{"id":8574,"date":"2020-03-05T13:25:39","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T13:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=8574"},"modified":"2023-01-16T17:07:37","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:07:37","slug":"why-seamless-retail-experience-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/why-seamless-retail-experience-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a Seamless Retail Experience Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This blog post comes courtesy of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.koganpage.com\/author\/miya-knights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Miya Knights<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Head of Industry Insight,<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eagleeye.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eagle Eye Solutions Ltd<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"lead\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Omnichannel\u2019 customers, who shop both online and instore, were found to be worth 10% more per visit online and 4% instore compared to single-channel shoppers, according to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2017\/01\/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-omnichannel-retailing-works\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Harvard Business Review research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, January\u2019s UK sales figures, as<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imrg.org\/media-and-comment\/press-releases\/online-sales-fall-flat-in-january-following-late-2019-surge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tracked by online retail association IMRG<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, found online-only retailers performed significantly better than their multichannel counterparts, with sales growth of +7.6% vs. -2.9%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Continuing a trend seen since April 2019, the outperformance of pureplays compared to multichannel operators seems to contradict the notion that omnichannel shoppers are the most valuable.<\/span><\/p>\n\t<div class=\"cta-banner  CID-2FdM5dTp IID-69d305a8b6b6b\"\r\n\t\tdata-dl-custom-type=\"ctaButton\">\r\n\t\t<div class=\"cta-banner-img-wrap\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cta-banner-img\" style=\"background-image:url(\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/state-of-omnichannel.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"cta-body\" data-dl-custom-type=\"ctaButton\">\r\n\t\t\t<span class=\"cta-sub-heading\">The State of Omnichannel in UK Contact Centres<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"cta-heading\">Find more facts about omnichannel,<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t<p>Download our report The State of Omnichannel in UK <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/contact-centre\/overview.html\">Contact Centre<\/a><\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<a class=\"rc-cta-shortcode btn btn-primary btn-lg\" data-dl-element=\"button\"\r\n\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/lp\/contact-centre-state-of-omnichannel.html\" class=\"btn btn-primary\"\r\n\t\t\t\ttarget=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-dl-additional-info=\"Find more facts about omnichannel,\"\r\n\t\t\t\tdata-dl-name=\"Find more facts about omnichannel, | Learn more\">Learn more<\/a>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If that were the case, the single vs. multichannel growth rates should be reversed. Instead, these latest IMRG figures suggest that multichannel operators are missing a trick by failing to offer a seamless brand experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence, the debate over whether omnichannel is a \u2018zombie\u2019 term is unlikely to subside. It will remain a valid term as long as operators struggle to maintain a consistent presence across multiple sales channels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using the prefix \u2018omni\u2019 focuses minds when it comes to distinguishing between retailers and brands that operate multiple, distinct channels and those who are rightly trying to offer the same experience across all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Multichannel retailers that cannot offer consumers an omnichannel <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/definitive-guide-customer-experience\/\">customer experience<\/a> are potentially losing out to those that either can, or don\u2019t bother to; in that they make do with only the one sales channel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But even pureplays don\u2019t have it all their way: they may be able to claim the lion\u2019s share of growth, but often hit a glass ceiling when customers want the chance to touch and feel their goods in a physical <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/definitions\/retail\/\">retail setting<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take the successful example of Made.com. The furniture retailer last year revamped its flagship London store and said it expected revenue from nine European countries to overtake the UK as its biggest market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFor us being a digitally-native brand, online will always come first, but we know a human connection with the brand can be a valuable midpoint in our customer journey,\u201d said Jo Jackson, Made.com chief creative officer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are doing something different with our physical spaces,\u201d she added. \u201cThey are not shops; they are brand experiences.\u201d Unsurprisingly, Made.com has been able to support its growth with this omnichannel expansion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why my gut tells me that the discrepancy in growth of pureplay vs. multichannel operators tracked by IMRG is down to the fact that those with a single channel are easier to shop than those with multiple ones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what does this mean in practice? It means consistency. But too often, many fail to even offer the same rewards, promotions and discounts in one channel that are available in others, for example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If consistency lies at the heart of a truly omnichannel retail commercial model, personalisation is the key to also demonstrating that a customer (and their history or preferences) is recognisable across channels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The digitisation of physical sales spaces, so they are capable of recognising and responding to customers that already engage online, will be a key stepping stone towards recognising your best customers instore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, ensure customers can access the same products, services and capabilities online as they can instore. Digitally augment the physical experience so it can offer the same level of personalisation instore as online.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Would you like the chance to discuss your retail needs face to face with Miya? RingCentral is partnering with Miya at <strong>Retail Week Live (7-8 October)<\/strong> to offer you a free personal consultation. <a href=\"https:\/\/go.ringcentral.com\/retail-week-live-2020.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Book your time with Miya at Retail Week Live.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This blog post comes courtesy of Miya Knights, Head of Industry Insight, Eagle Eye Solutions Ltd. \u2018Omnichannel\u2019 customers, who shop both online and instore, were found to be worth 10% &hellip; <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/why-seamless-retail-experience-matters\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Why a Seamless Retail Experience Matters&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":8581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why a Seamless Retail Experience Matters | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Retailers offering the same seamless customer experience across all channels will be most relevant to omnichannel shoppers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/why-seamless-retail-experience-matters\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RingCentral Team\" \/>\n\t<meta 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