The way to Omni-Channel Experiences
Introduction: Technology is advancing and integrating into our daily lives. We arrange assignments by apps, ask Alexa to play our favorite music and ask Siri questions while driving. It is likely that even now as you read this article, some of your devices are connected to the Internet.
As we continue along these innovative pathways, technology will capture more volume and meaning and will be more integral to our daily lives. The boundaries between web and real life will begin to blur.
Behaviors and habits will become different. More than that, our expectation as customers and users of products and services to adapt to innovation and the new reality will be greater, more interconnected and more natural. Product managers, developers, marketers, salespeople, and customer support personnel will need to respond in line with customer expectations. Instead of thinking about a desktop, cellphone, tablet, or smartwatch experience, we need to take one holistic approach — an Omni-channel experience that customers can use whenever they want and complete tasks, requests, assignments, and shopping across the devices and regions.
From Multichannel to Omnichannel
The difference between Multichannel and Omnichannel can be compared to the difference between a combined attack and sporadic shots. The multi-channel approach is what most businesses invest in today. They have a website, blog, very active social media. You shoot in all directions indiscriminately: a YouTube ad, a Google search, a Facebook post, etc., where there is no coordination between the various channels. In contrast, the Omni channel focus shifts from the different channels to the specific client that you “Target “, for example:
Let’s assume an imaginary diamond company named ‘Sarit’, that puts up a YouTube video for a target audience of 18–35 singles in Shenzhen and it turns out that Mr. Jiang Lan watched the entire video until it’s end. Then when Mr. Jiang Lan enters Weibo website and sees a 15% discount on a diamond ring with a link to a Sarit company website. However, he does not click and does not dwell on the ad. After a while, he entered the Shenzhen Daily news site. Sarit already knows that Mr. Jiang Lan was interested in something, but probably not in the ring, so it has a Google ad on the website, but this time for a pair of earrings. Now Mr. Jiang Lan is already clicking the ad, arriving at a Sarit’s company website, looking at the earrings from the advertisement for a while, but looking for another half hour for another pair of earrings — the most beautiful and expensive on the site. Finally, after deliberating, Mr. Jiang Lan leaves the site without buying, because it is difficult for him with the high price. The next day he opens WeChat and to his surprise he finds an ad with the same expensive and desirable earrings but at a 10% discount for WeChat users, a discount that is only valid until the end of the week! After deliberating, he decides this is an opportunity that will probably never come back, and he makes the purchase.
An Omni Channel experience is a multi-channel approach to marketing, selling, product management, and development, data collection in a way that creates a holistic, complete and comprehensive customer experience, no matter how or where the customer reaches.
All omni-channel experiences will use multiple channels, but not all multi-channel experiences are omni-channel
The next level
The most interesting and challenging approach is to connect omni channel between the online and offline worlds, with a deep understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and finding solutions that will lead to quality data and quantitative data collection, and of course continuous operations as well as a complete and positive user /customer experience.
Malls will have to adapt and give a different experience, as online purchases are not a complete replacement for malls. A lot of the weaknesses of one area are the other’s strong point and vice versa. We will examine the main points for each product and find the unique path to capture and care for a comprehensive, complete, consistent and positive consumer/ user and product experience in terms of marketing, sales, legal, R&D, operation, etc., and the most important: high executions, performance, revenue, profits, engagement, as well as a customer life cycle.
Advantages of Online Products
Inventory — The requested items can be found with a few clicks. Since there is no physical restriction on storage, items of varying sizes are available in a wide range of colors.
Location — The Internet is turning us into one global village so the physical distance is almost unimportant, to make a purchase, for getting service or information, you no longer need to get in a car, spend money on fuel, look for parking and interact with people.
Time — Virtual interfaces are open 24/7 at very low costs, in terms of manpower. Enabling customer service or purchase at any time and to create revenue and get customer loyalty.
Voice and tone — In virtual products, most user scenarios can be expected and work on UX writing correctly and accurately for product, service, situation and user.
Measurements — At least there are various and varied analytic tools that allow users to learn. Ask the right questions that include segment-details-action, from this you could analyze and understand what Pivot you should do in the product and how it can be improved.
Privacy and Intimacy — There is no one online who sees the sexy lingerie you buy — the option of buying very bold lingerie without anyone batting an eye at you is completely a knockout for the brick and mortar stores.
Weaknesses of Online Products
Confidence — Trust in online products is a major problem that has many sides.
● We sadly recognize disgruntled customers throughout the social networks who upload meme-style disappointed images of “find the differences”, on the right a picture of the requested item from the sales site and on the left a picture of the item that actually arrived to the customer.
● Luxury products like diamonds that the customer wants to make sure with their eyes that it is a natural diamond and not a laboratory diamond (although a gemologist will also find it very difficult to verify this)
Fit — In fashion and footwear the ability and desire to try on the products and make sure they look good and fit well on the body.
Experience — Purchase vehicles from a virtual catalog without feeling the comfort of the seats, the speed of the ride, the noise or quiet of the engine, check the legroom between the rear seats and the front or check the trunk.
Scams and Fraud — Despite technological advancement and awareness of many companies and organizations, the most effective tools are yet to be taken to prevent cyber breaches, leakage of personal users / customer’s data, or dangerous emails, or prevention of customers who steal brand identity and private data.
Weaknesses of stores
Salespeople
● Mistakes — Salespeople indicates what looks well for us, what compliments us, what’s our size, etc. But many times they are also wrong, you suddenly find, for example, that the shirt they sold you suffocates you because it is tight.
● Humiliation — Many women have experienced a feeling of overbearing or humiliation in the brick and mortar stores. Phrases like “We have no such small / large sizes here” or “It is not suitable for women your age. Take something more delicate” — these are very harsh sentences that are said where we are in such a fragile state — standing almost naked in front of a salesperson who is examining us.
● Inaccuracy — It’s amazing to think about it, but it is precisely online that is far more accurate in terms of scale. The method of measuring with a tape is better than any guess of a store seller.
Inventory — merchandise takes up space, many times is expensive and may hurt the interest and financial capabilities of the retailer like diamonds. The merchandise in the store is scant with a small range of options.
Online Solutions
Reliability and Security Adjustment Tool -
● Technology options — Each industry faces its own challenges and needs and no retailer of pharmacy stores is similar to the challenges and solutions of retails in luxury or makeup products. For example, in the field of makeup, e-commerce sites can use the Finder Foundation tool. This tool allows you to enter the types of makeup you have used so far and it finds the shade that suits you in another company.
(To those who are less knowledgeable in the field — each accurate match fitting another skin tone is artificial and fake. Each company has between 10–20 different shades, so it is very difficult to choose a new make-up product online, for fear of making a mistake).
Accuracy and accurate mapping of a customer journey of use and accompaniment scenarios of the customer throughout their stay in the product / site and not paying attention only to the end of the process.
● Real reactions- In today’s world, it is difficult to identify real reactions, but lies and trends can be easily identified. most of the time you can find real feadback about product and services an the web, look at the social media like product page, topic groups and etc. (If there is one rule for identifying a true response that I still hold is the mixed reactions that reveal weaknesses and mistakes of a product or service but still calculate the balance sheet cost-benefit clearly.)
● Precise measurement — The ability to create geo-area information in a user-friendly and easy way. For general things and anti-private clothing. Like a well-known lingerie sale site in America — there is information on choosing a bra. All countries — according to what suits the consumer.
In-store Solutions
Technology options- Implementation of technology as a sales tool, as a tool that collects data about salespeople, the goods they are debating about, and of course, the customers. You can find some cool tech implementations at stores that I mentioned here.
UX writing- There are diamond and jewelry retailers in China where there is a fixed text where the customer is received at the store and other fixed texts that the salesperson say at points during the interaction between the seller and the customer. When shifts change in the store, there is a “changing of the guards” ceremony and the new shift seller is received in a similar way to a customer, this is done in order to perform and overlap the language and experience area. Keep the voice and tone of the retailer brand also at the store and in the salesperson state of mind all the time.
Great samples of real Omni channel approach can be found at Disney, Tesla, Bank of America, Amazon, Alibaba, Tmall, and Sephora.
There, the virtual Omni channel boundaries are expanding with live streaming video sales, with user action detection and integration and the integration of digital experiences in the physical space with a user experience and a uniform, complete and positive customer experience.
We should find omni channels everywhere and any topic such as e commerce ,that I mentioned above, and more , such as fintech for example bank services, government/municipal services include website, social media, mobile app, interaction services station and of course with salesperson/ serviceperson.
We deserve it as consumers and we have to take ownership and responsibility as product managers. Not only to do copy-paste with a few adjustments from the existing situation.
Let’s analyze, create innovation and step head first for real omni channels and learn from south Asia about the new edge of interaction.
