Omnichannel Retail Strategy: The What, Why, & How of “In-Store” Shopping

When hearing the term “Omnichannel retailing,” it is often thought of as a “buzz” word: something that is somewhat trendy to talk about. But in reality, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed retail in a way that has brought to light just how important having an omnichannel strategy is for a retail business.

Why It matters

Having an omnichannel retail strategy and knowing how to implement it within a retail brand is crucial for many reasons.

During the lock down, e-commerce and mobile shopping have seen a rise in the number of shoppers and purchases. According to the Office for National Statistics, online retail sales have increased to 33.4% in May 2020 compared to 30.8% in April 2020. However, having a digital presence doesn’t make a brand automatically omnichannel; it’s not enough to showcase your products online if all other types of sales are unlinked. To make a brand truly omnichannel, all points within a customer journey should be considered, from utilizing email campaigns, social media, and different digital channels, all the way to brick-and-mortars. For physical locations, this can be achieved by leveraging retail analytics solutions.

How To Do It

With an excellent omnichannel strategy, retail stores can provide their customers with a seamless e- and m-commerce shopping experience. However, some brands remain uncertain about how to reopen their physical stores safely and efficiently to fully complete an omnichannel journey. Managing people’s flow and retail footfall traffic inside and outside of a store with a retail analytics software allows business owners to understand the customer journey better and thus optimize the store’s layout, marketing effectiveness, queue management, and staff scheduling.

Another solution that has become imperative in the last few months is real-time occupancy. With many restrictions on people’s numbers allowed to be present together at one time, occupancy monitoring solutions give customers the peace of mind they need to have a fun and safe shopping experience. V-Count’s real-time occupancy monitoring solutions allow customers and staff to stay informed about the number of people within a store in real-time. Through digital screens at the various entrances, customers can see safety recommendations displayed to know when it’s safe or not safe to enter.

Learn more about V-Count’s people counting solutions and how they help businesses achieve an omnichannel experience across physical stores with data analytics.