4 Ways You Can Implement a Successful Omnichannel Solution This Holiday Season
It’s been a tough year for retail, but this holiday shopping season is expected to see near-normal spending levels as consumers seek to celebrate despite the events of 2020. Since shopping will be largely online this season, having a robust omnichannel strategy will be critical. Even brick-and-mortar only shops should consider how their marketing channels can be used to communicate around in-store policies and safety ⎼ in addition to seasonal promotions ⎼ to help customers feel more comfortable with the shopping experience.
Recent data show the power of such strategies: customers targeted through omnichannel shopping experiences make 23% more repeat shopping trips and spend 10% more than single-channel shoppers. This approach also increases loyalty: merchants with omnichannel strategies retain nearly 90% of their customers.
Supercharge your holiday approach with our top 4 tips for a successful omnichannel strategy:
1. Treat brick-and-mortar as a channel
Some experts call this the “bricks and clicks” approach, and it has only become more important in 2020. The key here is consistency. With social distancing and sanitization guidelines in place in many stores, a merchant’s physical locations have become communications channels in their own right. Think of all the signage inside and outside stores today--from floor stickers to sandwich boards. Expect more shoppers to carefully plan their in-store visits this year and spend less time browsing downtowns, malls, and the shops themselves. They’ll look online for information about in-store policies, from store capacity and hours to returns guidelines and safety measures. Ensure not only your website is up to date, but check online business profiles (like those on Maps or Google), and of course keep shoppers updated frequently via social media and newsletters.
2. Bring joy into the process
Omnichannel marketing emphasizes discovery, a process that Gen Z in particular loves. Channels like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are excellent for introducing your products to targeted customers as they scroll through their feeds, and can bring a bit of the holiday joy and surprise back to this holiday season. Instead of positioning products to the viewer, suggest gifts for their friends and family (or, give them something to ask for!) Bring them into your funnel with a special holiday offer, and then leverage tailored emails and retargeting ads to round out the experience. With these second and third touch communications, emphasize holiday-related content like personalized gift lists, holiday shopping tips, or feel-good stories about giving back to encourage shoppers to spend more time with your brand.
3. Prepare for a “mobile” Black Friday
This Black Friday will be unlike any other, with many major retailers moving to online-only or limited in-store operations. This will make omnichannel strategies even more important, as consumers will be bombarded by digital and social ads as well as emails. Not only will brick-and-mortar retailers be driving online sales, but they’ll be pushing mobile checkout options for in-store or curbside pickups, and even some in-store sales to reduce contact points. This means shoppable social media channels will become even more important to capture attention and sales in the moment--before your potential customer is served up a competitor’s ad.
4. Make the checkout experience seamless
The holiday season is high-stress in a normal year, and will be even more so this year. Many retailers are still plagued by supply chain delays and out-of-stock or backordered products, meaning extended shipping times for shoppers. Beyond communicating clearly about these issues, ensure the checkout experience is seamless. Omnichannel shopping often means that customers can check out on different platforms--from your eCommerce site to social sites like Instagram. Ensuring that the checkout process is straightforward, consistent, and easy can put your customers at ease and encourage return shopping trips. Contactless payment options (such as Afterpay’s solution) should be offered on each platform, as well as in-store. It’s also important that shoppers are able to look up and track their orders easily to ensure they reached their recipients safely and on-time.
Whether your customers are shopping in-store, on your website, or on a social platform, Afterpay can help them check everything off their list, without worrying about the up-front cost. Reach out to our team here to learn how we can help give your customers a fairer way to pay (and give) this holiday season.
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