Customer engagement technology is constantly evolving and shifting to create a more seamless customer experience. It used to be simple. Businesses and customers conversed face-to-face. As technology proliferated, it seems every company had a solution how to improve communication with the customer, and every customer could be reached on a different type of device. Digital became the status quo. Businesses perfected their multichannel strategies, unaware that omnichannel requirements were right around the corner.
Fast forward to today, and we’re in an age of redefining the customer journey through an innovative interface that maximizes conversions, and drives engagements like never before. And despite the technology, we have come full circle to put the emphasis back on meaningful human-to-human interactions by uniting digital and physical channels.
So, what makes an omnichannel experience, and how does it differ from multichannel? Let’s break this down.
What is omnichannel?
Multichannel enables the customer journey through multiple, siloed channels. It encourages the consumer to select how they want to engage with a brand.
Omnichannel is an integrated approach that gives the customer a quality of experience across digital and physical workflows. Omnichannel approaches ensure that regardless of where a consumer begin or end the journey, it is one consistent and seamless experience.
One of the clearest examples of an omnichannel experience is the acceptance of intelligent appointment management systems. Intelligent appointment management guides online traffic to in-store and in-branch visits. These meaningful interactions have proven to improve customer loyalty and increase revenue. To give you context for the potential scale of success, customers increased their basket size by 3x-10x with our Appointments application.
A solid omnichannel strategy is the new standard, and that’s why the largest enterprise companies are adopting this innovative approach. Ulta Beauty, one of the leading beauty store chains in the United States, announced in December a more-than-a 16 percent increase in year-over-year net sales in the third quarter—all credited to a highly integrated omnichannel experience for their customers.
Other industry leaders such as Apple and Bank of America are using unified appointment scheduling to bridge the digital to physical divide for their customers. By offering the ability to drive customers in-store or in-branch with service options, they generate more than just customer satisfaction, it allows for staff optimization, a high rate of no-shows, and an ability to track cancellations. All of this equates to a higher ROI and an increase in customer loyalty. Two phrases every company wants to hear.
So, how do you build an omnichannel customer experience? Let’s discuss your journey to success.
Evaluate your current customer journey vs the ideal customer journey
Ask yourself, are you offering customers the ability to select when, where and how they begin or end their journey with you, regardless of platform? Research shows that leads that begin online and stay online deliver minimal returns especially in comparison to conversion rates in store. But when you couple them, in an omnichannel experience, results and basket sizes soar 3X - 10X.There is an unlimited growth potential waiting to be untapped.
Evaluate customer satisfaction results
When your customers are happy, they will show it. You can measure their satisfaction in a few ways. One is brand loyalty, and another is basket size. If your customers are happy with the quality and fluidity of your service, they will end up buying more.
Customer loyalty program/brand loyalty
It’s called the customer journey for a reason. The customer comes first and foremost. Are you respecting your customers’ time? Are you putting them first? Are you creating an experience that’s familiar, consistent and straightforward? How likely are they to maintain their brand loyalty after their experience? Or, how likely are they to become brand loyal after their visit?
By implementing a fully integrated platform into your business, your customers will not only feel more appreciated for their seamless shopping experience, but they will show their appreciation by staying devoted time and time again. As they say, a happy customer is a loyal customer.
Personalization efforts
By having a 360-degree view of the full customer journey, you will gain deeper insights into countless data to better understand your customer. This real-time data will allow you to know more about each customer, and provide a more personalized experience. Such insights should include but are not limited to: booking history, preferences, service options and more.
For example, if your customer wants to book an appointment with a specific employee on a specific day at a specific store, it can happen at the touch of the fingertips based on the customer’s personalized needs.
After creating personalized customer services at their physical locations, JRNI customers have seen up to a 5x increase in customer spend.
By implementing appointment scheduling through omnichannel customer experience, your business will reap the benefits of increasing revenue and improving customer loyalty. Learn more about JRNI’s Appointments application.
