into customer data like past interactions, preferences, and purchase history to support retailers with personalized and contextually relevant insights. This ensures that even human interactions are highly tailored, making customers feel valued and understood.

Discover the Power of Business Intelligence for Retailers

3. Omnichannel Consistency

Do you agree that the transition between automated systems and human interactions must be smooth and consistent? Customers should be able to move from a chatbot to a live agent without having to repeat information. Or from an online interaction to an in-store visit with their preferences and history intact.?

We talked about the importance of integration but here again have to mention it. Integrating systems and ensuring that all channels share the same customer data allows for a cohesive experience whether a customer is interacting with a machine or a person.

Q5: What KPIs should we monitor to assess the success of our omnichannel strategy?

Maybe that’s the most interesting question out of all we’re covering today. In the end, KPIs are crucial to assessing the success of your omnichannel strategy. So, what are they??

?Customer Satisfaction and Net Promoter Score. CSAT and NPS metrics provide direct feedback from customers regarding their experiences across all channels. High scores indicate that your omnichannel strategy is delivering a seamless and satisfying experience.

?Customer Retention Rate. This KPI measures the percentage of customers who continue to engage with your brand over time. A successful omnichannel strategy should increase retention rates.

?Average Order Value. Tracking the average amount spent by customers in a single transaction across channels helps assess the effectiveness of cross-channel promotions and personalized recommendations. A higher AOV suggests that your strategy is successfully driving more significant purchases.

?Customer Lifetime Value. CLV measures the total revenue a customer is expected to generate over their entire relationship with your brand. The higher this rate is the better.

?Conversion Rate by Channel. Monitoring conversion rates across different channels allows you to see which channels are most effective at turning interactions into sales. Naturally, a balanced conversion rate across channels indicates a well-integrated omnichannel strategy.

?Inventory Turnover Rate. It shows how efficiently your inventory is managed across all channels. A low rate may indicate inefficiencies in meeting customer demand and overstocking.

?Fulfillment and Delivery Times. These metrics assess the efficiency of your supply chain and fulfillment operations. Faster, more reliable delivery times are a key indicator of a well-functioning omnichannel strategy.

?Channel Engagement Metrics. This includes tracking metrics such as click-through rates, time spent on site, and bounce rates across different channels. High engagement levels suggest that your content and offerings are resonating with customers, while low engagement may indicate a need for optimization.

Opt for Technology to Support Your Omnichannel eCommerce?

Well, it’s not that we spilled the beans about all of the significant nuances of building an omnichannel strategy for eCommerce. Yet, we provided essential ground for you to ponder. As you can see, there are really plenty of things to mind, whether it comes to technology or a general approach.

Customer interactions, order management, a variety of partners, channels, and tech tools — you have to handle all these and more. If you have relevant skills and expertise in your team, it’s an achievable goal. If not, a trusted partner that understands both your business domain and retail software development is your key resource.?

Looking for one? Velvetech is here to support you. Have more questions? Again, we’re here to answer them. ??