Omnichannel is the key to successful eCommerce

The drastic shift from offline to online has delivered many new online shopping experiences featuring multiple touchpoints for consumers. Businesses are realising that more consumers are turning to eCommerce for the convenience to shop wherever and whenever they please.

Omnichannel should therefore be a top priority for eCommerce businesses. Online shoppers are no longer satisfied with just a single shopping channel, and are more willing to explore different types of retail touchpoints.

Omnichannel is the future of eCommerce

Omnichannel should allow consumers to shop on their preferred marketplaces and apps seamlessly, regardless of whether they are shopping on a mobile phone, desktop or in-store. The integration of all these channels makes omnichannel extremely powerful.

The key to successful ecommerce is understanding consumers. Omnichannel must cater to all their needs and there needs to be a true integration between all the different channels you employ into your strategy.

It should provide a seamless customer experience, allowing the customer to browse the catalogue on a home PC and then complete the purchase later on their mobile phone and then finally, collect the item at a physical location. If done correctly, this can all be done with ease and simplicity for both the customer and the business.

Understanding the customer

Businesses that are committed to creating a diverse range of online and offline touchpoints, will require in-depth insights into consumers, including their personal preferences and shopping habits. They will also need a clear understanding of current and future trends.

Businesses can use the rich reserves of data and analytics to uncover the challenges their customers face. This information can then be used for future product development, better channel integration and ultimately, to provide an excellent shopping experience.

Omnichannel personalisation

To have a successful omnichannel strategy, one must also understand how to implement omnichannel personalisation. It is critical to use personalisation for all marketing including emails and product recommendations. Product recommendations should also be tailored for individual customers, based on the data one collects from their web activity.

To achieve omnichannel personalisation channels need to be connected on the backend in order to offer this seamless experience. This means that product photos and descriptions, listings and offers need to be consistent on all channels.

By tracking a customers’ behaviour on various channels, businesses can record their preferences and design a strategy to best serve them.

Omnichannel enabling technology

The Optimizely Digital Experience Platform is an open, extensible platform providing one consistent foundation behind every digital touchpoint, enabling businesses to create and optimise a seamless digital journey for their customers. It will help create compelling, targeted content at a speed and scale that adapts rapidly to changes in the market.

This solution is fully integrated and specifically designed for modern ecommerce, content, merchandising and marketing. Also, because it is built on the cloud, it is easily extensible to existing technology so one can get started, without starting over.

Businesses can now easily deliver content through apps, sites and any touchpoint. They can rest assured knowing that they are secure, compliant and earning customers’ trust.