The Essence of Omnichannel

Will retail ever be the same after the pandemic?  Well the answer may depend on how you define retail.  The omnichannel word has been used for years and it looks as if it really does define retail in today’s market.  There are multiple issues that omnichannel retailers now have to contend with that heretofore were smaller problems, but now must be addressed.  Cathy Hotka in her most recent write-up of top of mind topics for senior leaders gave some examples: 

Returns have been a hot topic in retail, after the massive spike in ecommerce during the pandemic. Uncertain sizing, inadequate information on websites, variables in fabric performance and changes in customer preference help inform this trend. Better analysis of reasons for returns could help this situation; in some cases, the product packaging is the problem.  

Younger customers have new habits: they value sustainability, natural ingredients, and skincare over cosmetics. They favor social media influencers and product reviews. They want to purchase from Instagram, TikTok, Google, YouTube, but not television. 

 Luxury customers prefer one-on-one time with salespeople. Selling by appointment is resulting in larger basket sizes. Call centers are now more important than ever and need to be high “touch.” Retailers who turned to virtual stylist appointments have reaped the benefits. Upscale retailers talked about serving Pellegrino or champagne in short in-person one-on-one meetings. 

The time is clearly now for those retailers who had already embraced the notion of a digitally enabled selling environment as a major component of its brand promise to consumers to turn up the volume. For those who have not, now is the time or you may be out of the game totally. It seems the pandemic has forced a fundamental change in shopping online and the purpose of eCommerce.  In a word, the focus needs to be whatever the consumer wants it to be. Now, fast-moving-consumer-goods merchants (grocers, c-stores, drugstores) are doing whatever they need to do to enable customers to buy anywhere-get-anywhere (the essence of omnichannel). Fashion retailers- who strongly favored image-oriented rather than commerce-oriented eCommerce – are now all-in on the buy-anywhere-get-anywhere journey too. And more fashion retailers in particular want to add new digital shopping experiences (as opposed to using the eComm presence primarily to build brand awareness). 

So to answer the initial question, no, retail will not be the same…in most cases it will be better for the consumer.  Different definitely, but different is not necessarily bad and those who can continue to adjust will succeed.