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Omnichannel and retail: top 7 trends to look for in 2024

By Raju Dedhia

The global Omni Channel Retailing Market is expected to reach US$ 19.51 Billion by 2030 as per research. The prominence of omnichannel in today’s retail business is more critical than ever, having to adapt to huge changes in consumer behaviour over the past few years. Omnichannel retail has become substantial in terms of marketing strategies. It provides a cohesive experience across many different touchpoints.

Omnichannel retail is a service that involves integrating your business’s sales and marketing channels in order to provide a seamless customer experience, regardless of where customers interact with your brand.

Below are top 7 Omnichannel trends business should follow to enhance better consumer experience in 2024:

  1. Hyper-Personalization:

Retailers will use advanced data analytics and AI to create highly personalized shopping experiences. Tailoring product recommendations, offers, and marketing messages to individual customer preferences will be a key focus.

  1. Seamless Cross-Channel Experience:

Customers expect a consistent experience whether they’re shopping online, in-app, or in-store. Integration between physical and digital channels will be seamless, allowing customers to transition effortlessly between online and offline shopping.

  1. Integration of AI and Chatbots:

AI-driven chatbots will become more sophisticated, providing real-time customer support, product recommendations, and order assistance across various platforms, enhancing customer service and engagement.

  1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) Integration:

Advanced AI and ML algorithms for predictive analytics, customer behaviour analysis, and personalized recommendations both online and in physical stores.

  1. Voice Commerce and Conversational Commerce:

Expansion of voice-activated shopping assistants and chatbots, integrating them across various platforms and devices, making shopping more convenient and conversational.

6. Social Commerce Expansion:

Social media platforms will continue to integrate shopping features, allowing users to discover products and make purchases without leaving the platform. Social commerce will become a powerful channel for reaching and engaging with customers.

  1. Same-Day and Instant Delivery Options:

The demand for fast and convenient delivery options will rise. Retailers will invest in local fulfillment centers and partnerships with delivery services to offer same-day or even instant delivery in certain areas, meeting the growing need for speed and efficiency.

A brand should not be confined to one channel in order to offer great customer experiences. Perception, emotions, and feelings play a significant part in customer experience and only an omnichannel approach can facilitate retention and acquisition strategies.

A company engaged in multichannel retailing sells products and services through different channels on the Internet (e.g. a web store, marketplace and social media). Omni-channel refers to retailers that have a physical market presence in addition to digital channels.

An e-commerce strategy of this nature puts emphasis on creating a cohesive user experience for each customer touchpoint at every stage of the buying process. That does not happen with traditional marketing, where each channel was optimized separately for the benefit of individual customers.

Customers’ experiences are both positive and negative. Customers and your brand interact with each other both on and off your website. There are several touchpoints that directly affect the customer, including the physical store, the digital store, and across multiple devices. Whenever someone interacts with an organization, they can be either analog (storefront, salesperson, etc.) or digital(website, mobile app, etc).

 

 

(The author is Raju Dedhia, Presales Head, Vinculum, and the views expressed in this article are his own)

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