Multi-channel experiences are like sitting on the couch with the remote, channel surfing. Every time you click the button the channel changes and the content of the show you see has no relation to what was on the previous channel. If your omni-channel management is more like channel-surfing, it means that your business has limited itself to separate experiences online, mobile, and in the brick & mortar store.
Cross-channel experiences correlate between the channels. If the TV shows had the same character on every channel you switched to, that would be a cross-channel experience, right? In retail, cross-channel means a customer can interact seamlessly on every channel of your business and the information syncs to create one unified experience. ChainDrive helps you do that with the customer relationship management tool, one of the many tools in our integrated retail management solution.
In order to effectively move from multi-channel into cross-channel, data has to move freely in your enterprise. It still needs to silo for each channel, but it also should flow across the channels appropriately. Mobile apps, web sites, social channels, loyalty programs, etc. are actually interrelated from the customer’s point of view and they should be.
In practical terms, the right software solution to integrating your channels should be easy to use, flexible for exception management, and allow you to take data from every aspect of your business to analyze in various ways. The effect is omni-channel, which is more than simply cross-channel or multi-channel.
Omni-channel shoppers expect a unified experience that moves without a hitch from mobile shopping to web order fulfillment to store pickup or returns. Omni-channel retailers need to be able to move just as seamlessly across all the channels of their business in a unified experience that is efficient and effective.
