By Naciye Cakir, Tom Hermey, Zarrin Jabed, Hailey Murphy, Rebecca Serviss

What is Omnichannel?

To put it into one sentence, the main focus of omnichannel is primarily brand experience, customer reach, and user engagement. As technology advances, and consumers today become more well-versed in the use of technology in their daily lives, there is a certain expectation that the user experience across platforms will be more accessible than it once was. This is where the omnichannel strategy comes into play. The omnichannel definition could be described as the following – a user engagement method focusing on the combination of online and offline touchpoints, along with branding and messaging, to create accessibility to customers across all channels, platforms, and devices.

What is Omnichannel Marketing?

Omnichannel marketing focuses on customer centricity and the marketing tactics associated with achieving a more customer-centric view. Instead of just targeting the desktop application, customers will receive the same support on all platforms such as social media, live chat, and email. In short, a brand will go to the customer instead of the customer trying to reach the brand.

In order to achieve and provide this type of marketing strategy, a brand must adhere to certain guidelines such as providing consistent branding and personalized messaging that takes into account specific interests, past interactions, and the current stage of the buyer’s journey. This is where inbound marketing becomes essential. Inbound marketing focuses on the buyer’s persona and journey and offers solutions to a problem the customer is having. Inbound marketing creates personalized content throughout the buyer’s journey, which helps build relationships that ultimately helps the brand in the long run.

How Does Technology Enable Omnichannel?

When it comes to the technology stack to build an effective omnichannel experience for a modern retailer, the goal is to influence touchpoints by providing the contextually appropriate tools and content at the right time. In order to accomplish this, retailers must implement customer relationship systems, content systems, and commerce platforms that are driven and connected by a connected backbone.

The first component of a powerful omnichannel technology stack is customer relationship systems. This is not just the B2B CRMs that revolutionized sales processes.  Instead, these systems must not only track individuals and their attributes but also their current state in the journey.  The state of a consumer is tracked in a data repository growingly being referred to as a customer engagement hub.  The goal of the customer engagement hub is to connect the who with the when, where and what of the journey.

The second component of an omnichannel technology stack is content management platforms. This is not the web servers that started the internet.  Instead, these are delivery platforms that may leverage the web and HTML to deliver individualized content on demand and at scale.  These systems are robust warehouses that support not only the storage and indexing of content but the assignment of metatags that support the mapping of content to context. A modern content management system can manage all of this at the speed and scale of streaming services.

To be successful at omnichannel, the core commerce platforms must be connected and equipped to handle the new attributes and support the new customer journeys. The classic point-of-sale (POS) systems, customer service, inventory, and e-commerce platforms must connect, speak, and understand their position in the omnichannel experience. For example, the in-store inventory management system is capable of connecting with the mobile app and also smart enough to know the nearest distribution center’s shipping time if a customer wants to purchase for delivery when they are in the store. Commerce platforms include the latest technologies and not just POS and inventory systems.  Commerce systems have evolved to include mobile, internet-of-things (IoT) devices, metaverse stores, and even augmented reality (AR) devices.

All these components are ineffective if they are not connected in real-time and when needed. Modern event streaming technologies on the cloud can support the dynamic ingestion, routing, and resolution of customer journey events. These platforms support the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) in real-time to integrate and surface contextually appropriate tools and content at the right time to the right customer. The event streaming platform is the backbone of a connected omnichannel technology stack.

Omnichannel vs. Multichannel

The primary difference between omnichannel and multichannel is the connectivity between the channels. A majority of brands today have multiple platforms, such as an online website and multiple social media such as Instagram and Twitter, but with the multichannel experience, all these platforms are not necessarily working together. This is what an omnichannel experience provides.           Omnichannel brings all platforms together to provide a consistent and smooth experience for the customer. It allows customers to see that a brand takes all their interactions with them seriously and that they are, in fact, the same brand across the various platforms. In turn, this allows a company to provide a greater reach boosting customer satisfaction and ultimately increasing sales and profits. Lastly, multichannel focuses more on just reaching the customer through various channels, while omnichannel takes the overall customer experience into greater account along with the various channels.

Companies That Have Used Omnichannel

1. Bank of America

Omnichannel marketing is believed to be mainly for retailers however other companies have embraced the changes as omnichannel has become a way of life for consumers. The Fintech companies have offered seamless customer experience, whether physical bank transactions, online transactions, or ATM withdrawals. Bank of America is one of many fintech companies that has been utilizing omnichannel experience for customers for a long time. Branches allow customers to hook up to free Wi-Fi offering tablets and continue back transactions while waiting in a kiosk for a bank representative. With this first step, they started the “Robot-branch” initiative where customers don’t need to wait for a teller to resolve their issues, instead, they can have the conversation, issue handling, and experience all at the same time with a machine.

2. CVS

In 2021, CVS has taken the initiative to embrace and enhance omnichannel health services to meet the needs of consumers when and where they want them, including at and away from home in person as well as virtual. The highlight of CVS’s omnichannel pharmacy strategy is to advance primary care delivery capabilities to guide consumers to sites and to providers that meet their needs both in person and virtually. In addition launching new all-payer health products and services with new health solutions for employers, consumers, and health plans. CVS has partnered with Microsoft to transform itself into a digital health solutions provider and create innovative solutions to help consumers improve their health. CVS has taken additional steps by partnering with IBM Watson Advertising to enable chat-style, one-to-one interactions, and target mobile promotions to enhance flu shots and also promote “Spoken RX” that can read prescription information aloud at all of its pharmacy locations. CVS Health’s approach “takes the digital-first, technology-forward approach” enhances omnichannel health services to meet the needs of customers, expand reach, and engage with online customers.

3. Sephora

Sephora became one of the few retailers globally which turned omnichannel business thinking into action. The entire omnichannel experience at Sephora is targeted to engage loyal customers with personalized content at every point along their brand journey from website to mobile, instore to the mobile app from new products to beauty news, emerging trends to product tutorials. Sephora e-commerce websites have a “Beauty Bag” account option where it is a Beauty Insider Rewards program with millions of forms of tutorials and beauty tips that has 11 million members. Additionally, with the use of a Beauty Bag account, customers can track purchases, scan items while they’re in the store, and keep a wish list. Offering this experience to their customers helped Sephora become the #1 beauty retailer in the marketplace and increased their mobile and online orders.

Companies Already Seeing Omnichannel Success

It is amazing to see how many large corporations have already reached success in their omnichannel strategies. There are so many companies across the U.S. that are taking advantage of new technologies and using it to enhance the customer experience in ways the world couldn’t have pictured decades ago.

Many corporations are bringing new experiences to their brand and connecting with users in new ways thanks to the help of modern technology, bringing the best customer experience right in the palms of your hands. Companies utilizing advanced technology tools and software are seeing a spike in customer engagement and most importantly, satisfaction.

1. Disney

For the “Happiest Place On Earth,” you’d hope that the House of Mouse provides the best customer experience throughout all of its theme parks, cruise ships, and other magical experiences across the globe. Disney has been able to accomplish this with its omnichannel success as the company continues to improve the theme park experience.

 Disney has seen a lot of omnichannel success this year was the grand opening of “Star Wars” Galaxy Edge at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and “Star Wars” Land Disneyland in Anaheim, California. “Star Wars” fans can finally experience life as a Jedi from an exclusive spaceship-style resort serving as your home base, which you’re also responsible for protecting against outside threats, to movie-themed restaurants, and interactive locations where you are a part of the story and work with other guests and cast members to save the ship. Park goers can use their Magic Band or a smartphone with the 

Disney is also expected to see immense omnichannel success with the launch of its new updated Magic Bands later this year called Magic Band +, making them more advanced and an interactive tool for park goers to use throughout their Disney adventures. Magic Bands + currently come in 25 color and design variations, making them even more personal than before with LED lights, motion/gesture sensors, and Bluetooth capabilities. These bands serve as your hotel room key, all of your park passes, and can even allow you to access hidden secrets throughout the parks. When paired to your smartphone, you can easily see your upcoming itinerary and purchase souvenirs and other entertainment.

2. Apple

Apple is one of the biggest tech giants in the world and is known for its innovative products, software, and customer service and is constantly finding new ways to innovate. 

One of its omnichannel successes came from the launch of its Apple Card, a credit card in partnership with MasterCard and Goldman Sachs. Customers can apply for the credit card for free and earn up to 3% daily cash on purchases made from Apple as well as other retailers including Nike, Panera T-Mobile, and Walgreens, and 1% cash back on other purchases. According to 9-To-5 Mac, one of the biggest Apple tech blogs, by launching its own credit card, it was ranked as Goldman Sachs’ highest ranked credit card based on its interactions, benefits, services, and rewards, receiving a score of 864. 

In the past few years, the company has made it easier than ever for customers to purchase products, get tech support, and have all of their needs met right from the palm of their hands anywhere in the world with an internet connection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple needed to find new ways to meet its customers’ needs without them needing to go to store locations. Apple started offering new contactless pickup options such as curbside pickup and same-day delivery for qualifying products so customers could get their items without risking infection to themselves or others.

3. Starbucks

Starbucks is a go-to for millions of people around the world when they need a quick caffeine break. With over 30,000 store locations worldwide, their commitment to convenience and great customer service is. 

Starbucks like many other restaurants has seen a lot of omnichannel success from its mobile app. Users can download the Starbucks app for free and create an account to order their food in advance, save their favorite menu items and locations for easy reorders, and earn rewards with every purchase. Customers can access their rewards very easily from their smartphones, computers, or store locations by entering their email or phone number.

When it comes to loyalty programs, Starbucks is one to take advantage of. For caffeine lovers who are frequent customers, it is very easy to accumulate rewards from free bakery items to beverages.

Recommendations on How to Improve Omnichannel Strategies

When focus changes from a product or service-centric approach to a customer-centric approach, there are a few things that companies can do to enhance their omnichannel strategy. Before the final step in making a purchase, consumers go through an entire journey to get to that endpoint.

Companies should ensure they understand their customers; who they are, what platform they typically make their purchases through and their behaviors when they shop. One way to understand and step into a consumer’s shoes is to create buyer personas. Buyer personas are fictional descriptions of customers that provide behaviors and actions they may take when purchasing a product. Personas may also include challenges or barriers that the customer has to overcome to make a purchase, attitudes or behaviors, motivations, and more. Building personas can help companies understand their customers and can even help companies in building out customer journeys for each of the personas. 

 Once personas are developed, companies can take their customer-centric approach to the next level by creating personalized customer journeys for each of their personas. A customer journey is the mapping out of channels and content that represents how a customer might end up at the last step of purchasing a product.

Customer journeys are important in that companies can use them to help push their customers to the next stage of the journey. For example, if a computer company has one of their buyer personas as a tech-savvy customer who works in the tech field and loves to build computers in their spare time, the company might create a journey that is different from a buyer persona who is a non-tech savvy person who typically likes to record things on paper and who is not experienced with computers. These journeys would be different in what channels they use, what messages they receive and how they receive the messaging from this computer company.

The non-tech savvy persona may receive their first awareness message through a magazine or an advertisement in a newspaper whereas the tech-savvy persona may receive their first interaction through an email or a social media advertisement. For companies to push each of these personas to the next stage in the adoption ladder, they can use these customer journeys to create nudges and guide their teams as to what to deploy next to each of these personas. 

Personas and customer journeys are extremely important in creating a great omnichannel experience for customers, however, companies should make sure that they are creating a consistent experience through each of the platforms they use to interact with their customers. This could include developing a plan as to when and how and what messages a company may want to deploy to a specific persona or audience. Customers want an experience where they are not receiving the same message many times but multiple different messages that guide them to making a purchase.