Adopting an omnichannel strategy isn't just a passing trend — it’s a must if you want to stay competitive in the retail landscape.
Before the advent of the internet and mobile technologies, companies reached customers through an average of two touchpoints — now, there are six, making the usual customer journey a tad more complicated.
Here’s the good news:
Creating an omnichannel experience isn’t as tricky or unattainable as it once was thought to be. Omnichannel retail platforms are now available to help you achieve that seamless user experience.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- What Is Omnichannel Commerce?
- How Does Omnichannel Retail Work?
- Why Omnichannel Commerce?
- What To Look For in an Omnichannel Commerce Platform
- Why Choose Orckestra For Your Omnichannel Retail Business
- Final Thoughts
What Is Omnichannel Commerce?
Omnichannel commerce is a strategy that empowers retailers to provide a unified and seamless shopping experience regardless of the touchpoint or sales channel the customer uses. That touchpoint could be a physical store, online store, or social media.
Today’s consumers use a variety of channels to go from finding the right product, reading reviews, and looking for personalized discounts to actually completing the purchase. If you don't create a connected experience, you can lose potential customers along the way.
Omnichannel commerce is closely related to multichannel commerce in the sense that both involve selling across multiple channels — but the similarities end there.
With multichannel commerce, channels are siloed, lack a unified cross-channel message, and optimize per touchpoint — not the whole journey.
But with an omnichannel commerce strategy, brands consider the customer journey and how consumers interact with each touchpoint.
How Does Omnichannel Retail Work?
Providing an omnichannel experience can be challenging because you have to consider the whole customer journey and understand the different ways customers interact with each channel.
Breaking down each step needed to complete the transaction and accounting for different touchpoints the customer would use to get there is difficult — but it doesn’t have to be. The right omnichannel commerce platform can help.
An omnichannel retail platform helps you synchronize and integrate your data, allowing a free flow of information between all channels.
Why Omnichannel Commerce?
Setting up an omnichannel strategy is hard work, but its benefits outweigh the disadvantages:
- Higher reach: An omnichannel approach empowers you to meet customers where they are. People are discovering new brands and products both online and offline. Leveraging your digital channels and showing up where your customers are makes the brand experience more convenient for them and can lead to customer loyalty.
- Increased online sales: Brands are earning more revenue by making online shopping a seamless experience. Forecasters expect multichannel and omnichannel commerce to make up 46% of all ecommerce sales by 2023, up from 40.3% in 2019.
- Competitive advantage: Knowing how and why customers make decisions is critical to the success of your ecommerce business.
Participating in omnichannel commerce lets you rethink and reimagine how to do business and collect customer data and insights from different touchpoints. You can then personalize your offers and determine where to focus your efforts.
Ready to start? Consider an omnichannel retail platform like Orckestra's Omnichannel Order Management System.
What To Look For in an Omnichannel Commerce Platform
The modern retail customer expects an end-to-end omnichannel shopping experience that encompasses multiple touchpoints, from online shopping to mobile purchasing and in-store pickup.
While many platforms claim to be at the cutting edge of ecommerce, they often fall short in flexibility and scalability.
You need an omnichannel retail platform that:
- Supports consistent collaboration needed across channels
- Optimizes your data
- Streamlines your processes and ensures that mistakes aren’t made, so information isn’t missed
A true omnichannel commerce platform like Orckestra's Omnichannel Order Management System offers unique customer experiences, improves customer engagement, and provides multiple fulfillment options, increasing your online and in-store sales revenue.
Why Choose Orckestra For Your Omnichannel Retail Business
Here are five reasons why you should choose Orckestra's Omnichannel Order Management System for your retail businescs:
It’s an API-First Platform That Creates Unique Customer Experiences
An API-first platform makes it easy to build custom extensions and quickly develop apps that enhance the customer experience, both in-store and online.
In-house developers and third-party coders alike appreciate working with a robust API as it simplifies the process of delivering an authentic omnichannel experience in record time.
It’s a Scalable Solution That Evolves With Your Business Needs
With increasing revenue objectives, you need to be able to adapt to your market ups and downs.
With a cloud native platform, your retail sites can be quickly scaled up to meet increased customer demand. New digital storefronts can be rolled out easily, making it simple to build a true omnichannel experience to meet your customers where they are.
A robust and scalable order management system like Orckestra's will enable you to increase performance during high-volume retail periods such as Black Friday and the holidays.
It Offers Rapid Time-to-Market
You should benefit from a rapid time-to-market and get a fully functional omnichannel commerce platform up and running in months — not years.
Out-of-the-box tools and extensions should be available to handle the essential aspects of your omnichannel offering from day one.
If you are seeking to expand your online market by adding new functionalities to your existing ecommerce platform, re-platforming should not be your only option.
Orckestra's Omnichannel Order Management System enables rapid deployment on top of your current systems, helping you get your products to market quickly without needing to change your existing tech stack.
It Includes Multiple Fulfillment Options
Not all ecommerce platforms are true omnichannel solutions.
These days, basic ecommerce is not enough for an innovative retailer to stay in the game.
Today's customers expect a consistent, engaging experience in-store and from their desktop or mobile device — with the correct product information available every time.
Orckestra's unified inventory management system breaks silos between inventories to provide enterprise-wide visibility and accurate stock information.
Orckestra also supports configurable workflows, leading to a variety of omnichannel fulfillment options — from buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) to dropshipping, which is a critical aspect if you want to increase customer engagement and brand loyalty.
A Cost-Efficient and Flexible Solution for Evolving Needs
A cloud-based solution can be built out or scaled down according to your needs, with costs based on your usage.
Orckestra's Omnichannel Order Management System is designed to be a reliable and flexible solution that can be customized as needed to create unique customer experiences in every channel.
You should only pay for what you use.
Final Thoughts: What To Look for in an Omnichannel Commerce Platform
Creating an omnichannel strategy for your retail stores is a must to stay competitive.
Omnichannel commerce platforms like Orckestra's Omnichannel Order Management System make the job easier by leveraging automation to synchronize data, creating consistent experiences without changing your existing tech stack.
Numerous retailers have made Orckestra their omnichannel retail platform of choice, including:
- IGA
- Sobeys
- Thrifty Foods
- Sports Experts
- Dollarama
- SQDC (Société québécoise du cannabis)
Contact us today to find out how you can embrace commerce freedom and create unique customer experiences with a next-generation omnichannel solution.
