How to Achieve Multi-Channel Nirvana

Multi-channel Nirvana for Brands and Retailers

Most retailers today understand the need of
having a brand presence in multiple channels.
Indeed, most money-making retail brands
will not only have stores, but a transactional
website and a catalogue, too.

Yet that is no longer enough. Retailers must now
look to implement a true multi-channel strategy
– one where the different ways of transacting
complement and grow the others for the benefit
of the whole business and the customer.

At present there is no consistency of message
or approach across these media: not only do
these channels not talk to each other, they are
also left fighting against each other for the
same customer.

It is partly because these channels have grown
independently of each other, implemented at
different times and grown at wildly differing
speeds – witness the explosion of ecommerce
over the past decade – there may once have been
a business rationale for keeping units siloed.

Today’s shopper often has to register three times
for the same company across its channels, and is
counted as a ‘different’ shopper at each. Where
brands are striving to be – where we are advising
them they should be – is putting the customer at
the centre of their brand’s universe. All a brand’s
touch-points should be consistent in message and
be feeding to and from each other in a virtuous
circle of activity.

Some have started down that road. Retail giants
such as Marks & Spencer and John Lewis are
investing heavily to create a seamless cross-
channel customer experience, but for a large
retailer, it takes time and money. Those that have
not already started down this journey yet may find
themselves left behind.

Retailers must consider a single-minded view
where a customer is a customer however he/she
transacts. There are reasons why this hasn’t been
possible until now, but savvy retailers today have
all the tools they need to action such a strategy.

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Upgrading technology and that means that they’re actively encouraged
to log on and order the item for delivery for the
Retailers must put in place a system that customer rather than risk losing the sale.
allows for multi-channel conversations to
be had. This must encompass till systems, Just that one piece of accounting policy means
website sales, warehouses, catalogue stock that John Lewis is immediately thinking in multi-
systems and so on. If the customer is to be channel terms. It doesn’t care which channel you
able to ride seamlessly between touch-points buy from as long as you buy from John Lewis.
your brand must already be doing it.

It takes time and is expensive, as it requires Consider how customers interact
extensive upgrading or completely changing
on each channel and how best
current systems. Newer or smaller retailers will
have the advantage of being more fleet of foot, to leverage this
being able to implement such systems without
Look too, at how the likes of John Lewis and
too much trouble, but beware: such a technology
Marks & Spencer are encouraging you to buy,
upgrade does not come cheap, albeit one you can
collect and return goods through any one of the
ill afford to implement soon.
different channels they offer.

Such policies not only offer greater convenience
Changing accounting systems to customers but also educate them to experience
the brand seamlessly in their preferred way. Not
Pertinently, a brand’s stock system needs to be every customer interacts alike. Indeed, whilst
central, and this should also lead to a change some consumers will only ever search and buy in
in accounting procedures. stores, others will research online before heading
to the store to buy, or they’ll buy online or over the
At present the marketing and store managers for phone and collect in store.
the website, for the catalogue, and for the stores
each have their fiefdoms – they don’t want to be Some customers will only ever buy on the phone,
driving sales to the other if it impacts on their or online, or in the shop but they are using those
sales and bottom lines. Equally, they don’t want to three areas to interact with the brand.
be refunding on stock that has been purchased
via a different channel. What we’re finding is interaction is very different
in each occasion. It’s integrating those three
But take , for example. John Lewis experiences and that takes time and effort.
is probably the leader in multi-channel, and is now It’s about signposting in store, messaging on
recognising that an online sale should be based a catalogue.
on where a person – a customer - is.

It records online sales to the nearest store
to where the item is being delivered. That
means that in-store personnel are beginning to
understand and advocate the importance of the
online channel.

They know that if it’s not in stock in store but is
online then that sale will be allocated to them



Retailers should be encouraging customers When you’re talking about luxury goods multi-
reading their catalogue to also go online. Thus, channel becomes even more critical. The
catalogues should include notes urging people to boutique and luxury brands who have launched
see video footage, or extra styles and colours. It’s transactional sites were seen as brave as even
about creating triggers to action, and making sure 12 months ago ecommerce was considered
they are easy to follow. not luxury.

“ Brands that have abe the brands that
and website tend to
catalogue, shop But the reality is that you have to go to where the
customer is. Customers are everywhere; they’re
across the globe, whereas a luxury retailer will
are doing the best. They have the best
typically have only a few boutiques albeit they
online sales because they have those might also be stocked within the big department
touch-points.
” stores as well.

The relationship between catalogue and store is a Such brand footprints remain minimal in the real
bigger challenge as shops have physical spaces: world so a website becomes a window to the rest
they have geography. Again, it requires simple of the world – a chance for customers to search
signposting but as yet nobody has cracked it. and review before they plan a trip to try and buy.
Think, for example, how your customer might be
able to recognise the layout from catalogue to Increasingly customers are even buying expensive
store – is there any commonality? Make sure that items online, in no small way buoyed by the
the same categories or labels are used in each success of ,
case, take a good look at how the shop is split up whose concept, delivery and customer service
and laid-out. has helped others see the benefits of ecommerce.

Content has become key in driving traffic and
conversion. Retail sites often feature magazine-
style design, including ‘editorial’ features, as do
many of their catalogues. Many are now also
launching mobile brand sites, another consumer
touch-point which will also require an increasing
amount of thought in coming months and years.

Of course, any multi-channel retailer must look
to its offering, its audience and its challengers –
wherever they may be.

has been quoted as saying they’re
the last man standing on the high street when it
comes to buying entertainment. And no wonder
that already the brand is breaking out of retail,
with initiatives such as cinemas within shops and
music venues: simply, entertainment is so easy to
buy online.

But with fashion there is still a need to have a
bricks and mortar process. People want to try
things on. They want to feel the fabric and
touch the product.



Extend your loyalty and It works for the brand to have that single view
of the customer, and it works for the customer
promotions programmes because it makes their experience more
across channels rewarding and personalised.

Another way of encouraging customers to
experience the various brand channels is to “ The first brand in each category that
has that single view of the customer is
provide incentives such as promotions or a
multi-channel loyalty scheme. At the moment going to own that market.
there are minimal incentives available to a web Nobody has done it yet. We’re on the
customer to go in store and vice versa. threshold of that.
”
This multi-channel nirvana should also apply to
loyalty cards and schemes. If I hold a card for a
brand then I want that brand to know me across
all its touch-points. That means I want to know
on my account not only what I’ve bought online
but also in store. The customer does not want
different accounts with the same brand – it wants Are delivery charges stifling
the system to know he’s a great, loyal customer
your online potential?
and wants to feel rewarded.
Retailers must also take delivery challenges
One brand that is starting to do this is into account. The single biggest reason why
the supermarket giant. It’s linking it’s club card people abandon online baskets is because of
customer’s in-store orders with their online the delivery charges.
orders so that wherever you shop, you have a
history and therefore repeat ordering is that much At present consumers are being challenged to
slicker. That’s real cross-channel integration. It’s decide whether it is worth a trip to the high street
obvious really, but you can imagine the technology – perhaps to a rival brand – rather than pay for it
headache they faced to make this a reality. to be delivered and wait for those goods.

It’s also important to note and promote the things At some point soon, we believe that delivery
each channel does well. In a perfect world the charges will be wiped out. When considering
website will know where a shopper is surfing the lifetime value of the customer versus delivery
from – it knows where that consumer lives and its charges, you start to see the bigger picture and
closest store and its website should be tailored, delivery becomes an obvious cost to absorb.
personalised to reflect that taking into account Instead, all channels should be sharing costs
that customer’s preferences and offers available such as delivery fees and using free postage as
in their nearest stores. acquisition tools for customers.

The retailer is taking In Manhattan, New York, and increasingly in
geography into consideration. One thing it is London, some retailers offer same day delivery.
looking to integrate on to its transactional website You can be in store, but why don’t you order
is the location of each visitor, even taking into the it online and have it delivered to your office or
account such variables as the weather so it home later that day? It’s another added value.
can promote umbrellas in showery weather, What makes the customer want you, and not your
for example. competitor? How can you make it easier to buy
from you?



Digital shouldn’t mean the end
of the high street store
Whilst at Pod1 we believe that online sales
are going to firmly account for far more than
flagship store sales (making them a retailer’s
biggest revenue driver) there is still a need for
the high-street shop.

These bricks and mortar stores are evolving
into the ultimate outdoor ads – each shop-front
acting as an advertisement for the brand within,
keeping that brand front-of-mind whether or not
a passerby pops in or not. When you do come
across those brands again, those ‘advertising’
messages will come forth.

We will also see the rise of channels within
channels – increasingly stores will offer kiosks
True multi-channel
and multimedia services within their doors. Sales The Mecca of multi-channel retailing will be
consultants may take their lead from the likes of when all prices are standard – nothing cheaper
Apple and John Lewis, such as by having floating or more expensive, no differing charges such
service staff carrying multimedia devices that will as for delivery depending how you choose
allow them to inform the customer of size and to collect your goods – and most importantly
stock levels immediately through to allowing them when all information known about a customer
to pay for the goods there and then. is shared.

To do so retailers must work out how they record
Evolving channels business profit and loss, how they account.
Retailers, marketers, sales directors across all the
In the medium term, devices such as smart incumbent business units must work together. The
phones will also be able to direct shoppers business must be seen as a holistic whole, rather
to shops, or sections within the shop, or than a loose collection of kingdoms in order to
allow them to compare prices or interact with ensure a coherent customer experience. Start that
marketing messages on the go. At the moment way and expand it.
smart phone take-up, and its use by brands
is tiny. Mobile will grow as a channel but we Eventually, when a retailer has that single view
expect it to be bundled in with the web: it is a of the customer, it will be able to personalise its
digital window to your brand with essentially offering – and that’s where things really
the same engine behind it. It is going to grow, get interesting.
although there remain issues surrounding
it, such as the inability to transact directly Building a multi-channel strategy is not merely
through most phones. for the retail giants: most organisations can do
it with time, well-trained teams and relatively
straightforward technology.


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