If you want your brand to remain competitive in this day and age, then you should consider a transition to an omni-commerce business model.
The competition nowadays is fierce, especially in the commercial sphere. On one side, you have major brands like Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba, etc. dominating the market. On the other hand, there are other popular (medium-sized) brands, such as Weis Mart and Casey’s General Stores that are trying their best to keep up with the bigger brands.
Therefore, for your brand to have a fighting chance in today’s market, you too should try to at least keep up with the big brands. You can do this by adopting the same strategies that many popular brands are using.
One way to keep up with the big brands is to transition to an omni-commerce business model. Through an omni-commerce business model, you can gain more attention from your customer from multiple platforms. As a result, you will be able to sell more products across multiple channels.
In this article, we will discuss how you can transition from a single-channel commerce business to an omni-commerce business.
Before we explain how you can transition to an omni-commerce business, let’s first define omni-commerce for those who are still new to this concept or are just getting started with omni-commerce.
Omni-commerce means using multiple “channels”, both online and offline, to conduct business tasks such as marketing, sales, customer support, payment transfers, etc.
Channels refer to “ways” through which brands engage and interact with customers. For example, online channels consist of websites, social media posts, webinars, e-commerce stores, etc.
A brand that uses multiple channels to do business is known as an omni-commerce business. For example, a brand with a brick-and-mortar store can become an omni-commerce business by also having an e-commerce website, a social media account, several kiosks, etc. Since this brand sells products or services both online and offline, it is an omni-commerce business.
A brand is estimated to lose 10% – 30 % of sales if they don’t sell on multiple channels. This is another good reason for brands to switch to an omni-commerce business model.
Omni-commerce is a method through which brands can achieve the following sought-out goals:
In addition, more than 53% of retailers are investing in tools and technologies that allow them to sell through different channels. Therefore, if you would like to remain ahead of the game, you should also consider transitioning to an omni-commerce business model.
For a more detailed look into omni-commerce, please see the following article: Ultimate Guide to Omni-Commerce.
Let’s look at some of the benefits you can get from an omni-commerce business.
Since omni-commerce involves selling from multiple channels, this can result in three positive outcomes for your brand.
Firstly, with more channels, you are giving your brand more platforms to be exposed to potential customers. As a result, your brand awareness will increase with each additional channel you add to your omni-commerce business. Therefore, running an omni-commerce business with multiple channels is also a good marketing strategy.
Secondly, due to the increased awareness of your brand, you will increase your chances of making more sales. Furthermore, the more people know about your brand the more chances you have to convert them into paying customers. In addition, having multiple channels for selling products will allow customers to buy your products from their preferred channel.
For example, having an e-commerce store will encourage customers to order your products online. This is especially useful for customers who can’t be bothered to come to your physical store. Similarly, a brick-and-mortar store will provide an outlet for those customers who are not comfortable purchasing online.
Lastly, having an omni-commerce business gives you the ability to keep up with the constantly changing commerce landscape.
By adopting an omni-commerce business model, your brand will have taken the first steps to remain relevant in today’s fast-paced markets. This is sure to make your brand flourish and prosper in the long run.
Another strategy worth looking into that will also help your business flourish is MAP Pricing. Both omni-commerce and MAP pricing are sure to be effective strategies for running your business more fruitfully.
In today’s fast-paced, internet-driven age, consumer demand is changing rapidly day by day. These days people are looking for the following elements when they shop for something:
Consumers these days expect to be able to research a product online, compare prices across different stores, try the product out, and finally purchase the product either online or in person from a store. This is the shopping journey for a majority of consumers.
Therefore, if a brand wants to cater to consumers throughout their shopping journey, it will need to transition to omni-commerce. This is because only an omni-commerce business model can interact and engage with consumers at every step of their journey.
A single-channel business will not be able to cater to all the consumer demands due to the lack of channels.
If brands want to continue attracting consumers they will have to transition to an omni-commerce business model. Furthermore, without transitioning to an omni-commerce business, some brands will have difficulties not only attracting new customers but also retaining old customers.
Consumers are more attracted to a brand that offers them a seamless experience across multiple channels. In addition, a study showed that 73% of shoppers prefer shopping through multiple channels. Therefore, for brands to target a large section of the market, they must add multiple channels to their business model.
Lastly, brands that fail to transition to an omni-commerce business model will find it difficult to keep up with the competition.
Now let’s see what are the steps through which you can transition to an omni-commerce business.
The first thing you need to do is evaluate what kind of business you are running.
If your business has both online and offline channels through which you engage and interact with consumers, then you are already running an omni-commerce business. You just haven’t realized it yet.
However, if your business is purely online (website, social media, support through email, etc.) or offline (store, physical ads, support through phone calls, etc.) then you will simply need to branch out into the “space” where you are not present. The word “space” refers to either the online or offline areas of commerce.
Once you have decided on which “space” you need to expand to, you can choose new channels.
A physical store owner might decide to add a channel, such as a website, in the online “space”.
A website will provide physical store owners with a platform in the online “space” to promote and sell their products. Moreover, installing a product and store locator widget on a website can increase traffic to a physical store.
A product and store locator widget is a section on a website that mainly does two things:
The main benefit of a product and store locator widget involves bringing more customers to your store from your website. Once customers on your website find a product that they like, they may want to come to one of your physical stores to purchase the product. Therefore, a product and store locator is the perfect tool to guide customers who are in a “buying mood” to your stores. As a result, you will have more chances to:
A product and store locator widget can easily be added to your website via certain software applications, such as WP Maps.
Before you add new channels to your business, it is a good practice to evaluate market opportunities first.
You will want to first research and identify the potential channels that align with your target market and industry. As a rule of thumb, you should determine if there is a significant demand for your product before you branch out through different channels.
Once you have determined that there is indeed a good amount of demand for your product, it’s time to plan your transition to omni-commerce.
This phase usually involves a couple of stages.
Firstly, you will need to decide what channels you are going to add
Secondly, you will have to research what technologies, infrastructure, and resources are needed for the transition. You will also have to decide where and how you are going to source all the new resources needed for your transition. For example, if you are looking to add a product and store locator widget to bring more customers to your physical store, then you can use the software application WP Maps to help you achieve this goal.
Moreover, the most important thing you need to do is to make sure you remain within budget. The last thing you need is to commit your hard-earned money to ventures you can’t afford.
The last phase of your transition involves implementing the channels into your business model. Once your desired channel has been integrated with your regular business operation, you will have officially transitioned to an omni-commerce business.
Now that you have transitioned to an omni-commerce business, the next part involves managing your omni-commerce business.
Now that you have multiple channels to look after, you will need to properly allocate resources for managing all your channels.
As you will be marketing, selling, and providing support to your customers through multiple channels, you will need to make sure that you stay on top of things by using 5 effective omni-commerce business improvement strategies. However, If you had carefully planned your transition, then you should not face any issues managing your omni-commerce business.
There are also certain tools you can look into that can make managing your omni-commerce business more smooth and more enjoyable. We recommend reading this article; 5 Best Omni-Commerce Tools for Brands for more information.
Omni-commerce is the future of buying and selling. Moreover, this article might have given you some idea of how to transition to an omni-commerce business.
With the ever-changing landscape of commerce and increasing consumer demands for convenience, variety, and choice to deal with, brands will have to consider transitioning to omni-commerce sooner or later. You may want to look up 2 of the most popular omni-commerce business models before you make the transition.
The sooner brands decide on transitioning to omni-commerce the better it will be for them. This is because, with an early transition, brands will be able to know the intricacies of omni-commerce and how it affects their particular business. As a result, the brand that transitions to omni-commerce early will have a competitive edge going into the future.
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Waleed Daad Khan is a results-driven Marketing Consultant with a passion for Businesses. He holds certifications From Wharton, McKinsey, Hubspot and SEMrush, and has helped businesses of all sizes improve their online visibility and reach. With 4 years of experience in the field, Waleed stays up-to-date on the latest digital marketing trends to deliver cutting-edge strategies.
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