Use Multi-channel Retail To Unlock Your E-commerce Potential

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What is multi-channel retail Multichannel retailing involves making products available to consumers across multiple sales channels. Multi-channel retail uses multiple sales channels such as e-commerce websites, physical stores, marketplaces, comparison shopping engines, social media platforms, and other online channels. The Evolution of Multi-Channel Retail This standard definition has evolved a lot in recent years. As the e-commerce industry grows at a rapid pace, online shopping options are also evolving. Nowadays, “multi” would be more aptly described as “myriad”. To put things into perspective, consider the massive growth of e-commerce marketplaces. A few years ago, the typical seller interested in multi-channel retail would start by listing their products on Amazon. The company could get into email marketing or paid search ads and maybe venture into eBay. But today? That same seller would have to choose from over 100 marketplaces, dozens of essential advertising options, and numerous types of fulfillment. Similar scenarios have played out on online shopping engines, mobile apps, and even social media, all of which have expanded to meet consumers' desires to browse and shop anytime from any device. , regardless of what else they do. Buyers today expect to get exactly what they want, when they want it. This means multi-channel retail is no longer just about making goods available for purchase across multiple sales channels. To be successful in 2019, e-commerce businesses will need to embrace a much wider range of marketing, sales, and fulfillment activities across multiple platforms. For the retailer, this process may involve looking beyond local inventory ads to adopting Amazon Advertising and Google Shopping. For the manufacturer, that could mean expanding beyond selling directly on Amazon to opening third-party seller accounts on eBay, Walmart Marketplace and other key marketplaces.

There are dozens of different ways to go about multi-channel retail, but the implications are always the same. Meeting today's empowered consumers on their ever-changing paths to purchase means putting products in more places of importance. This means choosing the mediums and methods that best meet their needs and delivering depth and breadth to the channels you choose. In other words: the more channels you learn to leverage, the higher your chances of building loyalty and selling. And the more channels you explore, the more challenges there are. 3 Common Challenges in Modern Multi-Channel Retail From e-commerce marketplaces and social media advertising to Buy Email Database the comparison shopping engines and brick-and-mortar stores, there's a lot to consider. The main thing to remember is this:Your consumers are everywhere. Which means you should be too. This is easier said than done, of course, especially considering the scale of “everywhere” in the context of multi-channel retail. Today, more than 80% of consumers consult different retail channels on their smartphone before making in-store purchases, and 88% do research online before deciding where, when and how they will buy.

This trend of comparing prices, delivery options and more blurs the line between multichannel (leveraging the right channels to ensure consumers are engaged with your products) and omnichannel fulfillment (ensuring a seamless customer experience through the channels). Before you can start pinpointing your ideal mix of channels and how best to leverage them for a seamless shopping experience, it's important to prepare for the biggest challenges in each of three key areas Marketing The options for e-commerce advertising have grown significantly in recent years. Finding ways to expand your reach without overstretching your budget is now critical to success. Sales Each sales channel has its own set of SEO requirements and data feed specifications, and these requirements are constantly changing. This makes it difficult to optimize and streamline the flow of customer and product data across different channels. Fulfillment Now that sellers are competing in the era of same-day shipping, multi-channel retail success means mastering the best retail fulfillment option for every order.