Omnichannel Journey: What is it and Why Implement It?

Developing an omnichannel journey for your customers involves utilizing key revenue growth strategies. By integrating your physical store, e-commerce site, in-store connected salespeople, and conversational communication tools, you can effectively master the concept of “phygital.” This approach ensures you stay connected with your customers through various channels. But what exactly is an omnichannel journey and why is it so crucial? Discover the answers in this article.

What is an omnichannel journey?

With the surge of digitalization and the plethora of sales and communication opportunities, it is essential for brands to leverage all available channels to increase touchpoints and solidify their presence with consumers. The core objective of a multichannel strategy is to maximize reach and engage customers across every possible channel (website, SMS, retail stores, social media, etc.).

The proliferation of sales and communication channels presents strategic challenges for businesses that must deliver a cohesive offering to avoid silos, enhance customer relationships, and create a unique customer experience. Omnichannel is about a brand’s capability to provide consistent information and access to its products and services across all conceivable channels. Whether through an e-commerce site, social networks, a physical store, or mobile applications, these tools enable you to craft an omnichannel shopping journey for your customers and maintain constant connectivity with them.

The omnichannel journey to optimize the customer experience

Implementing an omnichannel journey not only captures revenue but also attracts a new customer base that is well-versed in the digital world. This generation of buyers, who have grown up with smartphones, expects a highly digitalized shopping experience long before they ever step foot in your store.

Even if purchases are finalized in-store, more than half of consumers research online about the product’s technical aspects and the allocated budget, check user reviews via a mobile app, and compare existing offers. By the time they arrive at the store, 60% of their shopping journey is already done. At this point, consumers seek expert recommendations or simply wish to see and touch the product firsthand, all while enjoying the advantages of a phygital experience in your physical store.

Providing a seamless customer experience is crucial. By being present from the initial research phase, through product comparison and review seeking, you capture customers’ attention and guide them through the funnel to purchase at your store. This ensures a continuous omnichannel journey, facilitates information access across all available channels, and strengthens your visibility and reputation. This is particularly important in a context where factors like manufacturing methods, product durability, the origin of raw materials, and ecological impact are critical. It’s your responsibility to streamline the entire process, leveraging the strengths of each channel, to offer the most enjoyable shopping experience possible.

The omnichannel journey to consistently support your customers

Omnichannel is essential for maintaining consistency. A well-designed journey across all potential touchpoints enables consumers to access information wherever they are—on the go, in real-time, and across any channel. A crucial detail: your store’s opening hours must be easily accessible so customers can visit your locations without hassle.

Ensuring quick access to essential information requires a website that provides comprehensive details for each of your locations (practical info, services, etc.), an up-to-date Google My Business page, and regularly updated social media channels to inform customers about events like exclusive opening days for loyal patrons. These new channels and social media platforms not only enhance your brand image but are also integral to your communication strategy. They help retain your current customers and attract new ones.

Attention: real-time information is essential because there’s nothing worse for customers than finding your store closed. Likewise, an empty shelf for products listed as available on your website can seriously harm your brand. Equipping your sales associates with tablets connected to your management system ensures they have instant access to crucial information, which they can promptly share with your customers.

The Omnichannel Journey for a Personalized Relationship

Creating an omnichannel journey facilitates a seamless, continuous connection between your customers and your brand, even beyond business hours. Being present across multiple touchpoints encourages interactions with your team and strengthens customer loyalty. Additionally, it allows you to personalize the customer experience throughout the purchasing process by leveraging the customer data collected via your CRM. Analyzing your customers’ journey provides crucial insights that enable you to continuously reinvent your offerings and develop effective strategies.

In the same way, your loyalty program, unified and tailored to your various target audiences, must be seamless. For example, if a loyalty card is activated in-store, customers should be able to access their earned points and use them on your e-commerce platform. Your channels should be designed to seamlessly integrate with each other.

Don’t overlook the impact of your presence on social media or apps that enable a genuine conversational and relational marketing strategy. Chats on mobile or your website, and interactions on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, boost consumer engagement and drive conversions both online and in-store.

Key Takeaways:

• An omnichannel journey consists of tools and strategies that ensure a consistent offering and make it easily accessible across all sales and communication channels;
• The omnichannel journey enhances the customer experience by engaging consumers from the initial information search phase and guiding them smoothly towards purchase;
• The omnichannel journey continuously supports customers by providing real-time information and facilitating interactions across multiple touchpoints (customer service, website, social media, connected sales associates…);
• The omnichannel journey personalizes both the offer and the customer relationship. It relies on a detailed analysis of your customer data and enables the implementation of optimal loyalty strategies.