[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/10\/omnichannel-in-retail\/#Article","articleBody":"A strong digital core has increasingly separated retail leaders from the laggards, especially in the COVID economy. Now, with online shopping habits firmly entrenched, it\u2019s clear that omnichannel in retail is an essential strategy as we look forward to a post-pandemic world.\nOnline shopping was already on the rise pre-COVID and exploded during the pandemic. Accustomed to the convenience of e-commerce during months of lockdowns, many consumers plan to stick with it. In fact, 61% of shoppers\u00a0intend to keep up their increased online shopping habits according to a joint 2020 global study from SAP and The Economist Intelligence Unit.\n \nBuying behavior after COVID-19: e-commerce boom will remain\n   Once difficult to explain, digital transformation has been clearly defined by the pandemic. Buying behavior after COVID-19 will still rely heavily on e-commerce, and retailers need to be ready for that.  \nOmnichannel in retail is the new reality\nToday, shoppers expect options. They might buy online and pick up their items either inside a physical store or outside from curbside delivery for convenience and to maintain social distancing. They also might discover a product inside a store, but wait to buy it online after they get home.\nIn order to keep customers satisfied, retailers need to integrate these online and offline channels to provide a seamless customer experience. But that\u2019s often easier said than done.\n \n2021 Retail trends: From Boomers to Gen Z, the strategies that dominate\n   What key trends should retailers watch this year? Will consumers stick with online shopping or flock back to stores? We've got the answers.  \nThe Entertainer, the UK\u2019s largest independent toy retailer, offers some lessons in how to get omnichannel in retail right.\nPre-COVID, the retailer worked hard to implement a 30 minute \u201cclick and collect\u201d program and an enjoyable online customer experience to augment their in-store experience. Their stores were forced to shutter \u2013 not once, but three times since the start of the pandemic \u2013 so the company relied on omnichannel agility and an innovative culture to keep customers happy and remain profitable.\nBased on The Entertainer\u2019s experience, here\u2019s what\u2019s required for omnichannel success in retail:\nTimely investments\nIntegrated fulfillment capabilities\nBe ready for whatever comes next\nNon-stop innovation\nSpeed and flexibility\nRun, don\u2019t walk: Invest in retail omnichannel\u00a0\nRetailers that haven\u2019t yet developed omnichannel capabilities can\u2019t afford to wait any longer. For The Entertainer, proactive investment before COVID paid dividends.\nThe retailer has 170 stores in the UK, in addition to 50 in Spain under a subsidiary brand. They needed strong infrastructure that could scale and handle high demand, and deliver an intuitive experience for customers checking out via the website.\nThe value of the time, effort and money spent retrofitting their online channels became abundantly clear when they had to close their stores at the outset of the pandemic. With customers stuck inside, The Entertainer saw skyrocketing demand online for both delivery and click and collect orders. Their timely online investments made it possible to meet that demand.\n \nRetailers flex their flexible fulfillment muscles: BOPIS defined\n   Flexible fulfillment is a requirement today. Ship-to-store, ship-from-store, and BOPIS (buy online, pickup in store) options rule the retail experience.  \nChecking stock was an essential feature of their omnichannel capabilities because they didn\u2019t want shoppers to encounter any \u201cout-of-stock\u201d signs when stores reopened and shoppers felt comfortable returning. Instead, consumers were able to check online to see if the toys they wanted were at their local store. Then, the trip to the store \u2013 with masks, hand sanitizer, and maybe children in tow \u2013 was all worth it.\nFix fulfillment for omnichannel retail success\nIn April 2020, The Entertainer had the good problem of doing a typical week\u2019s worth of sales in just one day. It became difficult for them to get packages through warehouses fast enough.\n \nOmnichannel order fulfillment: Prepare for the unexpected\n   Retailers: prepare for the unexpected. See how omnichannel order fulfillment can help you adapt quickly to sudden market changes.  \nFixing fulfillment required the team to increase capacity, make good use of their e-commerce and other direct-to-consumer investments, and use shuttered stores as fulfillment warehouses.\nBe ready for anything\u00a0\nMany cities experienced multiple lockdowns over the past year, which at first shocked the retail community to its core. But after the first shutdown, retailers like The Entertainer learned to lean more heavily on their online channels to keep up with demand.\nThe second round of closures came in November, and the Entertainer had a much smoother transition because they had already shored up store-based fulfillment for online orders the first time around. While the company worked to transition to online effectively, it also had a number of initiatives up its sleeve to improve the customer experience even further.\nDon\u2019t stop innovating\nDuring the summer of 2020, The Entertainer made several improvements to their customer engagement strategy. For one, they implemented a new CRM to pull together customer information, understand who customers are and how they shop the store.\nThis helped the retailer stay in touch with shoppers, establish deeper relationships with them, and drive more new and repeat business. Having a better understanding of what their customers wanted also led them to offer Klarna, an online buy-now-pay-later technology.\n \nOmnichannel: How retailers can craft a seamless customer experience\n   Leading consumers into brick and mortar stores begins with creating a seamless customer experience, across all devices and channels.  \nAnother fresh idea that The Entertainer implemented was striking up partnerships with UK department stores that lacked toy offerings. This was a win-win situation in which department stores were able to tap into revenue for a category that has boomed during the pandemic. Meanwhile, The Entertainer extended its reach to new customers without the burden of increased fulfillment responsibilities.\nSpeed and flexibility are everything\u00a0\nIf retail in 2020 has taught us anything, it\u2019s that the best laid plans can go out the window overnight. The only way to be ready for swift changes is to be flexible and fast. The Entertainer wasn\u2019t able to perfectly predict which channels would be popular when, so preparation on all fronts was essential.\nThe other side is speed. Retailers must be able to quickly innovate, open a new sales channel, launch a brand, or enable a new tactic in order to keep up.\nIn The Entertainer\u2019s case, they can rely on a strong technology core to improve what\u2019s worked in the past and keep rolling out innovations to encourage shoppers to keep checking in \u2013 and checking out \u2013 no matter the channel.\nHow much did COVID change buying behavior? We\u2019ve got the answers HERE.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/10\/omnichannel-in-retail\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/10\/omnichannel-in-retail\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Shayonie-Mila-Kundu-e1641965793263-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Shayonie Mila Kundu","sameAs":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/shayonie-mila-kundu\/","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/shayonie-mila-kundu\/"},"dateModified":"2021-12-03T03:11:37+00:00","datePublished":"2021-03-10T07:01:02+00:00","description":"Omnichannel in retail is essential as the industry looks forward to a post-pandemic future. Here's how one UK retailer does it.","headline":"How to master omnichannel in retail: 5 steps for CX success","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/10\/omnichannel-in-retail\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FCEE148OmniChannel_HB2-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/10\/omnichannel-in-retail\/","name":"How to master omnichannel in retail: 5 steps for CX success","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/10\/omnichannel-in-retail\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"03","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/03\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"10","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/03\/\/10\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How to master omnichannel in retail: 5 steps for CX success","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/10\/omnichannel-in-retail\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]