What is omnichannel?

Adopting an omni-channel approach in your marketing, sales, and service strategies has plenty of benefits. It helps you build a unified customer experience and streamline data collection, which makes it easier to generate high-quality leads, close deals faster, and deliver the best possible customer service.

The term multi-channel refers to several different channels working independently from one another. For example, a company may use email to send out newsletters while simultaneously running an AdWords campaign and posting on social media. The success of each channel is measured separately as well. Multi-channel also means that customers may have an experience with multiple channels at once.

Omni-channel refers to all channels working together in harmony to provide a seamless customer experience. The goal for companies using omni-channel is to deliver a consistent message across all channels.

Omni-channel vs. Multi-Channel

The terms omni-channel and multi-channel are often used interchangeably, but there is a big difference between the two. Multi channel marketing refers to using multiple channels or platforms. You may be using email marketing to nurture leads, social media ads to drive traffic to your site, and a chatbot on your website to answer questions and provide support services. These are all different channels that you are using, but there is no integration between them. They operate independently of each other.

Omni-channel is the strategy of using multiple channels to deliver a consistent brand experience to customers. Multi-channel, on the other hand, is a way to describe the interconnectedness of customer interactions with brands across different touchpoints. These touchpoints include mobile marketing, engaging social media campaigns, and a well-designed website. All omni-channel experiences will use these channels, but not all multi-channel experiences are considered omni-channel. 

There are a ton of benefits to using omni-channel and multi-channel:

Cater to more customers

This is a customer-centric approach that's focused on the experience. It means you're not just creating a strategy for a single channel, but instead, one that will work across multiple channels. This means you need to be present wherever your customer is present. Your customers can be at home on the couch, at work in the break room, or out and about at a local store. As they move from one place to another, they can still find you there, too.

Increase your profits.

The retail experience is about to undergo a major shift as consumers are going to be able to shop anywhere, anytime. Consumers want a unified shopping experience when they're ready to make a purchase, and will expect their favorite brands to offer a consistent shopping experience across multiple platforms and channels. By offering a seamless service across multiple channels you’ll be able to attract more customers, but also build a stronger relationship with them, making it easier for them to buy from you again and again.

Improve customer experience

Omnichannel is about creating a seamless and consistent experience for the customer across all channels, both digital and physical. The key to a successful omnichannel strategy is consistency by delivering the same personalized experience to customers across all touchpoints and channels.

Multi-channel is about offering your customers options when it comes to how they want to interact with your brand. Enabling customers to contact you through multiple channels such as the phone, email or social media, or allowing them to purchase products through your website, mobile app or in-store. Multi-channel allows customers to get in touch with you on their own terms.

With the rise of ecommerce and new channels, an omni-channel retail strategy has become imperative for retailers. It's a system that allows direct sellers to provide customers with an integrated shopping experience that crosses multiple physical and digital channels. This is the future of retail customer experience.
Don’t know where to start? Contact our team info@retailcloud.com to get your own omnichannel solution.