Omnichannel

Omnichannel is a commercial strategy that gives the customer a seamless, consistent experience across every sales and communication channel, physical or digital. The channels are interconnected and complementary.

The pillars of an omnichannel strategy

Omnichannel means unifying customer data, keeping product information consistent across every touchpoint, and letting people move from one channel to another without a break: buy online and collect in store, check stock in real time, or deal with a single, unified customer service.

Omnichannel vs multichannel

Multichannel offers several independent sales channels, whereas omnichannel interconnects them into one unified experience. The omnichannel approach puts the customer at the centre and adapts to their purchase journey, whichever channel they choose.

Use case

A customer looks at a pair of shoes on a retailer’s mobile app in the morning. At lunchtime she visits the store: the sales assistant, seeing her browsing history, goes straight to the model she was interested in and checks availability in her size. She tries it on but prefers to order online to take advantage of a promotion. That evening she completes the purchase on the website and chooses in-store collection. Omnichannel has smoothed her journey.