Wondering how did Amazon manage to remain at the top of the leader board with net sales of $108.518 billion in the first quarter of 2021, demonstrating a rise of 43.8 percent from net sales of 2020!! It’s simply because this customer-centric brand has mastered the Omnichannel Personalization marketing technique, which proved to be one of the primary contributors to their magnified revenue and rewarded them with customer’s trust and loyalty.
Modern consumers expect a seamless user journey wherever and whenever they browse and shop for products. Therefore, taking an omnichannel approach to retail is becoming increasingly vital. According to a research report, 91 percent of customers are more likely to shop with brands that identify, recall, and present relevant offers and recommendations and make them feel important.
The Omnichannel Personalization process induced in a system spurs the business to the next level and offers customers a seamless shopping experience. Personalization alone is a vital marketing trait, but when espoused with omnichannel touchpoints through the web, mobile, display, or retail store makes them the Goliath of their business domains and provides a competitive edge over others.
Initially, when retailers broadened their physical stores’ operations to include web, email, display, mobile, and other channels, they built infrastructure within each of these channels as separate entities. This historical online approach resulted in silos and a mishmash of structured and unstructured data stacked through traditional segmentation and A/B testing within their channels. This disorganized data accumulation and segregated infrastructure deterred marketers from obtaining a comprehensive picture of their customers’ preferences and create a unique experience with them across channels.
Omnichannel personalization involves a process that unifies data captured from all available touchpoints (channel, medium, or platform), be it physical or digital, organizes this data, and derives a unique customer engagement pattern. This technique enables the brand to assess the customer’s behavior and leverage personalization to entice the customer with more preferences. It refers to the endeavor to bring the disparate touchpoints of a customer’s interaction with a brand into a unified experience which entitles the businesses to keep their customer engaged in a hassle-free shopping environment.
Starbucks used its mobile rewards program to implement omnichannel personalization to integrate the mobile experience with the in-store experience and prioritize customer convenience.
With the advantage of Omnichannel Personalization, one can watch Netflix on their phone, pause it there and resume watching the same program on Smart TV right away, which is an example of a seamless experience across devices.
To develop an effective omnichannel strategy, brands must take advantage of emerging technologies and use the following features at their disposal.
- Commerce And Experience
- Warehouse Management
- Product Data Management
- Personalization
- Marketing Automation and E-Mail Marketing
- Payment Gateways & Platforms
- Customer Relationship Management
- Point Of Sales
- Loyalty Programs
Omnichannel personalization can render a 5 to 15 percent revenue increase across the entire customer base. The permutation and combination of the listed features help define an exclusive strategy as per the business model and its requirement.
Every business demands its own set of requirements. Tools for Omnichannel Personalization effectively integrates and synergizes best-of-breed business technologies and platforms to provide customers with engaging purchasing experiences while improving internal work processes.
Following is the list of tools for Omnichannel Personalization that support businesses in achieving a top niche in the market.
- Adobe Experience Cloud
Adobe Experience Cloud is a market-leading solution for real-time analytics and comprehensive segmentation across all business marketing categories. Cookies and related technologies optimize the consumer experience and measure interactions with brand websites, products, and services. It anticipates and adapts to changing client expectations. Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is a subset of the AEC suite that can create websites, mobile apps, and forms. It also makes managing company marketing Content and assets a breeze. It assists in delivering digital experiences that develop brand loyalty and drive demand throughout the customer’s lifetime.
- RichRelevance
RichRelevance enables businesses and retailers to provide a consistent and tailored experience for each customer across all channels and devices. Tools for Omnichannel Personalization solutions from RichRelevance integrate seamlessly across mobile, web, email, in-store, and other media to deliver relevant experiences across the customer lifecycle. This is so swift that the consumers no longer distinguish between the online and offline worlds.
- ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign enables budding businesses to interact and engage with their customers in meaningful ways. This SaaS-based tool helps companies build better customer experiences by automating various back-end activities and communicating with customers across channels with personalized, intelligence-driven messaging. The company offers a platform for customer experience automation, which syndicates the email marketing, marketing automation, sales automation, and CRM categories.
- Bloomreach
Bloomreach solutions club the power of unified customer and product data with the pace and scale of AI and predictive decisions to create transformative solutions. Bloomreach acquired Exponea in 2021 to take advantage of the digital experience platform, which combines deep customer data with deep product data. Engagement (CRM and marketing automation), Content (headless Content and experience management), and Discovery are the three main categories in which Bloomreach Experience Platform competes (e-commerce search, merchandising, recommendations, and SEO). This empowers marketers to create fantastic revenue-driving commerce experiences across all digital touchpoints using tailored items and Content.
- Nosto
Nosto enables retailers to create meticulously merchandised and truly tailored buying experiences at every touchpoint across every platform. Nosto helps leading commerce brands in more than 100 countries build their businesses and satisfy their customers. Nosto provides individual and segmented personalization through omnichannel touchpoints such as onsite, in-store, mobile, and third-party ad platforms. The suitable product recommendations and Content are placed in front of the right shoppers at the right moments using a combination of transactional data and real-time browsing behavior.
Final Thoughts
Customers today expect customized shopping experiences based on their preferences. This demands companies to recognize the dynamic possibilities personalization solutions provide. Any business could achieve this by upgrading the tech stack to take advantage of the entire data repository and manage the customer experience from the first contact well beyond the purchase. They can realize the goal of Omnichannel Personalization by creating a cohesive experience between the digital and physical worlds.
