The Buzzword You Need to Know About: Omnicommerce

If you’re in the retail game, it’s important to continually stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies affecting your industry. This helps you to be more competitive, attract more customers, increase sales and profits, and just generally grow your business.

One buzzword that certainly seems here to stay right now, and that all entrepreneurs should know about, is “omnicommerce.” This term (also called omnichannel) refers to a retailing strategy whereby businesses deliver a seamless customer experience through every available shopping channel, not just one or two.

Keen to learn more? Read on for the ins and outs of omnicommerce and how it can benefit your venture today.

What Is Omnicommerce?

So, exactly what is omnicommerce, you wonder? This term comes from the combination of “omni,” which stems from a Latin root that means all, or everywhere; and “commerce,” which refers to shopping. Basically, omnicommerce is a retailing strategy that is all about delivering a total, seamless customer experience through all possible shopping channels. This includes physical stores, ecommerce sites, mobile apps, and social media platforms.

At its best deployment, those businesses which utilize omnicommerce tactics will be able to predict what a customer will be looking for when they walk into a store or check out an online shop, even before a customer thinks about it themselves. Through omnicommerce, businesses can be present across all the channels where a consumer might be, and therefore be on hand to serve the customer at any point along the way through their purchase journey.

Omnicommerce is not just about making it easy for consumers to shop online, on their cell phones, or in stores though, but about integrating all touchpoints that customers have with brands across all platforms. Essentially, an omnicommerce strategy gets businesses focusing on consumers and making their experiences enjoyable and engaging, rather than only concentrating on a particular retail channel.

Why Has It Arisen?

The rise of big data has a lot to do with the rise in omnicommerce. Now that data is so prevalent and so much easier for companies to get access to, it’s more and more possible for brands to get an all-over view of consumers. With zettabytes worth of data flowing across the globe and able to be processed, stored and analyzed, it’s simpler to see shopping trends and understand customers like never before.

In addition, factor in social media networking sites like Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as the popularity of online shopping and the use of mobiles and tablets for research and buying, and you can see that there are more ways than ever for consumers to be understood and targeted. The biggest issue for retailers, though, is working out how to ensure that each experience a customer has with their business is both consistent and top notch.

What Are the Benefits?

There are multiple benefits to omnicommerce strategies. For the consumer, it means a more comprehensive, integrated shopping experience, with easier access to the products or services they want, when they want them.

For businesses, they have the chance to get customers more involved with their brand. As a result, consumers are more likely to identify with a company that resonates with them, plus they’ll feel more loyal to such a business over the long term.

In addition, because omnicommerce strategies involve streamlining sales and marketing campaigns, the results of these strategies will usually be better. Businesses won’t suffer from having scattered efforts, because all of their work will be coordinated and focused on the same goals. For example, rather than having social media strategies working differently to in-store campaigns or e-newsletter mail-outs, every channel will be cohesive and more effective.

What Can You Do to Operate an Omnicommerce Venture?

With omnicommerce, the lines between in-store and ecommerce sales are blurring, as are the lines between digital and in-person customer relationship management tactics. This means that businesses must analyze their sales, marketing and customer service funnels across every possible touchpoint where a consumer can come in contact with the brand.

You must keep in mind that, now, securing a payment from a client isn’t just about how that customer pays you for the product or service, but also about their experience in doing so. You need to focus on making each step convenient, personalized, speedy, and designed to foster brand loyalty at all stages, across all platforms.

While different types of organizations will have different ways of going about this (depending not only on their operations but also the exact customers they target), businesses should always concentrate on how to provide an optimum customer experience anywhere, any time.