Why Mobile Is The Solution To An Omni-Channel World

For a generation that’s come to demand an Uber-like experience for everyday tasks, today’s customer expects their journey from online to in-store to be seamless, fast and convenient. This concept of omni-channel, or what was once called multi-channel, is not new, yet retailers have been struggling to catch up with this notion for 20 years.

Retailers and brands, as well as their investors, have talked about omni-channel and multi-channel for almost a decade now — not realizing that the mobile phone is the true omni-channel device. It’s the one thing that consumers carry with them no matter where they are. They carry their mobile phones while they’re sitting at home on their couch, in the office, walking downtown and in your store. If there is one experience that you want to get right, it’s mobile. It is the unifying experience that brings all these channels together. It is developing every consumer interaction with mobile at its center, starting with early user experience designs. It means revamping existing e-commerce interactions from the ground up, not simply retrofitting them for mobile.

This experience will quickly become the new normal thanks to the emerging mobile apps being developed by brands and retailers. Native mobile apps have opened up a world of opportunity, both for consumers and retailers. They convert 200-300% higher than mobile sites, which means in addition to establishing more engagement with shoppers, brands can generate significant lift in revenue by closing the conversion gap. Mobile apps are also a great way to acquire new users who are mobile first and start their discovery with app stores.

I believe there are five key innovations that are driving omni-channel commerce:

1. Geo-fencing – Geo-Fence notifications are the SEO of real world. Location-based marketing is not a new concept, but thanks to mobile technology, it can now be extremely effective. With the ability to capture real-time location data and instantly communicate with customers, smart retailers like GameStop are utilizing geo-fencing and push notifications to drive in-store traffic. These brands are sending timely and relevant in-store promotions and other location-based information to engage customers and drive sales.‍
2. Barcode Scanning – Today’s highly educated consumer expects to have any and all product information readily available at all times. Now with the ability to scan their smartphone device in-store to look up product information, ratings and reviews, consumers have everything they need at their fingertips from checking inventory to checking out.‍
3. The Apple AAPL +0% Store Model – Arming a store associate with mobile checkout and inventory information on a mobile device means never having to leave a customer while on the sales floor. Apple’s highly successful model provides a seamless and efficient shopping experience for the consumer and can be easily replicated by any retailer or brand.‍
4. Buy Online and Deliver Within Hours – With today’s consumer demand for instant gratification, what could be better than the ability to buy online and have an item delivered them same day? And through new services like UberRUSH, consumers can shop leading retailers including Nordstrom JWN +0% and 1-800-Flowers, and have the items delivered within hours.‍
5. Clienteling – As retailers and brands seek innovative and timely ways to best connect with customers, many are benefiting from the process of “clienteling,” where they’re establishing long-term relationships with customers based on their preferences, behaviors and purchases. In fact, Facebook FB +0% Messenger is now enabling companies from HP to CNN to directly message and communicate with customers, thereby strengthening their connection and elevating the brand experience.  

The more frictionless the transaction, the more likely a consumer will make a purchase. Consider the pre-mobile experience of browsing for trousers online. From a desktop, a customer searches a number of stores, finds the right trousers, and then goes to the store to try them on. Before now, there was no efficient way to ensure availability of size, color and style at the closest location. A salesperson might or might not be familiar with the description, and after a long trip to the backroom, may ultimately come back empty handed. But now, thanks to the agility of native mobile apps, a customer locates the desired trousers from a mobile device while walking down Fifth Avenue. The trousers are tagged, and the app shows that a store two blocks away indeed carries them, and in the right size and color. Ten minutes later, a customer can be in-store, with a sales person who, with a few swipes or clicks, alerts another employee to retrieve the style. She also has suggestions of other items the customer might like based on previous selections. The purchase is completed on the spot, with Apple Pay – no credit card, cash register or line. This isn’t the future—this is the now.

‍

Read All Nitin Mangtani Articles On Forbes