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It has been a great year so far for omichannel digital commerce (formerly known as ecommerce).  Each year, customer expectations grow higher and higher, so retailers need to find smart and creative ways to keep customers satisfied. Omnichannel digital commerce has proven to be an excellent way for small businesses to expand their customer-base. Having more digital channels means that retailers have more options to personalize the shopping experience and connect with their consumers. Here, we outline the top five omnichannel trends for 2018.

Shoppers are tired of big box stores that sell the same products and provide mediocre customer service. They’re looking for a more personalized shopping experience. They want a service that makes them feel special. They’ve tired of long waits and long lines. This is good news for small businesses, who are in a better position to customize their product lines and are nimble enough to make adjustments to their business practices. One thing successful omnichannel businesses are offering is personalized discounts. Instead of having “one-size-fits all” sales, they provide discounts specifically targeting the customer’s interests.

Research from MyBuys’ database of over 250 million shoppers indicates that businesses increase their sales by an average of 25% when they perform customer-centric marketing. Leveraging a digital agency can take a lot of the guess work out of coming up with an effective marketing strategy and eliminates a costly learning curve.

Use of Interactive Content on your Digital Commerce Site

Savvy omnichannel retailers are turning their digital commerce sites into destinations. Consumers react favorably to interactive content such as videos, polls, live streaming events, and games to forge stronger relationships with their customers. Videos have become especially popular. Customers are much more likely to buy a product if they see it in a video since it’s easier for them to envision themselves wearing/using the product.

IoT as the Up-and-Coming Channel

IoT (Internet of Things) is the network of devices, vehicles, appliances, and other electronic devices that can connect to each other and exchange data. IoT is impacting many industries with digital commerce is one of them. What IoT does for omnichannel retailers is allow them to be more proactive about their customer service and marketing strategies. Data from devices will be able to inform the retailers when an issue arise and give them a change to fix the problem before the customer ever realizes there is a problem. For example, if you were a company who sold coffee makers and pods, but found that the customer had stopped using it, or had slowed in its usage, you could reach out to the customer to find out why. This kind of information is important because if you can essentially circumvent issues with clients, it will be a lot easier to secure their loyalty.

Customer Data

Another major trend is improvements in customer data. Companies are constantly finding ways to increase their knowledge of their customer base, from predictive analysis to surveys to AI and machine learning. Having more insight into your customer’s lives makes it easier to personalize the shopping experience in a way that engages the shoppers. The key is to turn data into action. Having customer data is one thing, but interpreting key predictors are the most important. A digital agency can help you take customer data and make sense of it.

Self-Service

Self-service has transform brick and mortar retail. Cashiers are being replaced with do-it-yourself check-out lines. But self-service will also transform digital commerce as well, and we’re already seeing it in omnichannel equipped stores. Many websites have eliminated contact forms for customer service in favor of self-service features like FAQ documents and chat bots. Skilled can help you track self-service users to see if you are receiving the results you want. Monitoring user activity able to see the bounce rate, for example, can help you better understand what areas of your site are being used by shoppers, and whether or not it is actually helping them. Leveraging this information intelligently will allow you to improve customer service over time.