Let’s face it: as soon as any physical store put up a website, or as soon as a website opened a physical location, omnichannel became real. It may have been called something else, multi-channel or ‘bricks & clicks’ for example, but it’s not new. However, the explosion in the use of mobile devices and social media has thrown fuel on the fire that had been smoldering.

Although omnichannel has been characterized as a retail consumer (B2C) phenomenon, it actually extends into the business (B2B) and government (B2G) sides as well. At my previous employer, we pioneered a number of electronic ordering methods dating back to the early 90’s by which customers could conduct business with our physical locations. We therefore also ‘pioneered’ many issues related to omnichannel still being discussed today: the need for consistent experiences and pricing across channels, the need for seamless access to support personnel with visibility into all channels, and the need to rationalize the distribution network to address new customer capabilities. As a business with hundreds of physical locations across the country, numerous physical and electronic channels, and both centralized and distributed customer support touchpoints, we experienced it all. 

Savvy retailers who listened to customer feedback as they added ecommerce functionality have likely followed many of the same paths we did. Some companies, like Staples (read about it HERE ), are making very visible attempts to blend the on-line and off-line experiences on the front end. Others have changed operational processes to accommodate customers who want products shipped from a local store and support people at the location down the street to be able to tell them where a shipment is that was placed on-line through an eprocurement connection.

The one behavior we didn’t have to deal with that’s frequently tied to omnichannel is showrooming (see previous article HERE). With the huge increase in mobile shopping on the part of consumers, using a company’s physical location to shop for purchases later to be made on-line with Amazon or other mega-sites is an aspect of omnichannel that many retailers like Best Buy have had to build specific strategies around (see article HERE ).

These challenges have been extant for quite awhile, but one positive the omnichannel umbrella buzzword has brought is the linkage between them. Retailers have often treated each problem type as a one-off to fix, rather than one of many issues related to the proliferation of consumer channels to be addressed. That should change since the omnichannel term now has people thinking about customer behavior a little differently.

Another positive is that some organizations are adding VP and SVP titles for Omnichannel executives. That development should ensure there’s a more holistic and strategic view of the business processes across the various channels and will help develop a more proactive approach toward the issues. With responsibility for the entire customer experience consolidated, there’s a better chance that planning, rather than reacting, will become the norm.

Due to the huge growth in mobile, social media, and on-line ecommerce, omnichannel is now affecting nearly everyone. Although the phenomenon is not new, the buzzword is and has actually brought some much-needed focus to opportunities and issues that should be addressed in a more concerted manner. That’s a good thing.