Omni- is derived from the Latin word omnius which means “all” or “universal”. When placed into context, Omni-channel marketing refers to creating a collective customer experience when it comes to shopping. By extending their audience reach to all available shopping channels such as mobile internet devices, computers, television, radio etc., it maximises customers satisfaction and accessibility. This is further advanced when offline interactions such as store locations or helpdesks are linked to the online entities. This allows your customers to engage at a multi-dimensional level or register their preferences.

But how is this achieved? Eric Singleton, CIO of successful retail brand Chico’s FAS, believes that to design a valuable omnichannel strategy you need to consider a typical individual’s daily life from the moment they wake up in the morning until they go to sleep at night, and everything in between. Thus honing in your research into your target audience will be the most effective in designed a successful omnichannel marketing strategy.

THE BENEFITS

Customer knowledge

When you provide an omni-channel solution is that you increase your overall knowledge of whom you are targeting. Valuable insight to their lifestyle, the latest trends and online habits can only add to your company’s profitable success. With online activity increasing, it’s beneficial to understand their needs and expectations, which can result in an increase in traffic, conversion rates and growth stimulations. One common area that is being tapped into especially by new online retailers is recognising the strikingly high social media presence and transforming influential media users into brand advocates.

It could save you money

Implementing user-friendly customer-facing technology could be a cost effective change – instead of looking things from a complicated business point of view, the needs of your customers considered instead, which could result in rather simple solutions. For instance, Virgin Australia understood that the majority of their passengers had their own electronic devices on board. Rather than wasting money on entertainment systems, they developed an app for iOS and Android that passengers can connect and access the programs. http://www.steamfeed.com/omnichannel-retail-not-technology-customer-experience/

Products and services can be developed to meet customer demand

The abundance of technology has put the consumer in control – however that doesn’t mean you can’t be. Customer feedback forums are often effective when it comes to identifying customer patterns, preferences and behaviours. It can also provide an insight into specific demands for services or products and rating overall customer satisfaction.

It prioritises the path to purchase over than the actual channel itself

Apple is the world’s leading innovator in the omni channel retailing space. By placing the customer’s need above all else, they understand customers want a quick and easy path to their products and services, providing both physical and virtual accessibility. When considering the design and development of the necessary channels, it is important to consider the path and how it can be simplified to improve customer experience. By prioritising the path before the channel, it enables you to strategically develop the best technology and commerce systems to achieve your business and customer needs.

MAGENTO: THE DOOR TO A SUCCESSFUL OMNICHANNEL PLATFORM

Without a Magento omnichannel approach, maximising customer satisfaction and reach would be difficult. It provides an array of ongoing magento development opportunities that are designed to fully integrate well to achieve a holistic approach to an omnichannel strategy. Its overall arching goal is to create better customer experiences by enabling you to engineer different experiences for different customer categories. Furthermore, Magento software utilises third party sources that allows audience reach to be maximised and overall profitable billings to increase. Examples of this include eBay, Amazon and even social media such as Facebook and Instagram.

Case Study: Magento + Ebay Enterprise

2014 saw Magento and Ebay combining to create a magento omnichannel experience for mid-sized retailers. Working jointly, Magento and eBay Enterprise can now provide emerging retailers with the same capabilities leveraged by the top 100 Internet Retailer companies. This is extremely ground breaking, as e-commerce can often be an act of survival in this era of technological advancement - by partnering a leading e-commerce platform - which contains extensive customisation capabilities to suit your every need - with a global online retailer store, it gives an unprecedented competitive edge in the online marketplace.

"By integrating Magento with the eBay Enterprise, new and existing Magento merchants can take advantage of our leadership in large scale retail technologies, and get access to the solutions they need to grow without having to re-architect or re-evaluate their existing storefront implementations," says Chris Saridakis, present of eBay Enterprise.

"Retailers large and small understand the importance of swift technology enablement as a strategy to win in an increasing competitive environment."

To know more about our magento website development services and how we can integrate the omnichannel approach to fit your business needs, contact us today!

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Acidgreen is one of the first Magento partners and is the leading magento company in Australia today. With a team of Certified magento developers, we are equipped to assist, develop and fully optimise your magento web development projects to ensure the efficiency and durability of your online stores.