It’s Sunday morning, the French press is brewing, and I’m curled up on my couch with my iPad squinting. The squinting isn’t due to poor eye sight, but the “tablet optimized” publication I am reading. The publication (who shall remain nameless) recently reeled me in with two-year subscription, promising an “ideal experience for print and tablet reading”. However, that is not the case – the print version is a thin shell of its former self and the digital version (where the meat of the content lives) is anything but a rich experience.
Now as a consumer, I’m left with buyer’s remorse, and content that I want just beyond my reach. Unaware of these frustrations is the content producer. The content producer believes it is meeting the needs of the consumer on the channel of their choice by providing omnichannel. However, like everything, there is a right and a wrong way to provide an omnichannel customer experience.
Omnichannel isn’t just about the output but rather the entire experience of the customer. And those holistic experiences translate into consumers that spend. A 2015 study by IDC, showed that consumers who actively use omnichannel in retail environments have a 30% higher lifetime value than those using only one channel. Organizations that are able to provide an overall experience for their customers can take advantage of these omnichannel “lifer” consumers.
The entire customer journey across multiple channels can seem extremely intimidating but there are brands out there that are taking the leap and reaping the rewards. For example, the take cosmetics company Sephora, which was recently ranked as having Genius status by Sephora had been steadily building a marketing strategy that involves interactivity and mobility. Sephora’s app “Sephora to Go” allows for users to try on make-up via augmented reality, shop within the mobile app or have the app open for smart brick-and-mortar experiences, and syncs with its customer rewards program. On top of this the print channel is focused on pushing print pieces based on previous shopping behaviors or reward program status.
While the retail market has more flexibility to try different types of omnichannel experiences, it is possible to take the essence of these experiences into regulated industries. Financial institutions or insurances need to incorporate interactivity into mobile that is consistent with the experiences of web and print.
With GMC Mobile Advantage organizations can create secure mobile communication pieces which include OCR, push notifications, digital signatures, and much more. In addition, our Customer Journey Mapping tool ensures that the mobile experience syncs and is successful with other channels.
Capitalizing on omnichannel is all about how well can you connect to overall experience. This approach is necessary.
After all, no one likes having a disgruntled consumer with a cold cup of coffee wondering why they can’t simply view a video of a recipe in their digital communication instead of zooming into an unformatted micro copy of a list of ingredients.
Photo credit: Sephora Pocket Contour Class