Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Today's consumers are using many channels to consume information. Are retailers thinking about an omnichannel strategy? If not, they should!

It’s well established that today’s consumers use multiple channels – mobile, Web, social media, in-store – when engaging with retailers. On any given day, a shopper might research a clothing item online, visit the brand’s Facebook page and then purchase it in a store where she can try it on; the next, she might see something in a store on her lunch hour, price-check it on her smartphone and purchase it online at home, after checking in with the retailer’s social media pages.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, three-quarters of shoppers use their smartphones while in-store to make a purchase decision, and according to Vantiv VNTV 0%, Inc., half have research and purchased an item online and then picked it up in the store. But how aware are consumers of all this channel-switching? Do they think, “Wow, I’ve really used a lot of channels today!” Or even, “Hmmmmm – which channels should I use to engage with my favorite retailer?”

I’m thinking probably not. They’re just doing what consumers do, flitting from channel to channel like a butterfly, as fickle as can be, calling to mind the flighty “followers of fashion” described in The Kinks’ 1966 single. What is an Omnichannel Strategy? With consumers freely using whichever channel suits them at the moment, retailers must attract, engage with and gain the loyalty of these followers of fashion, and they can do this by creating a consistent experience among all channels — the so-called omnichannel experience.

An omnichannel strategy begins with generating awareness on digital channels, because while brand awareness in the past was all about signage and window dressing on High Street, it’s perhaps more important today to stand out on digital channels. Indeed, in emerging markets, mobile devices are the first channel through which consumers may experience your brand....