Omnichannel is one of the six digital strategies Filipino companies had been pursuing in the last three years. The Philippines has caught on to omnichannel marketing, also called “retail of the future” and the “Bricks and Clicks” business model, Filipino consumers now enjoy shopping online or in physical, brick and mortar stores of their favorite brands. This exploits different channels like print, email, SMS, social media, and e-commerce data to communicate with customers. To date, one Philippine outsourcing company holds the record for global outsourced omnichannel customer experience management.
These various communication engagements can be simply done with the use of Customer Communications Management (CCM) solution software which can be readily purchased from omnichannel developers online. With this, retail stores can operate their own contact center or outsource if the volume of communication gets too big for them to handle internally.
Another option is to tie up with existing e-commerce companies like what SM did when it partnered with Lazada. Other examples are Waltermart which piloted the first grocery delivery platform in the country and 711’s maximization of its vast chain as payment portals and distribution hubs. Through them, we can see the direction the retail industry and people’s shopping habits are headed.
Unlike multi-marketing, omnichannel marketing provides the ultimate seamless experience to each customer in different target markets. The use of behavioral data gathered from e-commerce usage gives personalized services tailored specifically for a particular client. It further gives businesses an avenue to extend catering to customer preferences in-store like cashier-less stores and the opportunity to go global. Shops are not confined to their four corners in the mall anymore. The world becomes their market.
The rise of marketing technologies opened businesses and marketers to the idea of incorporating continuity of customer experience. Omnichannel collects accumulated data from all channels to know what customers want and create offers that would be appealing to them. This also enables businesses to effectively apply the laws of supply and demand to their advantage. Omnichannel can also identify micro markets that allow them to cater to these new market segments directly. Further, they can identify which among their channels is the most valuable so sufficient focus can be allocated to boost the business.
The retail industry associations in the Philippines have joined together to prevent the decline of the retail industry which made many businesses in the US close down, scale down operations or file for bankruptcy after e-commerce took a foothold in retail. An example of staying power is Amazon which covers a wide distribution area by using behavioral data that allowed it to monopolize the retail market.
Omnichannel is also a market research tool. The salability of offers is tested using consumer reactions. Responses are then recorded to arrive at the right product to invest in where the higher return of investment (ROI) is guaranteed to be more realistic. Businesses are able to invest in what will actually sell. It secures more sales and buy-ins.
The availability of new technologies that allow integration or middleware like API makes it easier to interconnect different systems to form one channel. It reduces the knowledge gap between retail stores and the market by analyzing customer relationship management (CRM) data and developing the right offering to the correct targets. For inquiries, you can write to bd@athl.com.hk