Penetration of Omni-Channel Commerce

In today’s digital world, it’s about our consumers. They are complex, confused, well informed, and socially connected and always want things in a jiffy. 

What’s important really is how do we empower our customers?

a) while shopping in store or

b) Through any device they want to use anytime, anywhere in the world

c)  Rating and reviews on multi-channel platform

Obviously technology plays the important part. Having said that we should see to it that it should be seamless, something that delivers value to our consumers, should be intuitive and something you enjoy doing.

As per recent Forrester report- Omnichannel commerce is still in its early days and will require continuous optimization.

In order to increase the penetration of the Omnichannel, digital business leaders should now focus on continually optimizing their capabilities -

•    Upgrade the legacy systems.

For reaping Omni-channel advantage upgrading and shoring up back-end systems are essentials. A robust order management system (OMS), capable of reliably monitoring, measuring, and managing centralized and accurate enterprise wide views of inventory and orders, must be at the heart of the technology ecosystem for any retailer wishing to compete in the evolving Omnichannel landscape.

•    Align KPI’s to deliver on best customer experience.

Every retail Organization has different departments like brand marketing, creative/editorial, Ecommerce, PR, Merchandising, Inventory. All these departments have been working in silos. When we think of the KPI’s, everyone may actually have different KPI’s. They weren’t incentivized to work together and work for consumer in an Omnichannel way. Delivering Omnichannel commerce excellence requires new processes and employee responsibilities which means all the KPi’s should be 100% aligned to deliver on the best customer experience. Retail eBusiness pros must decouple remuneration from channel-specific performance and reward omnichannel behaviors such as supporting customer journeys in-store that originate or end online.

Key Takeaways ( Source - Forrestor)

a) US Retailers Tend To Score Higher In A Wide Spectrum Of Overall Scores.

US retailer scores skew toward the higher end of the wide-ranging scores in this benchmark. US retailers’ Omnichannel capabilities have leapfrogged those of the UK, reflecting the context of US market competition and greater investment in supporting technology. 

b) A Disconnect Between Touchpoints remains

Even retailers with higher overall Omnichannel scores still have a disconnect between touch points to address. Consistency of experience across all touchpoints and ensuring functionality is device-agnostic remain challenges.

c)  Leading Retailers Know Omnichannel Fulfillment Extends In-Store.  

High-performing retailers have recognized that Omnichannel fulfillment does not end with making sure the item is available in-store. They implement new processes, systems, and metrics to support store colleagues to execute fast and efficient customer collection in-store.

Do share your thoughts!!!