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Omnichannel Data: What is it and how can it help retail marketeers?

Omnichannel is often used as a marketing buzzword. But what does it mean? How many retailers have a successful omnichannel strategy? And how do they gather and use omnichannel data? In this blog, we explain all.

 

What is omnichannel?

“Omnis” is Latin for “all”. An omnichannel strategy is a cross-channel model, meaning that a business can be in constant contact with its customers through multiple (“all”) avenues at the same time. That said, it’s not just about being able to do this – it’s about doing it and doing it well.

An omnichannel strategy is a consistent one across all channels, delivering continuity of experience. This includes making sure your website design matches the aesthetics of your store, that you have aligned messaging across social media, in-store, email marketing and paid advertising and finally, that the checkout and customer service processes are seamless, integrated and consistent.

In a 2017 survey conducted by software company Apteco, just 11% of respondents classify their communication strategy as omnichannel, whereas the vast majority view their communications as multichannel. This implies that although many retailers are communicating with customers across more than one channel, they do not consider themselves to be creating a seamless experience across all channels.

 

So, what’s the secret to achieving the perfect ‘anywhere, anytime’ omnichannel brand experience – an experience that remains elusive to many marketers? Data.

 

How to use omnichannel data

It’s important that omnichannel activities are both consistent and personalised. After all, the preferred in-store experience may not exactly match the perfect online experience.  

The key to creating this seamless online experience is to reflect and improve. The best way for retailers to do this is to gather data from all channels and segment your audiences to understand which data points are useful for you.

By doing this, you can develop the most appropriate marketing strategies for each segment across channels, and generally refine a channel to make it suitable for its most prominent and profitable segment.

For example, sending a text message to customers who frequently view a shop on their mobiles is a small glimpse into how omnichannel marketing can be used. Our in-depth example below expands on this.

 

Working example: One of your segments responds well to personalised marketing. They shop in-store and online mostly through mobile. They are signed up to your emails and they follow you on social. They live within 10 miles of your flagship store and occasionally visit your stores, maybe once per month.

Last week, they purchased a pair of jeans in-store and received a 10% off code for reviewing the product online. Following the review, they receive a personalised email, reminding them of the 10% off code and recommending a matching product:

They make a purchase and receive a text message confirmation. As with in-store, they can receive real-time assistance online if they need it via live chat too, can also click-and-collect their order from their favourite store, and ask the social media team about their order progress.

 

What’s been created here is an omnichannel experience. The customer feels they can contact the retailer from anywhere. Marketing has crossed channels seamlessly in a personalised way from in-store to online.

Creating an omnichannel experience like this boosts your chances of a loyal customer turning into an ambassador for your products, and this can be done by using data to learn about your customers and how each segment prefers to communicate.

 

 

At AlphaGraphics, we specialise in helping retail businesses deliver data-driven, automated marketing campaigns to improve lead generation. Throughout your business’ timeline, you may have collected reams of data from prospective and real-time customers. With our help, the data can be measured, analysed and used to its highest efficiency. To find out more, visit: https://retail.alphagraphics.co.uk/our-services/