Omnichannel: alter egos and the infinite life of business

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Being in several places at the same time, as if we could multiply our presence between a festival, a visit to a gallery and a family dinner, is a skill that many of us desire. Although we cannot achieve it, we have the opportunity, in the business world, to do so with the help of technology – to be on several commercial channels, in a fully integrated way .

In fact, in the current context, whether it is an always-ON society or the behavioral changes that the pandemic has triggered, businesses really have to invest in a paradigm of infinite existence and know how to live omnichannel .

More than knowing how to live in several realities at the same time, it is essential to know how to live according to the same identity in all these realities, to be coherent and to have the various "I's" integrated.

Alter egos and omnichannel management
Growing dynamics are the only constant that the retail sector knows. And iran whatsapp number database this, combined with the need to respond to the demands of an emerging era of digital consumers, comes the opportunity to create online sales strategies based on several commercial channels that communicate and are integrated with each other. This represents omnichannel management : there is coherence in communication, positioning, relationships and services, pricing policy and an interconnection between customer data, sales information and logistics, regardless of the channel.

Basically, it involves using all channels as if they were just one and thus offering the same experience to the customer in different locations.

In addition to omnichannel , there are other ways to have the brand's various "I's" operating simultaneously:

Multichannel
Let's imagine that we have several "selves", multiple alter egos, that live simultaneously and that, in addition to presenting alternative and specific personalities, are autonomous from each other. Often, they can even compete with each other.

This is the same reality as a multichannel business : just like alter egos, there are multiple sales channels – whether it’s a company-owned store, multi-brand stores, online stores or online marketplaces – that have many of the same characteristics as the main brand – the essence – but reveal themselves to the world in different ways. But these sales channels are not integrated – they may have different offers (different products in each channel), different prices, different communication, logistics between channels that do not communicate with each other, customer information is not shared, etc. Ultimately, each channel is autonomous and independent of the others.

Crosschannel
Now, let's imagine that we have several different "selves", but that, at some point, they cross paths and complement each other – an easy example is that person who adopts different behaviors in the presence of friends and family. The day these two groups come together, both will find a mix of the two "selves".

In business, it works the same way: there is a main sales channel and other channels that offer a complementary experience (and that do not compete) but that can overlap – for example, buying an item online and picking it up in store.

Omnichannel
Finally, let's imagine that we have several different "I's" and both have the same personality and way of being, that is, they cohabit at the same time. Can you imagine? The problem – and bad news – is that this reality is only possible in the business world.

The Infinite Life of Omnichannel Business
Business success, in addition to good levels of profitability and solvency, is directly related to customer retention (and their repurchase), so it is extremely important to offer an excellent shopping experience , regardless of the channel used. This good experience results in higher levels of satisfaction and even recommendations.

Therefore, in the business world, infinite life is based on diversifying your sales channels. This will help you reach a larger percentage of your target audience and protect yourself from fluctuations in demand and crises.

However, it is more beneficial to maintain a solid and strong presence in certain sales channels than to be everywhere in a limited way. Therefore, it is important to choose the sales channels that make sense for the brand, according to its target audience, working in an integrated way across the various channels – all of its “selves” coherent and connected everywhere. This solidifies the commitment to an omnichannel business .

How to implement an omnichannel strategy
First, you need to know your customers. Start by defining the different personas of your business. This will be important to identify where you should be present to communicate, influence and sell; what motivates customers to buy; and their interests and tastes.

Once you know your customers and potential customers well, define where you want to be:

Physical store : allows you to have a closer and more personalized relationship with your customers. On the other hand, it has high fixed costs.

Online store : gains the ability to easily scale the business geographically, attract many customers simultaneously and automate most processes. On the other hand, it requires technical knowledge to obtain results – it is not enough to put the store online – and logistics management skills.

Online marketplace : offers the benefit of being present in a shopping mall , in this case an online shopping mall – having high online traffic /people searching in the marketplace (which does not require a lot of technical knowledge), speed of entry into the market and ease/outsourcing of logistics processes. From a negative perspective, it can imply high commissions, less differentiation of experience and offer and greater exposure to the competition.
Once you know your customers, and have chosen the channels to use, you need to establish policies and processes that are common to all channels, so that the experience is identical. The customer, the data and their experience should be the central point of the omnichannel strategy architecture .

And to facilitate processes and guarantee the possibility of execution, it is necessary to invest in technology that allows centralizing information, facilitating access and automating processes.

Omnichannel technology for an infinite life
In the theory of finite and infinite games, we realize that the business world is an infinite game – not all players (elements in the business context) are known, the rules and penalties are not defined and there is no set deadline to reach a winner (in fact, it is not even correct to define a winner).

Therefore, business success is an endless race in time, in which companies face the need to adapt to new contexts, anticipate trends and adapt to meet challenges. And with this in mind, the omnichannel strategy is now essential! And, without technology, putting it into practice is an amazing idea.