Here are the three must-have strategies to help you adopt omni-channel retailing:

1. Customer-centric Approach

Building a sustainable relationship with customers is key to achieving omni-channel success. Retailers need to provide seamless access across web, mobile, and store channels for customers and convert these into richer engagement. To achieve this, retailers need to implement:

Personalized campaigns and promotions: Mere personalization is not a good-to-have strategy anymore; Relevance is the key to winning customer loyalty. To design and run personalized and relevant campaigns, retailers need to integrate structured and unstructured data, use advanced analytics to identify shopping preferences and buying behaviour. The predictive analytical capabilities enable retailers to launch personalized campaigns and promotions, resulting in improved loyalties.

Location-based customer engagement: New technologies such as NFC and iBeacon enable retailers to personalize customer engagement based on proximity. It allows advertisers to embed customer preferences and information with real-time context and send relevant notifications. Thus, location-based marketing connects the digital and physical marketing channels, and helps in deeply engaging mobile shoppers.

Social engagement: According to Hubspot, 71% consumers are likely to make a purchase decision based on social media referrals and as per SproutSocial 74% shoppers rely on social media networks to make purchase decisions. Social media marketing should be an integral part of retailers’ marketing strategy today. It provides an extensive platform to expand reach, connect with target audiences, and explore exponential growth. In addition to this, engaging with customers through social media channels not only provides an opportunity for social commerce, but also helps gain customer insights, by integrating customers’ social interactions.

Care everywhere: Retailers must care for customers across their journey – before shopping, during shopping, and post shopping through modern ways such as shopping assistance, one-touch support, recommendations, post-sales service, 24/7 helpdesk, and call centre support.

It is critical for retailers to stand out in the cluttered marketplace by effectively reaching out and engaging with their target audiences, while optimizing returns.

2. Unified Commerce Platforms

A survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, Ecommerce Europe and Ecommerce Foundation, in partnership with Demandware early this year, indicates that a high percentage of respondents are in favour of a unified commerce platform. Out of approximately 300 U.S., Australian, and European retail business executives, 53% of respondents said that they were going to deploy a unified commerce platform, an increase of 50% from last year. Adopting the right technology platforms can help transform the business model, and establish a centralized system that enables consistent service delivery across channels. Leading unified commerce platforms offer highly scalable and integrated IT solutions from engagement to fulfilment. The flexible architecture of these platforms supports the integration of multiple data sources and augments surrounding technologies such as e-Commerce, mobility, and analytics. The major advantages of adopting unified commerce platforms are:

Single view of customers across channels: Provides 360 degree view of customers regardless of the channels that helps enhance analytical capabilities, augment actionable insights, and offer personalized experience.

Inventory visibility across channels: Provides real-time and holistic view of inventory, optimizing operations, and reducing out-of-stock scenarios.

Optimized cross-channel order management: The integrated order management system enables seamless order flow across channels.

Enhanced order fulfilment capabilities: These platforms can be easily extended to fulfil orders through multiple ways, like home deliveries, click and collect, and temporary pickup locations.

Integrations with social media and online marketplaces: These platforms are flexible to integrate with social media and online marketplaces, providing complete visibility into order and inventory data.

Scalability: The unified commerce platforms are highly scalable in nature and supports business growth seamlessly.

3. Agile Work Environment

It is not enough to unify systems and build comprehensive consumer database spanning web, mobile, and store. To maximize potential, retailers need to eliminate the distinction between business units and reorganize team structures. For example, target and incentives should be re-designed to account for overall sales, than just measuring channel-specific performance. Agile work environment is about bringing people and processes in sync with technology to find the most appropriate and effective way of working collaboratively. To realize omni-channel imperative, businesses need to eliminate siloed work culture amongst channel-specific teams by creating cross-functional teams based on shared company goals.

Preparing for the Future of Retail

Achieving omni-channel excellence requires defining clear objectives and extensive executional, tactical, and strategic capabilities. Retailers who move away from siloed and legacy systems to modern unified solutions, offering highly-scalable unified platforms, have great potential to successfully adopt omni-channel strategies. Such platforms ensure successful integration of various touch points and offer great potential to retailers to gain competitive advantage.

Having said that, collaborating with strategic implementation partners with relevant industry-domain knowledge and experience will allow leveraging the partner’s expertise in implementing best-fit solutions and providing omni-channel retail services.

Panel Discussion on Creating Channel Supremacy the Multichannel Way had experts from retail chains in South India brainstorming & discussing the trends on retail industry, especially in the context of multichannel retail.

Panelists in this session were:

Suraj Shantakumar, Director Business Strategy, Kirtilals

Sunil Sanklecha, MD, Nuts & Spices

M. Ramakrishnan, MD, Thulasi Pharmacy

Zarook Shah, Director, The Grand Mall

Moderator: Sastry Subrahmanya, Director, PWC

This is what the panelists had to say:

Question: What is your view on multi-channel?

Suraj Shantakumar, Director Business Strategy, Kirtilals

“Multi channel maturity is a function of business maturity.”

•Our business is about high value diamonds and gold.  Our key value proposition is personalized service – which social media to an  extent excludes.

•Our definition of multi channel includes : Direct to home for personalized  shopping; roadshows and exhibitions for the store catchment.

•We’ve developed  Special design lounges –  an IPAD app – which customers can use to BYOJ (Build Your Own Jewelry)

•This App ‘aggregates’ range across all stores – and creates an ‘endless aisle’ for customers.

• We are present online and on social media but these are for ‘display ‘ purposes.

M. Ramakrishnan, MD, Thulasi Pharmacy

“Multi Channel for us is events which increase customer engagement.” 

•We run a chain of 39 pharmacy stores all over Tamil Nadu.

•We use health camps as a way to engage with the catchment.  Strategic PR exercises.

•We are present online – but to give information, we do not have an e-commerce enabled website as yet.

•Since our Target Audience are usually above 60 our multi channel and technology choices reflect that.

•Home delivery / prescription reminder services / email marketing are our version of “multi channel”

•Because we deal with health and because our target audience is older;  customers have concerns on privacy and security of online transactions.

•We have found that loyalty programs based on purchase patterns have met with some resistance – but discount based programs have been successful.

•Social media is a good channel for the neutraceutical side of the business. In addition, touch-screens in-store help to educate about usage / side effects of drugs.

Question: How is the customer expectation influence retailers choice of channel?

Zarook Shah, Director, The Grand Mall

•We run a mall in Chennai – we are a neighborhood mall, and are in the shadow of Phoenix Market City who are much larger than us.

•In addition, we also have an analytics / Ux company (Ux = User eXperience)

•Customers are jumping online at the first opportunity – so retailers have to think multichannel.

•Use interactive technology to present SKUs and range not available in store – using mobile technology.

Sunil Sanklecha, MD, Nuts & Spices 

•We are a chain of gourmet food stores.  Our Retail stores are a channel for the family business of dry fruit.

•23 stores in Tamil Nadu. Present online and on social media

•Created the online store to cater to customers who had moved outside the state.

•Most online retailers focus on price discounting as a way to drive traffic.  The trade-off is price v/s experience.  Online channels cannot provide the same experiential feel.

•Depending on which markets and customer segment – most retailers need both. It’s not an “either / or” thought process.

Online channels appeal to the “left” brain, brick and mortar to the “right” brain. One is quantitative and price based – the other is experiential. – Sastry Subrahmanya, Director, PWC (Moderator)

Zarook Shah, Director, The Grand Mall

•As a neighbourhood mall we have found social media far more useful than mainline print / media advertising.

•Email marketing and aggregating offers of all our tenant retailers  has helped us personalize our offering to the catchment.

Audience Question: How much should you spend on online advertising ? 

•We spend 2 to 3% of turnover on advertising. Of that about 20% is for online advertising.  (Sunil Sanklecha – Nuts ‘n’ Spices)

•We’ve found that a combination of social media / flyers works better than a radio / print media mix (Zarook Shah – Grand Mall).

•Our industry is regulated. We use PR – not advertising. We run a ‘handwriting’ contest which covers 100,000 children and helps us connect with the community.  Our advertising budget is miniscule – 0.2% of turnover.  (M. Ramakrishnan, MD, Thulasi Pharmacy )

•Online advertising is nascent for jewelry industry, we use a traditional ad budget – mostly in print and hoardings. (Suraj Shantakumar, Director Business Strategy, Kirtilals)

Summary:

All brands need an online presence to be able relevant to the customer.  – Zarook Shah, Director, The Grand Mall

When you go online is a function of investments and bandwidth – Sunil Sanklecha, MD, Nuts & Spices

If you can’t use technology – be prepared to go out of business – M. Ramakrishnan, MD, Thulasi Pharmacy

Keeping customer experience consistent across channels is key.  – Suraj Shantakumar, Director Business Strategy, Kirtilals

Decoding this concept was the objective of the panel discussion on – Engaging the Empowered Customer – Omni Channel Retailing. Panelists for the session included – D. Baskaramoorthy, Vice President Sales, Posiflex Technology; Kashyap Mehta, Head – ecommerce, Infiniti Retail Ltd.; Manoj Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, edabba.com; S Natrajan, Country Business Manager, Embedded Markets, Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd.; Vikran Potdar, Head – IT, Big Cinemas and Siju Narayan, Smarter Commerce Lead, IBM.

Kumar went on to add, “It is all about putting the customer  at the centre and serving him through whatever channels he chooses to shop with. The final agenda is to give him an experience of shopping from a single ‘company / brand.”

The panelists were unanimous in their views – that offering an omni channel retailing experience was where all the retailers aspired to be. But there are several many inter-relating factors to achieve this. One of the major factor rested with having a seamless internet penetration in the country and once this would be resolved, India could be at par with other evolved Western / developed countries which had majority of their shoppers integrating the online and offline medium to shop.

Touching upon the subject of customer loyalty, Potdar’s view was that the Entertainment industry was different from Retail. In retail, having a loyalty program was almost a matter of “hygiene” with most customers expecting a “standard” bouquet of rewards.  In the entertainment industry – loyalty was driven by geography – customers are usually not willing to venture to single screen theaters unless they are within a convenient travel radius.

Another interesting point of discussion revolved around the changing shopping habits of consumers and whether access to organized retail has created a greater number of impulse purchases. Kumar felt that with ecommerce, purchases were moving to an ‘aspirational’ or ‘dream’ purchase plane.  He said, “Exposure in various forms is increasing consumption today!”

Narayan attributed the advent and influence of social media in shaping purchase behavior. Internationally 74 percent shoppers accept recommendations from their social network for upcoming purchase.

The panel concluded by discussing the role of technology in winning customer loyalty. Potdar highlighted the importance internal customer satisfaction being of prime importance as according to him, an empowered front end staff is in a better position to ensure that customer in turn is empowered.

Emergence of omni-channel retail has given rise to complexities in supply chain management. The session “Accelerating Availability: Supply Chain Solutions” explore the different aspects of SCM in the context of omni-channel retail. The session was moderated by Anant Mahale, Director, Intouch Rewards and the eminent panelists were Shohaib Ahmed, President, Tally Solutions Pvt Ltd; Kannan Soundarajan, CFO, Arvind Lifestyle Brands and Arvind Retail Ltd; Samson Samuel, COO, Contract Logistics & CIO, Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd; Somick Goswami, Director-Consulting PWC;  Tony Low, MD & Sr VP, Asia Pacific GT Nexus; and Veneeth Purushotaman, CIO, Hypercity Retail.

Where do the challenges lie?

Mr Samuel talked about complicated inventory management, whereas Mr Goswami pointed out the problem in prioritizing the movement of a particular stock and the disparity between order exposure and order fulfillment. A customer walking-in and walking out without any purchase is an opportunity loss or loss of cost, viewed panelists.

Dealing with return inventory

Though omni-channel retail increase the risk of return inventory Mr Purushotaman commented that online retail is one effective channel for selling return inventory at marked prices thus enabling liquidation of stocks.

All the panelists agreed on the point that customers are the key stakeholder of omni-channel retailing and post-sales services have to be enhanced for betterment shopping experience.

Collaboration with vendors

Trust factor plays an important role here. Absence of trust among retailers and vendors causes absence of visibility. But Mr Soundarajan feels that SOR (Sell Or Return) model brings in visibility.

Importance of GST

For inventory distribution there is an urgent need for the deployment of GST. Effective network model or spoke and hub model is only possible when GST is in place. Mr Soundarajan highlighted the dearth of good logistics companies and space enough to build up warehouses and distribution centres.

Transportation Management

All the panelists lamented on lack of uniform regulatory policies for the movement of goods across the country. These are basic fundamentals which are not in place and despite having technologies, such problems can ruin the retail sentiment, viewed the panelists.

Budget constraint

In the context of slow economic growth, the retailers are feeling the heat and unanimously agreed that there’s a restricted technology adoption for budget constraint.

Mr Raj Maini, Worldwide Director of Marketing, Visual Retailing-Intelligent Systems group, Intel Corporation, touched upon the subjects like identifying omni-channel retailers, why there’s the need for embracing omni-channel retail and vision and technology for technology framework, and substantiating these points he made a presentation on Intel-Tata Elxi case study.

To begin with he defined the omni-channel shoppers as those who can shop any product anywhere and at any time. There is paradigm shift in purchasing behavior of today’s shoppers. Retailers have understood that not being on omni-channel means losing sales.. Successful omni-channel retailing is about providing consistent branding across channels.

A recent survey has revealed:

More than 15% retailers have made an investment in IT for omni-channel  in 2013 – this was only 3% in 2012!

Intel is now working on connected store experience. Intel omni-channel framework can be operated remotely to ensure seamless connected experience, at the same ensuring a secured system.

It’s a simple understanding that technology has to be used for the convenience of the customers. And at the same time it has to be understood that technology cannot be pushed across channels, rather retailers should feel the necessity of strengthening infrastructure with IT support. They should recognize the areas where technology deployment is essential.

The case highlighted how Intel, along with Tata Elxi implemented intelligent digital signage: Intel@AIM (Audience Impression Metric) at a fashion store. This signage can capture the impression of buying behavior of potential buyers in store, aiding the retailers in effective merchandise management. Intel@IAF (IAF) is a mobile data analytics. Using data mining technologies, IAF ensure the smart phone users receive only those product ads that they would like to buy.