Tips to Enhance Omnichannel Marketing-Over the past decade, we have moved from brick and mortar stores being the primary point of sale, to the Web and now, with the spurt in mobile devices users have multiple ways to engage with a business. To be able to benefit from the shift, as an organization you have to offer solutions that enable multiple modes of engagement for your customer. Customers no longer only expect such a unified approach to sales but demand it. Over the past year or so, more and more retailers who primarily offered online stores are augmenting it with brick and mortar stores.
Take the example of a customer who is looking to buy a mobile phone. Before she makes the purchase decision, she will check the features and prices online; then she may go to a brick and mortar shop to hold and feel the phone. The decision to buy the phone could happen at any moment. In order to make the sale, the business needs to be where she is rather than wait for her to come to them.
The aim of omni-channel marketing is to provide a seamless and consistent experience to your customers across various platforms such as website, mobile device, stores, call center, etc.
Here are a few tips on how to ensure that your customer has a good experience when dealing with your Omnichannel Marketing
Tips to Enhance Omni-channel Marketing
Build Hybrid Solutions
The customer may make the buying decision at any point and if you want to benefit from that decision, you should be available at that moment when the decision is made. This means you cannot afford to have only an online store or only a brick-and-mortar store. Almost a decade of e-Commerce has taught us that a perfect solution will be some sort of a hybrid of the two that leaves the choice of where to make the purchase to the customer.
Build for Mobile Users
For a long time, the mobile app was an extension of the website or online store. However, with the explosion of mobile users (most of them on smartphones), you ignore this audience at your own peril. Smartphones allow users to get online at any time – at home, at work or during their commute. It is crucial that whatever solution you build take mobile users in to account to maximize your reach and sales.
Get Users to Log In
Your interaction with your customer should be seen as a one-off activity. Instead, you want to be able to build a relationship with your user so that they come back to you with future business. By getting users to create profiles on your site, you will be able to track their browsing and purchasing habits. This in turn helps you provide them products and services that they need and are more likely to buy.
Constantly Improve
It would be too optimistic to think that you will get the site right at the very first go. Your store will and must undergo constant improvement to ensure that you are reacting to your customers’ needs. Information from your CRM system will help you tweak the look-and-feel of the site and the products on offer. This is an ongoing process and must be budgeted for in terms of money and people.
As buyers and sellers migrate to the online platform new strategies will have to be developed to ensure that your omnichannel marketing and sales keep up with the demand.
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