FAUX OMNICHANNEL

Faux Omnichannel.  See a lot of it when it comes to the supply chain to deliver the omnichannel customer experience.

Personalizing the Customer Experience: Unified Commerce is the Goal for Retailers, but “Faux” Omnichannel Is the Reality

PR Biz Update March 25, 2016 0 Comments Boston Retail Partners, cross-channel customer experience, Customer engagement, faux omnichannel, Ken Morris, Marketing, Personalization, Pr, Public relations, unified commerce

85% of Retailers are Want a “Real” Unified Commerce Platform
Retailers recognize the need for a holistic customer experience that transcends channels, but most attempts are falling short, new research from Boston Retail Partners (BRP) finds. According to the report, Unified Commerce is the Goal, “Faux” Omni-channel is the Reality, many retailers have taken the “just get something done” approach over the last few years to attempt to deliver a cross-channel customer experience. The unfortunate result of this quick fix approach is a “faux” omnichannel model that doesn’t execute as promised and risks disappointing customers.
The industry has now reached a critical point where retailers can no longer afford to operate from within channel silos. They must transform their organization, business processes and technology to align with the demands of their customers. According to BRP’s 2016 POS/Customer Engagement Survey, 85% of the retailers surveyed realize the importance of offering a true unified commerce environment to their customers but most have not reached that goal yet. Only 18% of the retailers surveyed indicate they have implemented a unified commerce/single commerce platform, and two-thirds of those companies indicated that it “needs improvement.”
“Unified commerce goes beyond omnichannel, putting the customer experience first, breaking down the walls between internal channel silos and leveraging a single commerce platform,” said Ken Morris, principal at Boston Retail Partners, in a news release. “The idea of a single, centralized, real-time platform for all customer engagement points is a key tenet of unified commerce. A unified commerce platform is not simply the future in-store or web platform, but combines POS, mobile, Web, call center and clienteling into one single integrated platform. It has become the new retail imperative.”
Unfortunately, the risk of losing customers due to a disappointing shopping experience caused by flawed omnichannel architecture is deadly—this is why retailers are focusing on “real” unified commerce in 2016.
Source: PRWeb; edited by Richard Carufel