Serving the
Omnichannel Shopper
A
BY SHILPA MARANO
lthough everyone is talking about it, omnichannel feels abstract
for many organizations. When looking for examples, most stories
tout huge companies with big budgets and wide national appeal.
How is a small or mid-sized company supposed to compete?
I dare to challenge the notion that
omnichannel is just for the big guys.
Fear comes from misconception. Om-
nichannel is not a “go big or go home”
concept, it can be approached in
phases. It’s born from a company’s cul-
ture and its execution is an evolution.
Education is the only way to get past
the intimidation.
So, let’s start by defining it. Om-
nichannel often gets confused with
multichannel, but while there is some
overlap, omnichannel is actually a more
mature version of multichannel. The
root “multi” means many. In this case,
it refers to enabling shoppers to shop in
multiple ways but assumes the shop-
32 essentials | summer 2019
per stays in that channel for the entire
shopping experience. Omnichannel, on
the other hand, comes from a root that
means “all.” Omnichannel strives to
orchestrate a unified experience across
all channels by breaking down friction
between shopping methods.
Shoppers today zig zag between
channels. They might see an ad on
social, go to the website to learn more
about the product, visit Amazon to read
reviews, make the purchase on the
website, and then head out to pick it up
in the store. They go to these lengths to
find the exact right product, to be con-
fident in their purchase, and to get the
product when and where they want it
(i.e. pick-up-in-store or ship-to-home).
So, who is really driving omni-
channel? It’s the shopper! And the
merchants who understand this are
the most successful. They realize that
their job is to support shopper behav-
ior by adding convenience and consis-
tency to the buying journey. Consider
the steps that make up that journey:
1. Awareness (advertising, word
of mouth)
2. Interest (video demonstrations,
pictures, descriptions)
3. Consideration (product
attributes, reviews, price,
availability)
4. Purchase (speed, ease,
payment flexibility)
5. Post purchase (shipping,
in store pick up, packaging,
returns)
6. Re-purchase (add-ons, reorders)
Shoppers dance between channels