Online shopping is no longer a trend. In fact, it’s the new normal. More and more consumers prefer to purchase almost everything online.
This has led to a growing number of businesses enhancing their customer service by focusing on omnichannel customer experience to meet their customers’ expectations.
Almost everyone in the B2B and B2C space knows what omnichannel is. However, some businesses need to be more focused on delivering consistently high-quality experiences across all channels.
With omnichannel customer experience, it allows users to communicate with a brand using multiple channels and devices.
Customers who receive a consistent omnichannel experience won’t feel separated from the brand.
This article will discuss omnichannel customer experience, its importance, and eight ways to improve it.
What is an omnichannel customer experience?
Omnichannel customer experience is the end-to-end interaction between a customer and a company, from initial contact to final purchase.
It’s about how customers engage with brands across channels, in-person, social media, over the phone, and online.
Omnichannel customer experience is critical to today’s businesses. According to HubSpot Research, 93% of customers are more likely to purchase again with brands that offer excellent customer service.
Businesses use this approach to deliver a seamless and consistent customer journey across all channels.
It requires retailers to adapt their strategies and retail channels to meet the needs of customers, who increasingly shop using multiple devices.
Thus, enterprises need to ensure they have a mobile-friendly website, mobile apps, and chatbots and offer in-store pickup for online orders.
8 ways to improve your omnichannel customer experience
The ability to move from one platform to another seamlessly is a powerful tool for retailers that want to capture their customers’ attention and keep them coming back for more.
Here are eight ways to improve your business’s omnichannel customer experience:
Understand your audience
This seems like a no-brainer, but having an in-depth understanding of customers is essential.
Before planning an omnichannel strategy, brands must take some time to research who their customers are and what they value most from their interactions with the brand.
Understanding customers help business tailor their approach accordingly, which leads to an effective omnichannel customer experience.
Map out the customer journey
Customers move through a number of different stages during the buying process, and each stage has specific needs that must be addressed.
To ensure an omnichannel strategy addresses all customer requirements and keeps them engaged, it is vital to start by mapping out the customer journey.
Essentially, this will help businesses see where there are gaps in the current strategy and where improvements can be made.
Use the right tools and software
Consumers expect companies to have seamless, integrated customer services in today’s digital world.
They should have the right tools and software to help manage customers’ experiences. These tools include everything from loyalty programs to analytics software that can tell:
- Where customers are coming from
- What and when customers are buying
- Customers’ behavior patterns
Integrate content into digital platforms
To deliver a truly seamless experience, brands should integrate content from their different channels into one website or app.
This enables customers to find relevant information regardless of which channel they’re using at any given time.
Companies can integrate content into digital platforms by including links to websites or blogs in emails, newsletters, and social media posts.
In addition, they can also add a QR code on printed materials that directs people back to more information about offering online.
Deliver a seamless experience across platforms
The ability to manage multiple devices is one of the most important aspects of a great omnichannel customer experience.
Consumers need to be able to use the same login credentials, view their order history, and make returns from any device.
Nowadays, businesses need an omnichannel approach to deliver consistent messaging and content across all devices — desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Listen to feedback
The best way to understand what customers want is by asking them and listening closely to their responses. Feedback is gathered through social media posts, surveys, and email campaigns.
Feedback is a great help to identify pain points so businesses can fix them before they become bigger problems down the road.
Improve response times
A quick response to inquiries and complaints is one thing customers want when engaging with brands.
In an omnichannel world, customers expect to be able to reach businesses by any means possible — whether that’s through email, phone, or social media messaging.
Many customer service teams are already working to improve response times. In fact, a Comm100 report reveals that 71% of consumers believe that a quick response from the customer service team can greatly improve their experience.
Measure results and make adjustments
Another important thing to improve omnichannel customer experience is to measure results and make adjustments accordingly.
For instance, if consumers aren’t using a particular channel or feature, businesses can stop investing in it and focus on what works.
It’s also important to measure cross-channel interactions to see if there are any gaps between the channels and potential opportunities for improvement.
Why is an omnichannel customer experience important?
An omnichannel customer experience is the key to success in today’s business world. Consumers are increasingly expecting retailers to offer a seamless and consistent experience across channels.
Customers are not just loyal to brands but to the brand experience. They want to reach brands from anywhere and at any time.
By providing them with multiple touchpoints, businesses can offer a more personalized interaction that will increase engagement and loyalty.
In essence, a good omnichannel customer experience will help retain customers, increase revenue and grow business.
