Omni-channel blabble

There has been a lot of talk about ‘omni-channel’ in my environment lately. Yes, the slogan is old but you know — there will always be someone who is a bit late.

Traditionally, there is usually nothing behind this saying. Just a chatter of various levels of directors, managers and owners of companies (they’re still computing in Excel). But if they say “my company is omni-channel” one, They’ll be a cool dudes … and so will their company.

First of all, a certain level of technological advancement is absolutely required in 2021. It is simply the ABC of the functions in systems that allow you to run your business — not any ‘omni- channel’.
Presentation of the offer on the Internet, picking up an order there when you are selling in the store at the same time, returns in a stationary store when a customer has bought online is only about customers using different interfaces, not ‘channels’.

The legitimate use of the word omni-channel would be if you set up separate sales divisions for this purpose and conducted independent sales through different teams with the use of different systems, offers, prices.
But what for?
How to deal with client’s transition between channels? Don’t make them.


Each channel you consciously or unknowingly create will incur costs. Because only about 9% of customers can use the self-service systems.
Most matters related to customer service will end with the phone call anyway.

Technological backwardness and, for example, the need to add an overarching system to a POS server that is not able to report the inventory online is not about creating ‘touch points’ with the client or ‘omni-channel’ but creating a prosthesis that will hurt.
Change IT specialists to those who will be able to report online sales in one system, regardless of whether the product was purchased at the counter or online.

 

How many times have you seen the returns ‘XX% of customers start shopping online ‘? That it is completely untrue. Most of the time, customers don’t ‘switch between channels’.
This ‘start’ is just checking the opening hours, checking the product features, comparing prices … Then buying online if possible or going to the store.
Your website that allows them to do so is no additional ‘channel’. It’s just another door to your business. Interface.
Unless for unknown reasons you treat online sales as a separate ‘channel’.

Customers don’t care about multi-channel or omni-channel support. Instead, what they really want is for your business to become Channel-less.