Whenever someone buys anything nowadays they always check out multiple websites and local retail stores.

Shoppers use every connected device they have to do their research; desktop computers, connected games consoles, smartphones, laptops and tablets. Personalized websites are particularly popular, with 55% of shoppers saying that it is easier to find interesting products on websites that are personalized. 84% of buyers admit to checking for both positive and negative reviews on social media and review sites. Some people will still visit real-world stores to eyeball the items they are thinking of buying and these stores are in no danger of mass closure as long as they use technology to adapt.

Omnichannel retailing is being driven by consumers’ behavior and retailers need to adopt this approach in their marketing, to seize the opportunities it offers to convert browsers into buyers. Retailers need to sell through whichever channel the consumer prefers to use and to be flexible enough to accommodate every customer preference.

Advantages of Using a Customized Approach to Sales

Without customization, a website shows the same information to everyone, like an ad on television or in a newspaper. The information will be irrelevant to some users and other users will love it and want to know more.

Customization of a retail website is no longer just desirable; it has become essential. It is the only way the company can offer upsells or any discounts that are necessary to make the sale. Customizing allows retailers to analyze traffic more deeply and to use big data driven insights to convert potential customers into buyers.

Retailers can use data from SaaS (Software as a Service) providers to work out customers’ motivations and intentions. Once they understand their customers’ needs the businesses are better placed to serve them and to make relevant offers to each website user.

Increased website conversions are what every business is looking for. Combining a few different approaches will give the best results.

Behavioral Targeting

Companies need to make their offerings more interesting to customers. Using dynamic content on a website guarantees higher engagement and interest levels. The on-site conversion company Fanplayr increases website sales by applying data-driven insights. Users’ paths to the site and their movements around the site are analyzed and used to allocate visitors to different segments.

Different segments are then shown the most appropriate actionable content such as offers, articles and media.

The Fanplayr platform allows companies to put different strategies into place including possible emphases on upsells, rewarding customer loyalty or acquiring new customers. Customer hesitancy, basket value and previous purchases are amongst the many factors that are analyzed to calculate which offer is most appropriate to every customer.

Discounts are only offered when necessary to make a sale, so company profits do not take the big hit that would result from discounting to every customer.

Mobile tracking means that Big Data companies know when someone visits a travel agent. If that same phone is used to visit travel websites then website personalization allows an Internet travel business to offer incentives to make the planned purchase there and then.

Big Data benefits customers because they are shown more relevant offers. Businesses gain because they understand their customers better. TrenDemon is another SaaS provider that helps companies increase conversions amongst website readers. It analyzes visitors as well as the company website and helps guide site users along paths that lead to most conversions.

The analytics dashboard informs retailers which content is converting most effectively so they can produce more similar content.

On the Main Street

Most shopping is still done in brick and mortar stores. This is not a reason for complacency however and traditional retailers will need to use Big Data applications such as Wiser to inform their pricing and discounting strategy.

This service informs retailers of competitors’ prices and stock levels, allowing intelligent discounting strategies and dynamic pricing. There is even the facility to adjust every shelf-displayed price automatically multiple times every day if desired.

When dynamic pricing is used alongside a cloud-based point-of-sale stock management system the future of the bricks and mortar store is bright. Some POS softwares like Vend can help with a company’s CRM, either by using the built in CRM tools or by integrating with third party systems.

The software provides all the real-time and historical sales analysis a retailer needs, including staff sales figures and inventory levels. The included CRM means that retailers can give loyalty discounts to regular customers in recognition of their continuing business.

Customer Follow-Up

A business can and should be developing relationships with customers through all channels including social media and email because customer insights become clearer as relationships develop. Every brick-and-mortar and online business should have an email list to encourage loyalty and to develop mutual understanding between company and consumers.

Segmentation of a list using an email marketing platform such as GetResponse will allow a business to deliver targeted offers to different parts of its subscriber list and generate more engagement through more relevant offers.

With the increasing use of phones and tablets to read email (2 out of 3 emails are read on phones) responsive email content will become even more important. A GetResponse study on mobile users’ attitudes to emails showed that more than 4 out of 10 users simply delete emails that are not formatted correctly for mobile reading.

Conclusion

The integrated market is already here with consumers hopping between mobile commerce, e-commerce sites and high street stores looking to find the most attractive deals. Every company needs to be looking at their discrete marketing channels to examine how to develop a single omni-channel marketing model with integrated marketing and inventory management. The key benefit from using an e-commerce oriented ERP solution like SalesWarp, in this regard, is the ability to connect, integrate and communicate a wide variety of platforms to add functionality to their own retail efforts. Of course, an added value is that customer experience is improved, because an omni-channel approach essentially lets them have more choice in their purchasing activities.

Big Data helps everyone — customers, who are offered better prices  and can find their perfect products more easily and companies, who can access collective user location and browsing data to show the most relevant products to consumers.

Your Input

Have you used any of the tools mentioned in this article? Have they helped you towards developing an omni-channel marketing solution? Please share your experiences in the comments box below.

—

Zach is the Director of Marketing at Fanplayr and an AdTech enthusiast with a focus on Conversion Rate Optimization. He has an entrepreneurial passion for harnessing and implementing innovative digital media technology. He also has experience growing brand awareness through integrated marketing campaigns domestically and across Europe.