A couple of weeks ago, Blink had the opportunity to pioneer a number of events with major retail companies in the Philippines with the Centric Group and personally talked to them about the current landscape of customer experience in their industry and influential technologies that will transform the way they interact and connect with their customers in 2020 and beyond. In the course of ensuing discussions with both their business leaders and frontline employees, it became abundantly clear that omnichannel is not the ultimate objective or end state.
Since 2008, omnichannel was used to describe the changing pattern of customer behaviors related to shopping in more than one place, through channels beyond traditional stores. This has been the go-to for retailers to strategize their rollouts but it drastically changed as a word and in essence. According to Michael Jones via Forbes, the word, omnichannel, will go away in the coming years as retailers move to become hyper-focused on what customers want, need, and find useful while shopping.
Omnichannel no longer appeal to consumers since 2016 and here’s why. Most retailers we spoke with pointed out that the term omnichannel is now obsolete. The very core of retailing is no longer about channels at all, but how brands connect and transact with consumers at the right time and place. One industry leader from our event even mentioned that customers are now channel agnostic, and in fact, most of their consumers shop based on their relationship with them and the values they share together.
A lot of market experts now describe customers as boundary-less and this is far more descriptive than omnichannel. Omnichannel suggests that retailers should organize to sell using more than one approach like having online and physical stores. On the other hand, boundary-less captures the deeper essence of how businesses in the retail industry should engage with consumers on their terms, like who they are, where they are, and how they prefer to do business at this moment in time, and their motivations.
This just means that there are no boundaries (physical and digital) of when consumers shop and purchase from. It is also evident that retailing now exceeds the boundaries of states and even countries. Lastly, purchases are not defined by a sale transaction. A purchase is now a journey that is boundary-less in scope, sources, touch points, time, live feedback, emotions, and more.
Want to know how we can customize your customer experience? Blink is a customer experience company and we want to help you innovate your current customer journey by mapping it, streamline it using intelligent technologies like artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, machine learning, computer vision, beacons, and more. Most importantly, generate a personalized experience for each of your individual customers which will increase your mindshare and produce loyal and active customers and brand ambassadors who will share their great experiences about your business.
Spend 15 minutes with us to discover how we can generate the best customer experience for your business today. Talk to us. +63(2)6263205 | +63 945-500-3127 | or email us at info@blink-digital.com.