Attention! Omnichannel retailing is the new normal.

Xinrui Zhang 908words

Remember the last time you bought an Apple product? First, you noticed that it
would release some products in that season. Then, you followed up the information
through its online press conference. After ordering the product on its official website,
you walked into the nearest Apple store and touched the fancy products personally.
Maybe less than ten minutes later, you brought the new product home while the
Applestore website might still not be closed on your mobile. That's an example
showing how omnichannel retailing works. Online platforms and offline stores no
longer fight alone anymore. Instead, they are working together to squeeze the money
out of your wallet. In fact, omnichannel has become a new normal in our lives
(Harrison, 2021), let’s take a brief look at this concept.

What is omnichannel retailing?

Omnichannel retailing provides customers with a flexible experience in the
purchase process: customers can switch channels freely—buy online and pick-up in
store or use mobiles in-store to research or make a purchase or buy in-store and make
a return online. It is the result of a convergence of showrooming and webrooming.
(Chandrasekhar, 2017). The channels include but are not limited to e-commerce
websites, multi-purpose mobile apps, in-store devices, and events. (“Omnichannel
strategy: Oasis vs Sephora,” n.d.)

What’s the difference between omnichannel retailing and

multichannel retailing?
Omnichannel retailing could be regarded as a logical evolution of multichannel
retailing. The most critical difference between these two concepts is the relationship
between different channels. In multichannel retailing, each of the channels is
independent: customers in a channel can not access the information in another channel
and retailers are also innocent about the customer's behavior in different channels. On
the contrary, in omnichannel retailing, both the customers and retailers could gain a
360-degree view across all channels. (Chandrasekhar, 2017)

Why is omnichannel retailing so important?

For customers, omnichannel retailing provides a better shopping experience. Given
the information related to all the channels, customers have more self-service options to
personalize their purchasing experience. Statistics showed that in 2014. 90 percent of
customers still preferred to have an offline shopping experience though buying on
smartphones was an overwhelming trend. To more than half of the customers, the role

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of a sales associate is irreplaceable and significant during the buying process.
Omnichannel retailing could cater to their demands by creating an engaging shopping
environment.

For retailers, omnichannel retailing is an opportunity to have a better marketing

performance. According to the research given by McKinsey, omnichannel retailing
could reach and serve customers much more efficiently compared to the traditional sales
model. (Harrison,2021)

Besides, retailers could also make more profits since a retailer’s omnichannel
shoppers spent 15-30 percent more than muti-channel shoppers or 32-70 percent more
than one-channel shoppers. By enhancing customer satisfaction, omnichannel retailing
could also raise the buying willingness of customers with more frequent purchase
behaviors. (Chandrasekhar, 2017).

An example of good omnichannel retailing:

Sephora has an outstanding performance in the omnichannel retailing area. It
successfully combines online and offline experiences, thus redefining the customer
experience in the Cosmetics industry. It uses three channels to operate this omnichannel

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retailing model.

Channel 1: e-commerce platform

Sephora has a marvelous website architecture. To provide an engaging beauty
experience, its website is designed with noteworthy features based on the customers’
previous data, such as buying records. It is also easy to be navigated. Customers could
get the information they want easily while noticing attention-grabbing products and
events at the same time. Moreover, customers can order on its e-commerce website and
then pick up in-store.

Channel 2: multi-purpose mobile app

The app is a package of the latest products, beauty video tutorials, and everything
related to the beauty industry. With this product, customers can get access to ongoing
deals and promotions events, newly released products, and special coupons on
birthdays, thus creating a personalized relationship between the retailers and the
customers. While shopping offline in-store, customers can also use the app the scan the
QR code to get the specific details of the products, such as product description, review,
rating, and so on.

Channel 3: Instore Sephora Omnichannel Experience

To connect in-store visits with an online purchase, the customers could use their
registered account to access the in-store mobile devices, which enable them to try the
products virtually with digital software. For example, customers could use a high-tech
mirror to try eyeshadow with different shades virtually. The trial record would also be
tracked on the mobile app later, so customers could check. (“Omnichannel strategy:
Oasis vs Sephora,” n.d.).

Conclusion
The key point of Sephora’s success in omnichannel retailing is the integration of
these channels. Data of these three mentioned channels are synchronized.
(“Omnichannel strategy: Oasis vs Sephora,” n.d.) Sephora could collect the data in time
to analyze trending products, concerns from the customers, and so on to react to the
beauty trend. Customers could swift channels flexibly to personalize the purchase. The
omnichannel retailing system in Sephora makes a highly interactive environment,
which made it more convenient and efficient for both the retailers and customers. That's
why Sephora could become a pioneer in the beauty industry.

Final thoughts:
In the post-pandemic era, the implementation of omnichannel retailing allows
retailers to integrate and leverage resources with higher efficiencies to provide
customers with an engaging and personalized shopping experience. Since it has become
a new formal, how to create a better omnichannel retailing system could be the next
critical issue for retailers to solve in the future.

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References
Holly B. (2021, April 30). Omnichannel: The Path to Value. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-
survival-guide-to-omnichannel-and-the-path-to-value
Liz H. (2021, March 15). Omnichannel in B2B sales: The new normal in a year that has been.
anything but. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-
insights/omnichannel-in-b2b-sales-the-new-normal-in-a-year-that-has-been-
anything-but
Omnichannel strategy: Oasis vs Sephora. (n.d) Commershop. Retrieved October 11,
2022, from https://www.thecommerceshop.com/blog/omnichannel-strategy-
oasis-vs-sephora
Ramasastry Chandrasekhar, Kersi Antia (2017). Clearly: Organizing for Omnichannel
Retailing. Ivey Publishing