My nameās Felicity Gardiner ā you guys all probably know that ā and Iām here, as opposed to sat down there enjoying myself, today to talk to you about omnivores. Here are some omnivores. But not just human and animal. Mainly human, I think. Iām here to talk to you today about retail omnivores and how we, as marketeers, need to pander to their needs. How do we do that? By becoming omni-channel specialists.
What is omni-channel?
What is omni-channel? Well, the term āomni-channelā has seemingly become a marketing buzzword, but what does it actually mean?
Omni-channel, as defined by Google, is retail that integrates different methods of shopping available to consumers, bringing online and bricks and mortar together. Essentially, omni, meaning āallā, and channel, meaning āchannelā, itās literal term is āall-channelā; however, to me, as a marketeer, it means a hell of a lot more.
To me, it signifies a shift in how consumers are behaving and how theyāre buying. Consumers can now engage with the company in bricks and mortar, online, on the mobile app, through a catalogue, and through social media. What we need to do as marketeers is make sure that this journey is completely seamless, no matter what channel theyāre on or what device.
What does this look like today?
What do this look today? Currently, a lot of businesses are multi-channel ā and thatās great ā but itās more of an operational view. Customers can complete transactions on each channel, but not across multiple channels. What we need to do is make sure that you can interact across multiple devices and itās a seamless journey.
Current figures suggest that within the UK, mobile customersā share of total purchases will grow by 55% in the next five years, and reach nearly 20 billion within a decade. Yet, even when that becomes a reality, mobile customers will only make up 5% of UK retail because the rest will still happen within the bricks and mortar stores. This is why you need omni-channel; seamlessly connecting users to the things they need and they love. And this is why Iām so passionate about it, because itās not just about making money, itās about the customer and providing them with what they need.
Why marketers need to embrace omni-channel marketing
This is great and everything, but, as a marketeer, this shift in buying behaviour does mean that we face some problems. We, as digital marketeers, e-commerce managers, retailers, strategists, no matter what vertical, we need to master the skill of engaging shoppers in the new world of cross-device, cross-channel marketing. But why?
This is a buzzword. Weāve already established that, but is this just a trend thatās just going last for a short time, like bageling?
So bageling is a big trend that was spearheaded in Canada, but is huge in Japan. Donāt worry, itās not permanent! Itās just saline solution injected into your brain, into your head, which then you make a point, to make it a donut. But, anyway, what Iām saying is omni-channel isnāt just a fad. Itās not just something thatās come up, a trend that will go away. We need to take it seriously.
Customer touch points are increasing
Studies show that by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Some more stats. Today, customers use on average almost six touch-points, wherein 15 years ago, it was only two. This is something we really need to consider in the way that we market and advertise to our customers.
The benefits of being omni-channel
Also, customersā expectations are quite high. I mean, really high. We need to address this. After all, we donāt want to get left behind. Studies show that companies with extremely strong omni-channel customer engagement see a 9.5% year-on-year increase in annual revenue.
Similarly, = omni-channel companies see a 7.5% year-on-year decrease in cost-per-contact. Businesses that adopt omni-channel strategies achieve 91% greater year-on-year customer retention rates compared to businesses that donāt.
Now, if you consider how much money it costs you to gain a customer, thatās actually a pretty impressive stat. Also, you donāt want to end up like these guys [Woolworths]. Itās probably one of the saddest pictures Iāve ever seen of stock imagery.
How to become omni-channel
Okay. Iāve hopefully convinced you that you need to go this way, but how? As mentioned before, the main thing is your customer. You need to become incredibly customer-centric. If anything, you need to take the channel out and put the customer in. Itās all about being the customer.
Omni-channel is viewing the experience through the eyes of the customer. Orchestrating the customer experience through all channels, so that itās seamless, integrated and consistent. Omni-channel anticipates that customers start in one channel, but then convert in another.
Your message needs to be consistent
What else does this mean? The messaging needs to be consistent. No matter where youāre interacting with a customer, whatever channel, whatever device, you need to make sure thatās a consistent message throughout. This also builds loyalty. If your brand appears the same throughout all of these different channels, then people are going to trust you more and theyāre going to want to invest more.
But this is just one part of loyalty. Thereās another section, as well. Omni-channel loyalty allows the retailer to approach customers through a solar system of inter-connected marketing sources where the customer is the epicentre. In order for the strategy to be successful, all of the online, offline journeys that customers experience need to revolve around integration and the customerās lifestyle.
Customise your marketing
This then leads on to customisation. Youāre following a customer round all these different touch-points and across all these different devices. You know what theyāve put in their basket on their desktop, but you need to make sure that thatās whatās in their basket when theyāre on mobile.
You know that theyāre looking for a certain product. This may be because theyāre going to a friendās wedding. They want to have a particular occasion wear dress. By customisation, you can see what theyāve already searched for and put in their basket and then supply ads to them, which are relevant to the products theyāve already searched for and already shown an interest in. This, then, obviously, is going massively increase their chances of converting. That personal kind of profile youāve made for them and targeting the product youāre providing them with, the messaging youāre providing them with is going, obviously, increase conversion. The end goal of this is to make your customersā¦
How integrated do you want to be?
However, you need to be careful. Iām not saying that everyone should do this. You need to think about this carefully. Each business is different, and their customers are, as well. There will be differentiating levels of maturity, and you should take this into consideration. It may be that you just need to join the dots. Youāve got your mobile site, youāve got your website, youāve got your email. Just make sure that the message is consistent throughout and that itās an easy customer journey in between each one of those.
Or, you might want to go fully integrated. Everything you do is completely seamless. Someone walks into store and they already the knowā¦The person behind the till already knows what youāve searched for online, and they come up to you and say: āYes, weāve got this in your size. Do you want to try it on? These are some things I think you should try with it.ā
Obviously, the different ends of the spectrum all come with different challenges, but some common challenges that I wanted to pull out with going omni-channel are as follows.
The difficulty with being omni-channel
Operational silos
Obviously, we want everything to be integrated. We want everything to be as combined and seamless as possible. You need to address organisational silos. This happens in many organisations, and itās very common, but you need to make sure you completely break down these barriers. No-oneās out for themselves, but youāre all after the same goal.
Lack of data
Also, the lack of data. Obviously, if youāre following people around all these different channels and through different devices, you need to make sure that that data capture is there. You need to understand what theyāve searched for, where theyāve searched for it. That, then, builds the whole customer journey, so you know what stage theyāre at when you target them with certain, different messaging. This isnāt necessarily easy to do.
Technical integration
The next part is technical integration. Where weāre talking about breaking down the barriers between bricks and clicks, if somethingās happening online, and you want it to translate in store, thatās a lot of technical integration thatās going happen there. Thereās stuff about logistics you need to chat about. Itās not easy. Itās not going to happen overnight. These are all conversations you need to have as a company, as a whole.
Whoās doing it well?
Whoās doing it well? Who can we aspire to be in terms of omni-channel?
Oasis
One of the first examples I want to bring up is Oasis. This is where they have really broken down the barriers of bricks to clicks. You can go in store and if they donāt have an item that you want, in the size you want, then you go to the shop manager, and they have an iPad. They can say: āRight. Okay. I know I can order that for you in a size 10. I can deliver it to your house tomorrow.ā You donāt have to give them any information. They order it for you and itās already done. Sent to your house. You just hand over your card details. Exactly the same as if you were in the store at the same time, but they have your product. Thatās absolutely amazing.
Sephora
Then, thereās also Sephora. Sephoraās have a My Beauty Bag programme. This is a cosmetics retailer, but they make it really, really easy for you to, every time you go in there, remember what product youāve been given before, how much you like it. You kind of create this whole profile about what beauty products you really enjoyed, which oneās matched you, and, then, complimentary products to that. It kind of, it is your own kind of beauty specialist. So thatās really good.
Starbucks
Then, one of my favourites is Starbucks. Their loyalty and rewards scheme, which is on the app, makes it incredibly easy to top up your rewards every time you buy a coffee, pay on your rewards, and also understand stuff about the new products coming out.
This is a few examples of how you can do it really well. If you feel like you can adopt all of these things, then my main piece of advice is just hurry up and do it.
The end.