5 Ways Omni-channel Is Evolving in 2015

There is no omni-channel as far as customers are concerned. They see a retail business as a single entity that they interact with using whatever channel is most convenient at the moment: online, phone or in-store. The omni-channel transformation is being driving by a number of key technological advances, such as greater adoption of the cloud throughout the system and deeper visibility into inventories with real time updates. The implications for omni-channel can be seen in five trends that are seeing much wider adoption this year.

1. Synchronized Customer Service

A great deal of information is lost when online customer service isn’t synchronized with offline interactions and POS (point of sale) data. RSR found that 84 percent of retailers identified consistent customer experience across channels as “very important.” Nearly one-fourth (22 percent) have already begun that process.

2. Previewing Items

Accenture reported that 71 percent of consumers plan on previewing, which is the opposite of showrooming. Previewing involves finding an item online and checking if it is in stock at a local store for immediate pick up. Fifty-seven percent said they would also buy other items when they go to the store to pick up the item they previewed.

3. Mobile Conversions

Mobile retail revenues in the U.S. alone will hit $22 billion this year, according to Forrester Research, and are projected to increase very rapidly. For omni-channel, this means improving M-commerce so that the mobile customer experience matches the quality of retail e-commerce sites and in-store promotions.

4. Embedded Analytics

Retailers are seeking more powerful embedded analytic applications that produce personalized reports. A dashboard with critical reports helps managers make more informed decisions based on customer intelligence. Visualizing the data in various formats and exporting it to their own software allows retail managers to easily share insights and information.

5. Unified Commerce Platform

In order to deliver the Omnichannel promise, retailers are increasingly interested in adopting a single commerce platform. A comprehensive platform can handle everything from customer relationships to web POS to supply chain management to reporting and analytics.

Competitive Excellence

At Openbravo, with our Commerce Platform we help retailers to steadily progress in their omni-channel estrategy by holding webinars about how to achieve this goal and helping our clients achieve competitive excellence in Omnichannel.

For a longer debate, we encourage you to take part of our Retail Group in LinkedIn.