Will the Real Omnichannel Please Stand Up?
True omnis like Wal-Mart are well on their way, offering several of the prevalent fulfillment methods, as well as implementing the technology to support this new breed of supply chain. Wal-Mart is filling and shipping orders from stores, offering in-store pickup and investing millions in its distributed order management platform. Macy's is also fulfilling orders in multiple ways, and has turned 500 of its 840 stores into additional shipping facilities.
Wannabe omnis are far behind on the technology and integration curve. They've failed to invest or act early, and lack a strategy to recast their stores to account for all of the new customer touchpoints and technologies. Whether they're resistant to change or unsure where to begin, their inertia is already costing them.
Customer experience: Omnichannel requires the delivery of an omniscient customer experience. Consumers want to start their shopping experience in one channel and continue it in another, and they expect customer service to offer the same continuity. True omnis are enabling a universal customer experience by integrating all of their customer intelligence data and making it available to the customer and sales team. Sales associates can access a shopper's purchase history on a tablet, tailor their interaction based on the shopper's recent actions in other channels, and walk them through all available product options on an in-store kiosk.
True omnis are also training their associates in customer experience because they realize that highly informed and highly personalized sales staff is their key advantage over online competitors. Macy's, for example, has created a chief omnichannel position and introduced a training program called Magic Selling strategies to help associates better serve the more educated shopper.
In contrast, wannabe omnis use legacy service models and technologies that make it difficult for associates to engage with demanding customers and meet their expectations. They're unable to personalize their interactions because customer data is siloed across the organization. And because wannabe omnis don't have inventory information readily available, their frustrated shoppers are defecting to nearby stores to find what they want.
