Brands today have more opportunities to engage with customers than ever before. When you align your messaging across all these channels, you can create an exceptional customer experience that isn't just transactional: it's an entire ecosystem built around your brand.
You may have heard of multichannel marketing, in which you deploy each channel separately. The teams who run your website, social media, and brick-and-mortar stores, for example, all have their own strategies. In omnichannel, all these channels are connected through consistent messaging, branding, and overall customer experience.
For example, take a fictional coffee shop called Mapple's. You use the Mapple's app to order a vanilla latte before you reach the cafe, checking your loyalty points at the same time. When you arrive to pick up your latte, the logo on the cup is the same as the logo on the app. That evening, you receive an email (complete with Mapple's branding) with an offer of a free vanilla latte when you buy a bag of coffee beans from the Mapple's website. The transaction also earns you loyalty points, which you can see on the app and on your online account.
This is an omnichannel experience, and it's one customers want and expect. According to research by Google, 90% of people who own multiple devices switch between them when working on one task, and use an average of three devices a day.
If you can provide a consistent experience across all those platforms and devices, you make it easier for customers to find what they're looking for, which ultimately increases the likelihood that they'll make a purchase. Additionally, omnichannel has also been shown to increase customer retention and customer loyalty. According to Worldpay, customers who shopped across multiple connected channels (i.e. in an omnichannel style) spent 50% to 300% more than those who used a single channel.
Here's how to build a seamless omnichannel experience.