OMNI-CHANNEL PART 1: Considering the Customer Experience

  

By Kaylyn Bredon, Sr Mgr, Interactive Creative/UX

One consistent theme throughout every session I attended at SXSW 2013 was the need to create and maintain an “omni-channel” experience. This is a new challenge being introduced to many retailers- often times leaving them with unclear direction on just where to start due to the siloed structure that many businesses and marketing teams have grown to be.

As an interactive designer/ux specialist at a full-service advertising agency, the idea of overcoming the obstacles of working with siloed teams is not foreign to me. After all, that’s why many companies hire agencies like SBC Advertising to help them. We have the advantage of being separated from their business, often avoiding the internal and political bureaucracies, while at the same time having direct access to the decision makers that have the ability to make decisions and get the job done.

In the past, working in silos has allowed us to react quickly and create standalone efforts that were supported by isolated databases and provided separate analytics (i.e. microsites). However, these standalone workarounds no longer serve as viable options.

Today, it is imperative that all channels work together, and in return they provide valuable insight into the numbers, showing what’s working and what’s not. With that being said, data is, and will continue to be, at the very base of creating a successful omni-channel experience, making the relationship between Marketing and IT more important than ever.

Before we get to where we should be headed, it is helpful to examine how the marketing realm has evolved due to the collection of that data over the years. Specifically, comparing the transition from multi-channel to cross-channel, to where we stand in the present moment of the omni-channel approach

Multi-Channel

For a given period of time, traditional advertising budgets were spent on single reach campaigns via TV spots, radio ads, etc. It was a one-and-done approach. In fact, combining multiple channels at once was considered to be forward thinking and ahead of the curve. Being able to reach customers in their preferred consumption channels with the same message proved to be effective.

Cross-Channel

Next came cross-channel, and instead of telling the same story across individual channels, this approach pushed marketers to think of how to optimize different channels to work together, ultimately creating a synergetic message overall. Marketers started to get comfortable with this approach, again proving to be more effective than those of the past - until the next game changer arrived.

That game changer was mobile. Smart phones were introduced - consumers now had the need to be on the go, accessing multiple channels at the exact same time - a paradigm that had not revealed itself in the past.

Omni-Channel

Mobile continues to give more insight and reach to consumers than ever before - vast amounts of real-time data is available right at our fingertips, continuously reporting how users are interacting with today’s brands. Mobile was the game changer, but this does not mean that any of the other channels have disappeared. Instead, users find ways they can explore multiple channels, often simultaneously, to best suit their needs.

Consumers can now shop for essentially anything, everywhere they go - and often times it’s while standing in the middle of your sales floor. Retailers have the power to reach consumers around the clock, even on holidays. And, with this great power comes great responsibility.

As consumers begin to fall in and out of multiple touch points, it’s more important than ever that the experience be a fluid one. When consumers are shopping, they don’t consider the ecommerce site to be any different from the brick-and-mortar location - it’s seen as one singular brand experience. Only when the consumer experience is interrupted does it become apparent to the user there was a lack in communication somewhere along the way.

In a session at SXSW, Kerry Bodine of Forrester Research shared a metaphor explaining this type of interruption effortlessly: Imagine a bridge where all the supports are the channels of outreach for your business - mobile, ecommerce, direct mail, social, in-store, etc. Now imagine a user who needs to get from point A to point B across that bridge. If any 2(or more) of the supports are not connected the experience becomes a very bumpy ride for the user and frustrations arise.

So keeping the bridge metaphor in mind, the question becomes, how do we create seamless consumer experiences that feel natural and easy to navigate? This very question is being investigated by many retailers. In fact, a recent study, by the Platt Retail Institute, shows that 43% of firms are evaluating or planning to go omni-channel in the next three years. 

How does your company compare? The fact is your brand will quickly get left behind if certain considerations are not made. Focus needs to be placed on breaking down the silos and collaborating to provide a cohesive customer journey. Additionally, we should aim to create truly frictionless experiences that are contextually relevant, personalized and tuned to a frequency that suits each individual's preference.

Want insight into specific elements that help make your customer experience a seamless one as customers go between in-store and online experiences? Stay tuned for Omni-Channel Part 2: A Frictionless Customer Experience.