The House of Marketing presented at the RetailSonar Day 2015, an event for retailers who are interested in getting grip on their omnichannel dynamics and eager to successfully integrate on- and offline in their strategies. THoMers Bart De Bodt and Dirk Oosterlinck explained how to develop a successful omnichannel strategy.

We are happy to share the key takeaways of the event with you.

• Retailers realize that they are not on track to become omnichannel. Only three retailers out of 50 at the event acknowledged that they are taking the right actions to appoint a COCO and become omnichannel. A COCO or Chief OmniChannel Officer is an essential factor for breaking down the silos. This person is responsible for all customer-facing activities. Retailers admitted that they don’t have this role (yet) in their management team, but that it is important in the process of becoming an omnichannel business.
• With the help of a COCO, retailers should evolve from two (or more) separate digital and offline budgets towards one integrated marketing budget. In the audience this wasn’t the case yet, but for example Macy’s now looks at the best allocation of the full marketing budget over the different channels to deliver the most sales and the best customer experience. When there is one marketing budget, the marketing communication will more likely be aligned across the different channels.
• In an omnichannel set-up the revenue from online sales can be divided amongst the different brick-and-mortar shops based on the turnover of that store. With the right incentives people in the shop will be stimulated and motivated to refer towards the website and vice versa.
• By integrating technology correctly in the physical store, a lot of new possibilities come to life to allow retailers to go the extra mile and to provide an experience that pure online players can’t offer. Just think about the feet measurement machine of Torfs where kids feet are scanned in 3D.

We are convinced that omnichannel is no longer just a buzzword. For customers omnichannel is already daily reality, so we better follow them quickly. The RetailSonar Day 2015 confirmed that retailers want to take action to successfully integrate on- and offline in their strategies. And as Dirk Oosterlinck indicated during the presentation:

“An omnichannel approach shouldn’t just focus on a product, service or channel, but should be seen as a journey.”

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