Say the word e-commerce and the average Millennial cannot help but think about brands like Amazon. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this brand is almost synonymous with shopping online. It is no coincidence that Amazon is also one of the top spenders worldwide in terms of marketing. In fact, they recently topped the charts!

According to Statista, the brand’s ad spend was $6.88 billion in 2019 in the US alone! It hopes to further consolidate its hold over the market by reaching out to consumers on every possible channel – online and offline. Amazon watchers say that the company is constantly improving the accessibility of its products while driving repeat sales with its market-leading Amazon Prime membership program. That’s the power of omnichannel marketing in action.

In 2024, omnichannel marketing is critical for survival in a highly competitive ecommerce industry. Here’s why: customers today demand freedom in terms of where and how they interact with brands. Digital is already driving more engagement and sales than traditional in-store interactions.

Consider this: 72% of internet users will surf the web using only their smartphones by 2025, according to the World Advertising Research Center (WARC). Even retail stores have realized this and have been pivoting to online stores for this very reason.

The reasoning seems to be: when you can’t beat them, join them! After all, a single storefront cannot compete with multiple channels like social media, mobile apps, video content in terms of engagement and conversion. In fact, 47% of customers tend to buy at least once a week from brands with 10 or more marketing channels, according to Business Insider.

Benefits of Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing integrates all channels to create a seamless experience, across devices. Though it can take multiple interactions across different devices for a customer to convert, omnichannel marketing is proven to boost customer lifetime value in the long run. Even if a sale does not materialize, it can certainly help you build brand awareness– a priceless benefit for startups and small businesses.

A typical omnichannel interaction can be described thus: a customer checks out a product through Facebook push-notifications on waking up, he goes on to check prices and offers at lunch and compare them with other brands on an ecommerce site before finally making a purchase on a desktop later that evening.

Research has shown that customers prefer a seamless experience throughout the discovery, engagement, and conversion phases of their journey with a brand. Millennials and Gen Zers want personalized marketing offers on the marketing channels they spend the most time on. Needless to say, e-commerce brands need a cohesive strategy to get the most out of their omnichannel marketing efforts.

Here are some of the tried and tested omnichannel marketing strategies being used around the world:

1. Mobile-first:

Research shows that 60% of customers search for product information with their smartphones before making a buying decision. This number is only going to grow in the future. Smartphones can enable you to do so much more than traditional channels. For example, responsive websites, mobile apps, email marketing, push notifications, SMS and QR codes.

In truth, it is a complete ecosystem that can boost engagement and conversions at a negligible cost. So, a mobile-first strategy is critical for e-commerce to drive traffic to their sites and grow sales and referrals over a period of time.

2. User-generated content:

Engaging content is one of the best priorities for e-commerce brands to leverage omnichannel marketing. While your in-house marketing team may be doing a great job of putting out fresh content on a weekly basis, there is another avenue you are probably ignoring- user-generated content (UGC). Social sharing of UGC can greatly increase the reach of your brand at a fraction of the cost of paid ads. What’s more, it is perceived as much more authentic and relatable than branded content.

For example, promoting hashtags created by loyal customers on your social media channels can be an excellent way to drive traffic and conversions.

3. Multilingual content:

As the e-commerce sector booms, a bigger share of your traffic may soon originate from abroad. This means that your marketing must cater to customers belonging to different cultures and languages. A multilingual e-commerce store can help you improve your click-through rate and average order value. Displaying prices in local currency and using local language can give your site a local look and feel, helping you overcome unconscious barriers to sale.

4. Referral marketing

Omnichannel marketing can help take your e-commerce referral marketing program to a new level. It increases exposure to your referral program across devices and channels, increasing both, share rate and conversion. For example, you can promote a referral link via Facebook Messenger, website, and social media to existing members of your referral program.

Some brands follow it up with an email confirmation when the referral link shared by them is used. This confirmation email comes with a CTA which customers can forward to more of their friends and colleagues.

5. Abandoned cart retargeting

Retargeting customers that abandon their purchase can be much more effective with the help of omnichannel marketing. For example, you can create a complete funnel to recover abandoned carts based on email reminders, SMS, Facebook Messenger, and app-based push notifications. These can be used to promote a variety of exclusive, limited period offers with a higher chance of engagement and conversion than any single channel.

Last Words

Digital has led to an exponential increase in the number of customer touchpoints. This has made the average customer interaction much more unpredictable in terms of origin and outcome. If your customer support team has been unable to cope with customer expectations, you need an experienced customer support specialist by your side. Helplama has helped multiple businesses build and scale effective customer support teams.

With flexible, scalable plans that are equally affordable, you can finally achieve your customer service goals with confidence. What’s more, there are no long-term contracts to worry about. Our Zero-Risk Guarantee has you covered in case you aren’t satisfied. Contact us today for more information!