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Tom&Co’s Ultimate Guide On How To Create Omnichannel Experiences

tom&co’s-ultimate-guide-on-how-to-create-omnichannel-experiences

Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are Tom&Co, a leading ecommerce Magento agency. Our approach has and always will be, to build tip-top websites with the consumer in mind. After all, if the customer is happy, our client is happy, which makes us happy. It is a win-win.

Like many retailers across the UK, over 70% of our clients have a brick-and-mortar presence alongside their online store. Most of them have also experimented with omnichannel experiences for their customers. 

Read on to find out how we created a seamless omnichannel experience for our clients, Topps Tiles, Millie’s Cookies, and Oliver Bonas. We reveal how we created effective, creative, and well-executed omnichannel offerings and provide key tips for success in 2021 and beyond. Who knows, they might even inspire you to try something similar!

Click & collect

When connecting the online and offline worlds, convenient Click & Collect is the number one service that shoppers expect to have access to. According to Barclaycard, nine out of 10 retailers are planning to invest in their Click & Collect offering over the next five years. In fact, the market could be worth almost £10 billion by 2023!

Most of our clients already offer this service, and we think Millie’s Cookies have nailed it. With a focus on freshness and personalization, the brand has given its customers the option to order cookies with the added bonus of personalized text and images iced on them.

Operating over 60 stores across the UK, Millie’s Cookies already has a strong high street presence. We worked with the brand to develop a system that allows customers to choose their favorite cookies from their local store, before selecting a collection date and time. For especially hungry customers, same-day collection is an option too.

Using a bespoke Magento dashboard, the stores can view their upcoming orders and trigger customer notifications once their cookies are ready to collect. Simple!

Introducing Click & Collect was a huge success for Millie’s Cookies, which have since decided to offer further collection services in their partner stores. In this case, it opted for a more traditional model where goods are baked in a central production facility before being delivered to the partner stores, ready for collection.

So, is Click & Collect worth investing in? We certainly think so! By making your collection options clear on your website, you might persuade more customers to shop with you. Combine this with a seamless experience and well-informed staff in your stores, and you’re onto a winner. Customers love the convenience of Click & Collect, and if you can offer a same-day collection, even better.

Millie's Cookies omnichannel Click & Collect experience

Endless aisles

Yep, it’s that word again. 2020 was completely unprecedented, and retailers’ ability to adapt to unexpected challenges was key for survival. The combination of high running costs and low footfall means that stores must come up with ways to claw back vital sales. After all, our customers’ high street visits may be declining, but their expectations are growing! Responding with “I’m sorry, that size isn’t in stock” is no longer a good enough answer for customers who have the freedom to shop elsewhere. 

Popular lifestyle and fashion brand Oliver Bonas are one of our biggest clients. With many of their smaller stores situated in railway and underground stations, they benefit from high footfall but suffer from low stock levels. In the past, products and sizes were often out of stock. Unsurprisingly this leads to a disappointing experience for shoppers, and often a loss of sales.

We helped Oliver Bonas to implement an ‘endless aisles’ solution to this issue, which helped to generate incremental value and crucially, increase customer satisfaction. So how did it work? 

Each store now has a tablet or computer system linked to a dedicated card machine. Products that are available in the warehouse but not in-store can be ordered for the customer there and then. Staff simply use a special ‘store mode’ option on the Oliver Bonas website to add the chosen product to the customer’s basket. They then follow a modified, data capture secure checkout and place the order online, taking payment via cash or card as normal. Free delivery can usually be offered to show appreciation, too.

We’d encourage all retailers with both an online and in-store presence to explore ‘endless aisles’ technology. Many payment gateways now offer clever solutions for in-store payments, which can be linked seamlessly to digital order systems. Combined with the right ecommerce development partner, implementing these technologies could be cheaper and easier than you’d expect!

Oliver Bonas endless aisles of omnichannel experiences

In-store quotes

Amongst our clients, Topps Tiles certainly win the award for the highest number of physical stores! With over 350 locations across the UK, integration between its website and in-store till system was quite complex. Luckily we’re always up for a challenge!

Choosing new tiles isn’t a simple task, and many elements can influence the final outcome of the finished look. The type of tile used, the layout of the tiles on the wall and floor, and the choice of grout and trims can all leave customers’ minds a bit boggled. To remedy this, we helped Topps Tiles to integrate not one but TWO specialized visualizers into its website.

Upon entering the store, customers are invited into a ‘design area’. Here, the staff uses the website’s store mode to connect to the customer. This enables Topps Tiles to explore details of the customer’s previous on-site behavior, and use the visualizer tools to build a basket the customer is happy with. Once they’re happy, they can either place their order straight away or request a quote. The quote comes in the form of the customer’s basket, all saved and ready to buy. A link is sent to their email address, and may even contain an extra discount as an added incentive.

Not only does this feature enable staff to help the customer make an informed decision, but it also ensures that the customer never leaves empty-handed – even if they’re still considering their purchase! Think of it as a 100% personalized version of the ‘brochure module’ and ‘quote system’, which can be used in any store or showroom. We’ve found that this option adds a lot of value, particularly for clients who specialize in complex and bespoke interiors projects.

Look out for our upcoming case study, where we’ll go into even more depth about how we’ve helped Topps Tiles to become a true omnichannel retailer.

Topps Tiles in-store quotes for omnichannel experiences

Conclusion

All of our examples focus on improving customer satisfaction and removing frustrating experiences, which is vital in a world where shoppers’ expectations are increasing day by day. 

Although it’s impossible to predict what the future holds for retail post-Covid-19, one thing’s for certain: retailers must constantly adapt and find innovative solutions to keep their customers happy, both in-store and online!

Want to go omnichannel?

Perhaps you’re thinking of offering a Click & Collect service? Or do you want functionality that enables customers to order out-of-stock items in your stores? Tom&Co specializes in ecommerce, and we know a thing or two about creating seamless omnichannel experiences (even if we do say so ourselves). 

Want to know how we could help you? Call us on 0207 351 3521, or fill in our contact form and someone from our team will get in touch!

Special thanks to our friends at dotdigital for their insights on this topic.
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