Omnichannel implementation – how does it work for the e-commerce?

Omnichannel in e-commerce is already an industry standard. If you want to run a shop that is modern and will offer the customer the service you expect, sales and multi-channel promotion is obligatory.

Omnichannel – obligatory rules

Omnichannel consists in maintaining many sales channels. The general rule is the desire to satisfy each type of customer, i.e. a customer using different devices. In addition, it is important that your store identifies itself visually in each of these ranges. The main indicator of a reliable brand is its quick identification and consistent promotion in all channels. It is not important, therefore, in which channel the customer decides to make purchases – everywhere he must see the same graphic design, logo, colors and even the layout of the store. It gives a sense of security to the buyer and a conviction about the professionalism of the seller.

Cohesion is another element that is very important for the entrepreneur. Entrepreneur pays the most attention to increase the number of clients. By omnichannel, everyone’s preferences will be satisfied. Regardless if he prefers shopping in an offline or online store, via a smartphone or on a computer – consistency of your store and its presence on all these platforms is very important.

Blog as a promotion channel

If you have an e-commerce website, do not forget to run a blog. This is a great way to better position your store and stop the customer at his doorstep. Creating useful entries improves the company’s image in the eyes of the client, who depends not only on increasing sales, but also on genuine customer assistance in the field of the marketed products. Skipping blogging is the most common error in communication with the customer.

The second benefit of running an industry blog is a strong impact on the positioning of the store’s website. By creating useful materials and using popular phrases and keywords, you increase your chance that a prospective customer who checks out your sales field will go to your website and will stay there. Not only you offer him useful information, but also the products that suit him.

If you are familiar with the smartphone, the visitor will receive suggestions for using the application, which solves the problem of searching for access to the purchase. Then you create a convenient form of shopping not only for customers using computers, but also those who value shopping outside this house, anywhere, anytime.

ERP systems and omnichannel

The big advantage of omnichannel is the ability to implement it on one system. This means that, despite selling from several separate channels, you can use one system that supports storage, prices, promotions, sales and billing, and product information management. Instead of making a few changes in parallel, in each channel, you make a single update. In this way, you allow customers with different preferences to use your store, but at the same time you do not multiply the amount of work while maintaining the infrastructure.

Mobile devices in e-commerce

Another advantage of omnichannel is certainly a nod to mobile users. More and more mobile sales and initiatives in creating mobile applications for online stores are seen. Systems such as Progressive Web Apps, in which websites resemble applications, are becoming more and more popular. Increasing the conversion rate in mobile applications is already widely described in theory and should be just as high a priority as in the case of websites. The creation of an application for your e-commerce store will be a natural extension of the business. In the era of smartphones which are as hardware-intensive as some personal computers, it’s only natural thing to do, and your brand gains the reputation of joining the group of mobile application owners. A developing company is a modern company, and only this attracts the attention of an equally modern customer.

Promotion

The main advantage of omnichannel implementation is the transfer of customer information to the new channel in the network. The opportunity to reach it through a new form of promotion and communication, such as a newsletter, contact form or social media is the opportunity to provide information about changes in the store, promotions and new products. It combines a lower cost with a larger information range.

The availability of product information on the Internet for a customer standing in a stationary store is a great convenience for him. The quintessence of omnichannel’s functionality will be the ability to scan a QR code containing information about the product sought by the customer, directing to the site with similar products not available on the spot. In this way, instead of looking in another store, the customer will purchase online from you, not from the competition. It all depends on the ease of reaching the right product, and if you have many sales channels, you leave the wide range of choice for the customer. Properly implemented omnichannel will bring many benefits not only to entrepreneurs, but also to customers. It is both increased effectiveness of marketing activities and reduction of promotion costs in the long run. If a multichannel implementation professionals will take care of the system, the maintenance of infrastructure should not cause problems or increase the amount of work required.