50% of brands won’t see unified customer engagement channels by 2022

With what could lead to a fragmented and segmented customer experience, half of major companies will not have integrated channels of engagement by 2022

According to a Gartner survey, organisations worldwide have been encouraged to provide seamless omnichannel experiences to build more integrated consumer experiences and promote digital commerce further.

“Frictionless omnichannel commerce provides consistent, streamlined experiences across channels throughout the customer journey, and this has increased in importance since the outbreak of the pandemic,” Matt Moorut, the Principal Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice.

“Frictionless omnichannel experiences allow organisations to not only provide customers with more purchase and fulfilment options, but also enable customers to quickly switch engagement methods in case of channel disruption. This enables marketing leaders to better protect business-critical revenue streams.”

Although many customers moved online during COVID-19 lockdowns to buy products, the benefit experienced by in-person purchasing is still substantial. This indicates that organisations with broad-based retail footprints are ideally positioned for the use of omnichannel experience, according to research by Gartner’s Digital Commerce for Marketing Leaders 2021. The research company has recommended that those with no brick and mortar presence may still benefit from friction-free omnichannel experiences by working with third parties.

Experiences using an omnichannel strategy must go beyond only online purchasing, in-store pickups and curbside pickups and provide a really seamless experience to sell, serve, fulfil and supply.

Gartner recommended that while engaging with other organisational leaders and optimising its strategy for 2021 marketing executives, they should concentrate on the following topics:

• Feature Fulfillment Options: Highlight the fulfilment choices of consumers clearly in order to improve sales overall. For instance, consumers may choose between the in-store pick-up and the drive-up pick-up, with explicit directions from the product details pages.
• Incentivise Omnichannel Sales: Test thresholds for the promotion of omnichannel sales, such as providing a gift card that promotes consumer online purchases and collections in or off the shop. This also benefits from reducing shipping strain when a purchase has been completed.
• Ensure Consistent Messaging: Work with customer services leaders to ensure consumers’ messaging stays constant while transitioning between channels, including social networks, chatbots and contact centres.
• Integrate Digital Inventory: Partner with supply chain leaders to improve inventory integration across digital touchpoints in order to highlight inventories accessible by location. This influences the purchase of decisions from all channels.
• Prioritise Partnerships: Choose partnerships to expand omnichannel commerce without frictions, including online markets, especially if there are few first-party choices.

Next up: Malta Week

Don’t miss out on amazing networking opportunities and exclusive industry insights at Malta Week. Four leading shows will bring the best of the business back-to-back to a first-class meeting point. Malta Week will consist of SiGMA, AIBC, Med-Tech World and AGS, each presenting the top developments of their focal industries.

The cross-collaboration of each brand makes Malta Week the number one destination for leading think-tanks of the gaming sector, emerging tech, digital health, and digital marketing. The middle of the Mediterranean is the perfect place for multi-faceted business deals and face-to-face conversations with leading affiliates, policymakers, and thought leaders.