Semantically, “multi” means “several”, while “omni” means “all”. Either way, both strategies have the same goal: to connect with customers and interact with them across different channels. A multichannel strategy uses as many separate channels as possible to reach customers. An omnichannel strategy links those same channels together to deliver one joined-up customer experience. Multichannel vs omnichannel: which should you choose? Here is a breakdown of two strategies that are closer than they look.
Multichannel: being everywhere at once
Multichannel has grown steadily in recent years. By using several channels at once, it aims to create multiple key touchpoints with customers. The traditional path, where a customer bought in store and nowhere else, is long gone. Channels such as e-commerce sites have appeared and multiplied those touchpoints. Multichannel is the answer to that challenge: reach the consumer through as many channels as possible.
The big difference with omnichannel is that multichannel works in silos. The distribution channels exist and operate alongside each other, with no interaction between them. Consumers can buy through any one of them, but the channels are not connected.
The model let consumers buy when and where they wanted, but its limits are now clear. The main risk is that the sales channels cannibalise each other. A high-performing e-commerce site can end up competing with the same brand’s physical shops, or the other way round. The strategy can quickly work against the business.
Omnichannel: a strategy built around the customer relationship
So what makes omnichannel the new model? As with multichannel, a range of distribution channels is involved. The difference is that consumers can use and interact with several channels at the same time, because each one is connected to the others. The silos of multichannel disappear, leaving one joined-up customer experience. That is why so many retailers have moved to it.
Who is the omnichannel consumer?
The strategy follows a change in consumer behaviour: the arrival of the “omnichannel consumer”. They use the channels a brand offers either at the same time or one after the other along their customer journey. Those channels include the e-commerce site, the mobile app, physical shops, email, SMS and social media.
The omnichannel consumer wants everything at once. They see something on social media, go into the shop to try the product, then have it delivered to their home. They also expect web features inside the shop itself: reservations, payment, stock levels, product comparisons and so on.
Omnichannel therefore creates a synergy between all of a brand’s channels. That makes for a more personalised customer journey and a richer customer experience, built on continuous, real-time interaction with the consumer.
Omnichannel: who is it for?
SMEs, large companies, B2B or B2C — omnichannel applies to every business. Omnichannel consumers exist across the whole population, whatever the sector.
Read next: What are the challenges of retail logistics, and how do you meet them?
How do you put omnichannel in place?
Building a strategy around omnichannel means working through it step by step.
1. Set clear, specific objectives
Before anything else, set precise objectives you can realistically hit in the short and medium term. They are the thread that ties your actions together.
2. Get to know your customers
The second big step is to ask yourself several questions about your customers, such as:
-
- How do they buy?
- Which channels do they use?
- Which channels do they use to talk to your brand?
- And so on.
By analysing how they buy, you can build a purchase journey that fits your own audience. Plenty of analytics software exists to help you understand customer behaviour better. Add polls, surveys and the questions asked — or most read — in your FAQ, and you have a fuller picture.
3. Synchronise your data with a CRM
This step is critical if information is to stay consistent and up to date in real time across every channel. It is one of the biggest challenges of omnichannel. Centralising your data gives you a single brand image whatever the channel. With a CRM, everyone involved has the same panoramic view, so actions across channels stay coordinated.
4. Involve your whole team
Building an omnichannel customer journey has to be a shared objective. Marketing, sales and customer service are all part of the strategy. Working together is what keeps every touchpoint consistent.
5. Automate your communications
To keep your channels and the customer journey moving, automate your communications with customers — whether that is interactions through your website, on social media or by email.
6. Review your actions and correct course
As you roll your omnichannel strategy out, set time aside to review what you have done. It tells you whether you are hitting your objectives, and where the delays or gaps are.
Multichannel vs omnichannel: a move you can no longer avoid
With multichannel, the first goal was to multiply distribution channels in order to reach customers wherever they are. Omnichannel keeps that idea and sets out above all to unify those channels, so that the relationship between customer and brand is a consistent, 360° experience. With omnichannel consumers now the norm, the shift from multichannel to omnichannel is the obvious next step — even if the process remains a complex one for businesses.
To free up time for your omnichannel strategy, hand the logistics of your deliveries to a partner such as Shippr. Get in touch to discuss what you need with one of our business experts.
