The 2012 Omni-Channel Retail Experience
Great read from Aberdeen Research report Jan 2012- Omni Channel Retail experience – some excerpts:
Omni-channel retailing is defined as a set of integrated processes and decisions that support a unified view of a brand from product purchase, return, and exchange standpoint irrespective of the channel (in-store, online, mobile, call center, or social).
According to 49% of respondents for this report, the top business pressure driving retailers to focus on a channel integration strategy is lost sales opportunity costs.
When it comes to lost sales opportunity, retailers need to be aware of their competition, especially from a product and pricing standpoint. Price matching can only go so far; the retailer that has the product in stock and can deliver to the customer via their channel of choice at the right time and right price will win the business.
The second pressure, identified by 42% of respondents, is customer
expectations of a similar experience regardless of channel. This pressure
indicates that consumers are anxious for “anytime, anywhere” retailing,
which puts a heavy focus on digital channels. This means that products must
be available across all channels (rather than be channel-specific).
Large NA Retailer case issue:
To improve upon their omni-channel strategy, the retailer overhauled their strategic approach to their channel options. According to the Director, “the message came down from the top. Senior management fully backed our move to align the channels, specifically from a product availability and marketing standpoint.” This retailer revamped their inventory and fulfillment strategies to ensure product availability across channels. Additionally, the retailer made order fulfillment from separate channels a possibility, to alleviate the issues surrounding out-of-stocks.
According to the Director, “the new omni-channel approach has left us with a more consistent brand across channels, and has resulted in better order fulfillment rates. Additionally, we have experienced a 5 % increase in customer satisfaction by providing the same product offering across all channels.”
omniretailing 