Why Omni-Channel Marketing in Ecommerce
As an ecommerce vendor, you are sure to have a presence across various marketing channels like websites, smart phones, tablets, social networking etc. Is this enough to attract and retain customers? What Omni-channel strategy is most likely to succeed? Here is an approach.
As an ecommerce vendor, you are sure to have a presence across various marketing channels like websites, smart phones, tablets, social networking etc. Is this enough to attract and retain customers? What Omni-channel strategy is most likely to succeed? Here is an approach.
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<strong>Why</strong> <strong>Omni</strong>-<strong>Channel</strong><br />
<strong>Market<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ecommerce</strong>
<strong>Why</strong> <strong>Omni</strong>-<strong>Channel</strong> <strong>Market<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ecommerce</strong><br />
Bus<strong>in</strong>ess models have evolved over time mov<strong>in</strong>g from the traditional brick and mortar store to an e-commerce<br />
landscape where customers shopped onl<strong>in</strong>e to a multichannel experience where shoppers are spoilt for choice due<br />
to the availability of assorted platforms. The drawback of the multichannel experience is that these platforms are<br />
not <strong>in</strong>tegrated. Address<strong>in</strong>g this gap is <strong>Omni</strong> channel retail<strong>in</strong>g that provides an <strong>in</strong>tegrated and seamless approach to<br />
market<strong>in</strong>g allow<strong>in</strong>g collaboration among diverse channels.<br />
Traditionally, shoppers used to visit brick and mortar stores to make their purchases. With time, onl<strong>in</strong>e shopp<strong>in</strong>g<br />
evolved through ecommerce streams where the customer was able to make purchases onl<strong>in</strong>e. The next transition<br />
was <strong>in</strong>to multi-channel shopp<strong>in</strong>g which was opportune <strong>in</strong> that it gave shoppers diverse channels to shop from. But,<br />
there was still the hopp<strong>in</strong>g from one channel to another, without a consistent flow or relation. <strong>Omni</strong> channel grew<br />
out of necessity - an obligation of servic<strong>in</strong>g customers with a cohesive and smoother purchase cycle that paved the<br />
way to customer satisfaction and quicker deliveries.<br />
Brick & Mortar<br />
<strong>Ecommerce</strong><br />
Multi channel<br />
<strong>Omni</strong> channel<br />
<strong>Omni</strong> channel market<strong>in</strong>g is a channel-agnostic approach to manage and optimize customer relationships. It promotes awareness,<br />
<strong>in</strong>terest and response by <strong>in</strong>tegrat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formational, transactional and service platforms like television, videos, onl<strong>in</strong>e and physical<br />
display advertis<strong>in</strong>g, email, mobile, ecommerce portals, POS systems etc.<br />
<strong>Ecommerce</strong> vendors are sure to have a presence across various market<strong>in</strong>g channels such as websites, smart phones, tablets, social<br />
network<strong>in</strong>g etc. <strong>Omni</strong>-channel market<strong>in</strong>g synchronizes and orchestrates these to understand buy<strong>in</strong>g behaviour and personalize it, so<br />
that customer revenues and loyalty are assured. As <strong>in</strong>dividual entities, these channels may not provide the anticipated outputs. But,<br />
<strong>in</strong> collaboration, one channel makes up for the drawbacks of another. The data collected from these channels can be used to make<br />
purchases more convenient, provide personalized experiences, more detailed product descriptions and faster delivery options.<br />
An example will make this clearer to understand. Macy’s, mult<strong>in</strong>ational cha<strong>in</strong> of department stores, is <strong>in</strong>tensely focused on<br />
<strong>in</strong>tegrat<strong>in</strong>g stores, <strong>in</strong>ternet, mobile, social and local components, and leverag<strong>in</strong>g its many operational assets to offer new services<br />
<strong>in</strong> an on-go<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Omni</strong>-channel strategic <strong>in</strong>itiative. If the consumer needs the product immediately and f<strong>in</strong>ds the product on Macy’s<br />
website, he/she can head to the nearest store to make a purchase and if it is out of stock, can order it from an <strong>in</strong>-store kiosk and<br />
have it delivered to his/her local store or doorstep. In addition, consumers are <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly mak<strong>in</strong>g purchases through onl<strong>in</strong>e/mobile<br />
channels or mak<strong>in</strong>g spontaneous buy<strong>in</strong>g choices and Macy’s has established a strong onl<strong>in</strong>e and mobile presence to service these<br />
consumers. This is fast becom<strong>in</strong>g a requirement especially <strong>in</strong> today’s <strong>in</strong>terconnected environment. Macy’s makes sure that there<br />
is <strong>in</strong>ventory available <strong>in</strong>-store with alternative purchas<strong>in</strong>g options so that it does not miss out on a sale, jeopardiz<strong>in</strong>g a customer’s<br />
loyalty or brand perception. Additionally, Macy’s is also enhanc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>-kiosk experiences blend<strong>in</strong>g physical <strong>in</strong>ventory with a virtual<br />
<strong>in</strong>teractive display of product <strong>in</strong>formation via touchscreens so that consumers actually have a close look at a product before<br />
purchas<strong>in</strong>g it onl<strong>in</strong>e or physically.<br />
Consumer behaviour across channels has predictability and design and if data such as the most used channel for a search, the<br />
channel that most buyers frequent, k<strong>in</strong>d of purchases made, options of up sell<strong>in</strong>g and cross sell<strong>in</strong>g etc. can be tracked, the retailer<br />
can reta<strong>in</strong> customers for a lifetime and stay ahead of the competition. With customer data at his disposal, a retailer can create<br />
strategies to attract customers at every touch po<strong>in</strong>t, whether onl<strong>in</strong>e or <strong>in</strong>-store, result<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> revenue growth by capitaliz<strong>in</strong>g on<br />
previously untapped opportunities.
Plann<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>Omni</strong> channel Scenario<br />
For firms that wish to be an <strong>Omni</strong>-channel success, there has to be a plan and suitable execution for sell<strong>in</strong>g and servic<strong>in</strong>g across<br />
multiple channels, a strategy that measures customer touch po<strong>in</strong>ts at every step. The plan has to be a blend of brand<strong>in</strong>g, messag<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
offers and pric<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
For example, here is how Starbucks leveraged the QR code mechanism as a part of its <strong>Omni</strong>-channel strategy to enhance the brand<br />
experience. To promote its new l<strong>in</strong>e of signature roasts, Starbucks flagged off a customer engagement program called “Roast they<br />
Love the Most”. Additionally, it wanted customers to have easy access to <strong>in</strong>formation on the various flavours of bagged coffee to<br />
make better choices. To achieve this, Starbucks placed QR Codes on millions of coffee bags with l<strong>in</strong>ks to videos on their products<br />
and demonstrations on “How to Brew Coffee”. Subsequently, the company distributed bookmarks <strong>in</strong> and around its outlets to enable<br />
customers to scan, vote and share their favourite flavour of coffee roast. More than 50,000 customers voted from the mobile site<br />
alone. Further, this code was customized with coffee beans to enhance the brand experience for Starbucks customers.<br />
Further, Waterstones (www.waterstones.com), a lead<strong>in</strong>g onl<strong>in</strong>e and high street bookseller, provides free Wi-Fi connectivity <strong>in</strong> its<br />
stores to enable customers to buy and download content onto an electronic device. By offer<strong>in</strong>g consumers the option of buy<strong>in</strong>g an<br />
eBook while brows<strong>in</strong>g books <strong>in</strong> a traditional store, this strategy improves customer experience.<br />
The above examples clearly <strong>in</strong>dicate that the advent of <strong>Omni</strong>-channel market<strong>in</strong>g is creat<strong>in</strong>g a more <strong>in</strong>timate connect between brands<br />
and their loyal followers, personaliz<strong>in</strong>g their experiences. Brands are try<strong>in</strong>g to understand customers, respond to their needs, serve<br />
them at every <strong>in</strong>teraction po<strong>in</strong>t and empower and equip them with appropriate <strong>in</strong>formation and more buy<strong>in</strong>g power. With the multiple<br />
channels stitched together, brands make it easy for a customer to purchase and own desired products or services <strong>in</strong> the shortest<br />
time possible. It creates trust and a satisfied customer becomes a loyal follower. <strong>Omni</strong>-channel is about operational excellence,<br />
quicker processes, <strong>in</strong>creased accuracy, consistent retail execution and deriv<strong>in</strong>g actionable <strong>in</strong>sights from constant customer<br />
<strong>in</strong>teractions. With <strong>Omni</strong>-channel, each channel is aware of what the other channels are do<strong>in</strong>g and are <strong>in</strong> sync with the others.<br />
The website is directly related to the activities on a social network<strong>in</strong>g platform or an <strong>in</strong>-store experience and vice versa.<br />
Firms have to delve deeper <strong>in</strong>to customer <strong>in</strong>telligence and understand why conversions and non-conversions occur. From search to<br />
sale, traceability and where the purchase cycle stopped and why – was it because of a competitive offer<strong>in</strong>g or because the product<br />
features did not meet the standards set by the customer? Did the conversion cycle complete? Data analysis estimates where the<br />
search started and where it ended, which medium is used more for different phases and where a vendor can attract the customer<br />
more and outsmart competitors. With mobile apps that trace data based on usage, firms are strengthen<strong>in</strong>g relationships with their<br />
customers.<br />
<strong>Ecommerce</strong> is already mak<strong>in</strong>g use of performance market<strong>in</strong>g models like site optimization, monetization modell<strong>in</strong>g, SEO, paid<br />
search etc. To make the customer experience seamless and create awareness and <strong>in</strong>terest, retailers need to use these models to<br />
profile the customer and create a tighter report<strong>in</strong>g and track<strong>in</strong>g mechanism by add<strong>in</strong>g data on each activity to the profile. The IT and<br />
the market<strong>in</strong>g teams have to closely work together to make this a reality. Deliver<strong>in</strong>g well-thought out content needs an <strong>in</strong>tegration<br />
of analytics, measurement and market<strong>in</strong>g. It requires a cross-functional approach across market<strong>in</strong>g, IT and customer service<br />
<strong>in</strong>corporat<strong>in</strong>g market<strong>in</strong>g automation, analytics, customer experience management, po<strong>in</strong>t of sales systems, CRM, web content<br />
management etc. Due to the assortment of media, the management and <strong>in</strong>tegration of <strong>in</strong>terdependent data has to be planned<br />
and structured well.<br />
Big Data <strong>in</strong> <strong>Omni</strong>-channel<br />
The dawn of <strong>Omni</strong>-<strong>Channel</strong> market<strong>in</strong>g is br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g about a tectonic shift - consumers armed with smart phones, mobile apps,<br />
onl<strong>in</strong>e reviews and who can simultaneously navigate <strong>in</strong>-store and onl<strong>in</strong>e retail environments are driv<strong>in</strong>g the consumer space. Hence,<br />
smartphones and big data analytics are <strong>in</strong>fluenc<strong>in</strong>g the technology changes <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Omni</strong>-channel scenario. Digitization of retail is<br />
see<strong>in</strong>g more and more consumers download<strong>in</strong>g mobile retail apps. There is now more clarity and uniformity <strong>in</strong> customer data and<br />
understand<strong>in</strong>g customer needs. With data accumulated from different channels, there is predictability <strong>in</strong> address<strong>in</strong>g the customer<br />
like never before.<br />
In summary<br />
For ecommerce firms, <strong>Omni</strong>-channel strategy advocates a synergy of varied market<strong>in</strong>g platforms for positive outcomes.<br />
For consumers, it is all about convenience and fulfilment.
About Unilog<br />
Unilog is a global technology and services company that specializes <strong>in</strong> Big Data Analytics and Product Data Management for<br />
e-commerce. Headquartered <strong>in</strong> Bangalore, Unilog is an ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 8000 certified company that employs over<br />
300 people <strong>in</strong> its local offices at Mysore and Philadelphia. Unilog’s comprehensive, end-to-end data management services<br />
cater to the requirements of lead<strong>in</strong>g brands across <strong>in</strong>dustry verticals <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Retail, Telecom, IT, Manufactur<strong>in</strong>g, MRO and<br />
Electrical & Electronics among others.<br />
For more <strong>in</strong>formation, visit us at www.unilogcorp.com<br />
Contact us<br />
Corporate Office:<br />
Unilog Content Solutions Pvt. Ltd.,<br />
#11, 15th Cross, 20th Ma<strong>in</strong>, Outer R<strong>in</strong>g Road,<br />
J.P. Nagar, 5th Phase, Bangalore – 560078.<br />
Tel: +91-80-26590721.<br />
Fax: +91-80-26710590<br />
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#579/2, 1st, 2nd & 3rd Floor, Gunamba Towers,<br />
D.Subbaiah Road, Lakshmipuram,<br />
Mysore – 570 004.<br />
Tel: +91-821-3092500<br />
US Office:<br />
Unilog Content Solutions,<br />
LLC, #985, Old Eagle School Rd,<br />
Suite 510, Wayne, PA 19087.<br />
Tel: +1-412-663-0083