The Future of Omnichannel Retail

Omnichannel retail was important before the COVID-19 crisis came along and transformed the way we lived, worked, and shopped.

Once the full extent of the pandemic became evident, many brands were forced to close the doors of their brick-and-mortar locations and devise new ways of doing business whilst taking their health and safety responsibilities seriously.

For many companies – most notably those in the restaurant business – this meant pivoting to an omnichannel mindset – continuing to do business via the power of digital technology.

Even though the danger has now largely passed, omnichannel is here to stay and reassert its position in the future of retail.

Omnichannel

Even before the pandemic, brick-and-mortar retailers were waking up to the idea that, if they want to survive in an increasingly online world, they need to augment their retail offering with technology powered experiences. This way they can combine elements of physical retail and ecommerce and leverage the strengths of both simultaneously.

Retail has become democratized, with customers having more options available to them than ever before. This means, if physical retail wants to survive it needs to push personalization, flexibility, and great customer experience. brick-and-mortar stores will never be able to compete with ecommerce on price and product, so the battle must be fought on the fields of customer experience – using digital technology to provide shoppers experiences which simply aren’t available online.

With Google and many other tech brands removing third-party cookie support, personalized recommendations and data-driven experiences are about to become much harder to achieve in the world of ecommerce. Therefore, now is the time to act and start finding ways to bring those experiences in-store.

Stores operating under an omnichannel banner are in the enviable position of simply being able to talk with customers face-to-face and personalize the experience based on genuine conversations and engagement. However, by combining these conversation with digital data entry, stores can build up a profile of each customers and develop a deeper understanding of their wants and needs as time goes on.

This data can be used to contact customers during important dates such as birthdays or anniversaries, or to simply email them with monthly recommendation, exclusive offers on the products they are most likely to respond to and invites to special in-store celebrations.

The Store of Tomorrow

Many brands around the world are already imagining what the next generation of omnichannel store will look like. For example, Accenture has developed a virtual concept "Store of Tomorrow" which provides an elegant template which can be adapted to fit any sector of retail.

"Accenture has developed an innovative new concept for the Store of Tomorrow," said the company. "It’s applicable to all sectors of retail, from grocery, to beauty, to DIY and beyond. Designed to be open, flexible, and adaptable in every respect, the concept combines the speed and simplicity of digital shopping with the automated efficiency of modern warehousing—while putting a greater emphasis on the human-centered physical shopping experiences customers still crave."

The concept is built around six key pillars which combine to provide the modern customer with everything they need for a fantastic shopping experience.

• Integrated customer experience – A rich understanding of local customer needs via data, which informs a fully integrated model that speeds up the deployment of CX across channels.
• Optimized supply chain operations – A retail supply chain optimized for resilience and responsibility, as well as cost and service, at the local level.
• Purposeful and skilled workforce – An inclusive culture that includes investment from retailers into retraining and reskilling for a diverse and adaptable workforce.
• Real-time data on the edge – Distributed edge computing that enables automated decision-making in real time, such as personalized product recommendations as customers shop.
• Enhanced sustainability and social responsibility – Embedded ESG principles across all functions from sourcing, to store experience and fulfillment, and to drive resource efficiency.
• Data-driven decision making – Positioning customers at the heart of the business by using data, AI, and machine learning to generate insights and fuel decisions.

You can see how these six pillars elegantly bring the best of physical and digital retail together into a single cohesive vision. It meets customer expectations, delivers its objectives in an effective and socially responsible manner, and leverages data for a culture of continuous improvement.

Final Thoughts

Omnichannel is the future of retail. The pandemic has presented an opportunity to fight back against the seemingly inexorable advance of ecommerce-only shopping and provide customers with in-person retail experiences which simply aren’t possible in the online space alone.

The future of omnichannel retail is set to be a hot topic at eTail Canada 2022, taking place in September, at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, ON.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.