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As Winston Churchill had famously spoken about 'never wasting a good crisis', I am taking some inspiration from the same in the '...

#Trends Marketing 2030

This Outside In long-form post is derived from my recent presentation at the Jio Institute on 'The Next Decade of Marketing', where I dug deep on the focused topic of #Trends Marketing 2030. I have covered more or less the whole presentation in this post, with some minor inclusions & exclusions for narrative and format alignment. It is a Time for Hi-Touch over Hi-Tech...

A) Consumer Themes for 2030

  • How people Experience technology determines how they Behave – Evolution of internet & technology has led to changes in people’s habits, their expectations of brands and the way they perceive themselves as individuals and what groups they identify with
  • Multi-screening has become the most significant consumer behaviour for the marketing industry
  • Rise of OTTs are seen as one of the most significant consumer behaviors in India
  • 66% marketers expect metaverse to significantly impact digital marketing in next 5 years
  • Around 20% marketers currently use AR/VR to drive improvements in marketing, but over 50% expect it to be most significant technology for marketing in 2 years time
  • The “IKEA EFFECT”: People value objects they build themselves, more than objects that were built by others – In the digital world, people will likely experience the same positive emotions toward things they build themselves as they do in real life
  • Marketing to Gen Z – Brand is What You Share, Not What You Sell

B) Business Themes for 2030

  • Significant growth in Digital Marketing spends going forward – proportion is expected to be nearly 66% of all Marketing budgets (Group M TYNY 2022 report)
  • ​Removal of 3rd party cookies and continued impact of Apple’s ATT (App Tracking Transparency) is seen as more significant to Indian marketers than those elsewhere in APAC
  • Majority marketers are pursuing multiple data collection sources, marketing analytics and insights collection to drive improvements in their marketing
  • Way the Internet evolves determines New Economies – Web 2.0 facilitated new business models and economies, (e.g. sharing economy, e-commerce). Next 10 years may facilitate new categories of businesses and economies too – NFTs, blockchain, crypto-currencies and virtual assets are only the first manifestations of this. This could have huge implications, not only for product innovation, but on people’s entire perception of value
  • Gamification Mechanics make it easier to reach goals and change (consumer) behaviour for important tasks – the digital world will introduce new levels of gamification in branded services and programs
  • Key Marketing Priorities:
    • Brand Awareness
    • Generating Leads and Sales
    • Creating more innovative and data-driven Campaigns
    • Growing Marketing Share
    • Using Data more successfully
    • Creating a more Integrated Marketing mix
    • Brand Loyalty
    • Leveraging Marketing Technology
    • Employing greater Measurement
C) #Trends Marketing 2030

  • Arrival of Better Technologies and Mature Applications
    • Evolution in Visual and 360 Technology
    • Evolution in Augmented Sociality
    • Evolution in Motion and Haptic Technology
  • Consumer Behaviours – on Personal Devices – will “Drive” Marketing Strategy
    • Multiscreening
    • Watching Video
    • OTTs
    • Commerce
    • Voice Integration
    • Engaging with AR/VR
    • Gaming
    • Live Shopping
    • Conversational Commerce
    • Audio
    • Creating User-generated Content
    • Showrooming
  • Evolving Technology Solutions – will “Shape” Marketing Execution
    • Data Analytics & Collection
    • Marketing Automation
    • Location Data
    • Programmatic Advertising
    • Chabots
    • AI & Machine Learning
    • AR/VR
    • Live Shopping
    • Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH)
    • Conversational Commerce
    • IoT and Smart Home
    • Blockchain
    • Voice Interaction
    • Rich Communication Services (RCS)
    • Near Field Communications (NFC)
    • Cryptocurrencies as Payment Method
The Trends are: 
1. Brand Ecosystems
2. Influencer Marketing
3. Branded Entertainment
4. D2C as a Brand-front
5. Communities
6. Next-Gen Loyalty
7. Hyper-Personalization
8. Web 3.0 Marketing
9. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)
10. Account-based Marketing (ABM)
11. Content, Content, Content 


1) Brand Ecosystems

a) The Puma India Illustration

b) The Volvoverse Illustration



2) Influencer Marketing

a) Generation 1 - KOLs


b) Generation 2 - Virtual KOLs



3) Branded Entertainment - Masaba Masaba, Conde Nast on Netflix



4) D2C as a Brand-front - The Nivea India Illustration



5) Communities

a) The One-plus Illustration



b) The Pinduoduo (PDD) Illustration



6) Next-Gen Loyalty - The Starbucks Odyssey Illustration



7) Hyper-Personalization - 

a) Deliver Better Personalization, with Progressive Profiling


b) Deliver Better Personalization, with Select #Use #Cases
  • #Welcome #Offers for New Customers
  • Introduce #New #Arrivals
  • Present Contextual Banners by Geography
  • Build Clean PDP Pages
  • Make # Recommendations basis Recently Viewed Pages
  • Up-sell Related Products
  • Push Exit Intent Pop-ups
  • Pursue # Live Session # Nudges
  • Allow Virtual/Real Trial Options
  • Introduce Time-bound Offerings 
  • Display Bestsellers
  • Develop # Search Personalization
  • Deliver Seasonal Offers
  • Make Product Recommendations basis # Previous # Purchases
  • Push Apt Notifications
  • # Cross-sell Related Products
  • Complete Cart Nudges
  • Re-connect Mailers
  • Showcase # Membership/Loyalty Program
  • Cultivate # Subscription Models


8) Web 3.0 Marketing 

a) Nestle NFTs for TRIX Breakfast Cereals

b) Lacoste Virtual Store, with VIP Room for NFT Holders 


9) Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

a) One Source of Truth


b) The Reckitt Benckiser Way



10) Account-based Marketing (ABM) - The Schneider Electric Way, for B2B Customers


11) Content, Content, Content - 

a) The Kylie Cosmetics Content Marketing Strategy


b) Community Designed Marketing



D) In Summary



E) Parting Thoughts
The Landscape of Marketing 2030 will depend on how fast organizations will be able to keep up with consumer changes and technology solutions’ capabilities….


Sources: 

1) (Multiple) Outside In Posts from the Substack Newsletter: https://outsideinlens.substack.com/

2) Inspiration for Tagline: Hi-Touch over Hi-Tech

3) WARC 2022 Report – Modern Marketing in India – State of Industry

4)  Ogilvy Report – For Gen Z Brand Is What You Share – Parts 1 & 2

5) Marketoonist/Tom Fishburne Cartoons

Omnichannel Retail Has Arrived… Or Has It Really?

Summary

The buzz on Omnichannel Retail has been playing since 2005 and it continues unabated even today after 15-odd years. It is a ‘State of Retail’ that has arrived successfully – where every organization seems to have checked off all the key boxes towards being an ‘Omnichannel’ Retailer – from having presence on all Offline-Online Channels relevant to them to seamless Order Fulfilment to customers. However, if you ask customers about their Experience with the same Retailer across (Omni) channels, they will say it is anything but great. They may reckon that barely a few Omnichannel boxes really tick off on scope wholesomeness, consistency and quality parameters. Omnichannel Retail Has Arrived… Or Has It Really? This article tries to analyze the gaps between these 2 views, understand how these gaps come into being and how they can be bridged – with a focus on Omnichannel Customer Experience (CX) along with OX (Operations Excellence).

Context

My first paper on concept of Omnichannel Retail was written in 2005 as a consultant with Patni Computer Systems. The idea was modestly called Multichannel Retailing then and a business case was made to translate the idea (and an imminent industry requirement) into a full-service offering by 2006. And as validation enough that its time had come, our thought leadership initiative led us to 1st ever multichannel retailing engagement with Carphone Warehouse in by mid-2006 – where we created a single view of a customer traversing both the offline and online channels (store and website). There were no Apps or Affiliate Marketplaces yet.

My second wave of writing about Omnichannel Retail (and pushing the initiatives with industry clients) came between years 2011-2015 – when E-commerce had begun to emerge strongly in India and Consumers had begun the adoption of digital shopping as well as digital payments. Thanks to trends from mature global markets like US, Europe and China, it was a foregone conclusion for the Indian retail industry that they must become omnichannel now or miss out on consumer’s share of wallet. After all, studies after studies had indicated that omnichannel customers exhibit higher loyalty, engagement and spend with retailers who were Omnichannel. With industry bodies like RAI and FICCI and my erstwhile employer TCS, I played an instrumental role in driving Omnichannel Retail conversations in the industry with multiple papers released at FICCI Massmerize and RAI Retail Leadership Summit. I would have been involved in tens of pitches with retailers to partner with them on their Omnichannel Journey, but few of them really converted for the full play. Most of them chose to only pursue ‘elements’ of Omnichannel Retail that they thought had a fair bit of business merit.

Come 2021, has Omnichannel Retail become a way of life? It really depends on whom you are asking: the Retailer or the Customer? Let’s see what they each think below. 

Core Elements of Omnichannel Retail

Before we look at how the Retailer or the Customer assesses the state of Omnichannel Retail, let’s quickly note down the core elements against which they can evaluate the Experience themselves. The basic elements of Omnichannel Retail are as below (derived and refreshed from my TCS-FICCI papers of 2012 and 2013) – keeping in mind a Customer’s view of what is important:

1. Omnichannel Everywhere: Across all Markets, not limited by Geography

2. Channels Variety: Multiple/All Digital formats as an extension of Stores and Web

3. Channel Proposition Clarity: Unique Engagement proposition for each Channel

4.  Brand Customer Experience (CX): Channel-agnostic CX across all channels

5.  Unique Relationship Identifier: Have a Single view of Customer, based on a Unique ID

6.  Value Recognition: Identify Revenue/Customer/All Channels, leading to Customer LTV

7.  Merchandise Precision: Channel-wise Clarity on Merchandise

8.  Assortment View: Complete On-demand Access through Digital Channels/Tools

9.  Interactive Tools: Use Tools like Chats, Online Guides, YouTube Videos, Ratings and Reviews Etc. for Brand Connect, Product Information Management and Engagement

10. Comparison Tools: Facilitate Product & Price Comparison across all Channels

11.  Inventory Availability: Develop a single view of Inventory across all Channels

12.  Single Unit Delivery: Distribution Models capable of sending a single item to a Customer's Door

13. Order Delivery Choices: Allow preferred Locations, Mode of Delivery and Time of Delivery

14. Order History Availability: One view of Customer Transactions/Orders available to All

15. Uniform Policy: Uniform Sales, Return & Exchange Policy across all channels

16. Channel-agnostic Customer Services: For Sales/Service Requests to Associates

17. Consistent Pricing & Guarantees: Pursue ‘Range-bound’ Pricing across Channels and Offer Price Match/Offers, in case of any price differences across Channels

18. Personalized Marketing & Communications: Experience an integrated Annual Marketing & Transactional Approach and have multiple connect options across Digital/Traditional Media

19. Omnichannel Loyalty: Seamless Offline & Online Rewards Accrual as well as Redemption

20. Connect Programs: Hear me everywhere (Track VOC) on all Digital as well as Offline Mediums

Identification of Operational Excellence (OX) Levers for Omnichannel Retail Success

Having identified the core elements of Omnichannel Retail let me now quickly introduce the levers of Operational Excellence (OX). When we talk about Omnichannel Initiatives, we tend to think about it as a Technology Initiative with some Operations thrown in. It is actually the reverse. Omnichannel Initiatives should be focused on multichannel OX with Technology thrown in as Enabler. This is really the secret sauce for establishing Omnichannel retail success.

I like this definition by Consulting Company Wevalgo’s definition of Operational Excellence: It is the pitch perfect execution of your business strategy - including the implementation of all systems therein - in a way that allows you to adapt and improve that strategy to keep up with the ever-changing demands of the market you're trying to serve.

Keeping this essence is mind, let’s quickly note down the broad 6 pillars of OX Initiatives derived from Pan-industry initiatives – which will be important for aligning on the Omnichannel objective:

1) People Alignment

2) Process Effectiveness

3) Product/Service Innovation

4) Quality Adherence

5) Outcomes

6) Continuous Improvement

State of Omnichannel Retail and Aligning with OX Levers

In this section, we will gauge where the Retailers like to believe they are in their Omnichannel Journey and where do the Customers really think are. We will identify OX Levers which can potentially help them cover these Experience gaps and learn about how some of the Industry’s best are doing this well. The State of Omnichannel Retail is as follows (Sentiments: AYE = Agree, NAY = Disagree, MEH = Indifferent):

1.      Omnichannel Everywhere: Across all Markets, not limited by Geography

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We are functional on every possible customer/retail channel that exists today – Own Store, Shop-in-Shop (SIS), Website, Marketplace(s), Social Platforms, Contact Centre, Whatsapp, Aggregators, Communities, Etc.

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – Apart from the Top Metros/Tier-1 places, all your channels (and its complete proposition) are not available everywhere. Example: Whatsapp for Business is deployed only in select Markets today

c.    OX Levers: Continuous Improvement – While it is well understood that a retailer cannot open all Channels across all Geographies in a single period, the core issue is the lack of intent to expand these channels beyond major markets usually on the argument on high costs vs. incremental gains. Approach here could be having complete geographical penetration of a single channel rather than have token presence on all channels spanning limited markets

d.    Illustration: Tesco Omnichannel presence in the UK – Stores, Website, App, Communities

2.      Channels Variety: Multiple/All Digital formats as an extension of Stores and Web

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – All customer/retail channels covered – as noted in the point above

b.    Customer Thinks: AYE  – Agree that token presence on all channels has been well established

c.    OX Levers: Outcomes – Retailers need to evaluate if the goals of being Omnichannel are being achieved: Cross-channel Buys, Higher ATVs, CSAT, Wallet Share, Faster Cash-flows, Etc.

d.    Illustration: Bharat Gas orders via Mobile IVR, Store Call, Amazon, Whatsapp

3.      Channel Proposition Clarity: Unique Engagement proposition for each Channel

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – Every channel of ours offers clarity on what Sales/Services are available or not, and provides guidelines on accessing what is not available

b.    Customer Thinks: MEH – There is clarity only on available Sales & Services, but little support about how to address requirements outside of the standard list of Offerings

c.    OX Levers: Process Effectiveness – Address discovery content and transactional friction/drop-off points in the customer journeys, which may navigate beyond the standard flows

d.    Illustration: Xiaomi Stores, Website & Marketplaces for Sales Workflows, Service Centres for Offline Resolutions and Communities for Online Resolutions

4.      Brand Customer Experience (CX): Channel-agnostic CX across all Channels

a.    Retailer Thinks: MEH – It is difficult to build consistent Brand CX, considering the vagaries of resources available in Offline and Online worlds. Besides, the customer set is usually different across channels so it is practical to maintain a common CX denominator only

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – My relationship is with the Brand, not the Channel. We need to be on the same page at all times

c.    OX Levers: Quality Adherence – Establish nuances of Brand Guidelines that stays consistent in its Proposition to the Customer – overcoming operational constrains of each Channel

d.    Illustration: Dominos 30-minute Delivery promise holds true irrespective of Order Channel

5.      Unique Relationship Identifier: Have a Single view of Customer, based on a Unique ID

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – Yes, we know all our customers by their Mobile Number as ID

b.    Customer Thinks: AYE – Yes, we can simply quote our Mobile Number and they will know who we are (though not necessarily about what we did with them)

c.    OX Levers: Outcomes – Pursue the depth of Customer Information that is available with this Unique ID – going beyond Transactional towards Relationship Building (Anticipating needs, Driving subscriptions, Proactive services, Etc.)

d.    Illustration: All retailers today can recognize their Customers accurately with the help of their Mobile Numbers. This is probably the biggest win on everyone’s Omnichannel Agenda yet

6.      Value Recognition: Identify Revenue/Customer/All Channels, leading to Customer Lifetime Value

a.    Retailer Thinks: NAY – We do not have the tools/capability today to measure Revenue at a Customer-level, spanning all Channels

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – They do not have a measure of how valuable I am to their business and it shows how they treat me just like everyone else

c.    OX Levers: Outcomes Need to have an estimate of the ‘Customer Value Score’ that permeates every interaction – transactional or otherwise – with the said customer/segment

d.    Illustration: Most Airlines maintain a Customer Value Score that drives their Offers/Services to the Customer. This practice can be adopted in Retail

7.      Merchandise Precision: Channel-wise Clarity on Merchandise

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We are clear on exact Merchandise by Channel

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – No, we are not clear on exact Merchandise by Channel. Often Exclusives are available in Stores, when I am looking Online. And vice-versa. Also, there was a trend of getting only outdated/old Merchandise online till we started making noise about it. Now, we are just not sure about it all

c.    OX Levers: Process Effectiveness – Retailers need to be very clear about their merchandise mix by channel, with distinct role attribution & precise customer proposition for each

d.    Illustration: Decathlon does very little advertising but customers are well aware about what is available at Store and Online and they will make either available for you at Home

8.      Assortment View: Complete On-demand Access through Digital Channels/Tools

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We have the ability to give customer full access to our Assortment

b.    Customer Thinks: MEH – Not always. And, it needs multiple Calls/Trips to various stakeholders to get a handle on what’s available or not. It is a time consuming process

c.    OX Levers: Continuous Improvement – While decent strides have been made on this front, there is need to polish the entire Experience which needs fewer calls/trips between the Retailers and Customers

d.    Illustration: Firefox makes goods available for the customer irrespective of the Channel of his Discovery, Exploration, Transaction and Delivery

9.      Interactive Tools: Use Tools like Chats, Online Guides, YouTube Videos, Ratings and Reviews Etc. for Brand Connect, Product Information Management and Engagement

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We have done a good job at building customer-relevant content related to our category and help maintain an ongoing brand connect with our customers

b.    Customer Thinks: MEH – Barring a few exceptional retailers, most of the others have vanilla tools for interaction and engagement. We usually rely on 3rd party subject matter experts (SMEs) and Influencer to help us explore and decide on our Shopping Ideas

c.    OX Levers: Product/Service Innovation – This element of Omnichannel probably hosts the most potential to create immediate and lasting impression on Customers. And, half the battle is won already with a series of Initiatives by most retailers. All that is need now is polish and next-generation thinking on Product & Service delivery

d.    Illustration: Nykaa has a host of beauty advice offerings for all its customers which cover a Beauty Book (Magazine), TV (Master Classes by Experts & Vloggers), Buying Guides, Routine Finders, Chat Assistance, Nykaa Community Network – which comprehensively covers everything we would expect on this element of Omnichannel

10.   Comparison Tools: Facilitate Product & Price Comparison across all Channels

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – Yes, these Options are readily available to our Customers

b.    Customer Thinks: MEH – We have tried these Tools, but most of them are half-baked lacking in depth – not going beyond the basic details. We have to rely on 3rd party platforms like 91mobiles.com (for mobiles) to decide on our choices which adds to the labour of shopping

c.    OX Levers: Product/Service Innovation – Make Product & Price comparison (and thereby Recommendation) elements part of a customer’s journey itself, to reduce the choice friction. Done right, it can lead to higher conversion due to enhanced Trust

d.    Illustration: Best Buy proactively facilitates Product & Price comparisons across all its Channels – Stores, Website, App, Contact Centre – and guides you towards making an informed decision about your Purchases

11.   Inventory Availability: Develop a single view of Inventory across all Channels

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We have detailed information about our Stocks – Available, Out-of-Stock, Transit, Bestsellers, Traffic Drivers, Ageing, Complements, Substitutes Etc.

b.    Customer Thinks: MEH – We only need to know whether or not the Product of our Interest is available to Buy or not. Even if unavailable, can it be procured and delivered to me at Home?

c.    OX Levers: People Alignment – Specialist People and Allocation Tools are needed to not only fulfil current demands of channel-wise Inventory, but to even manage goods flows across channels on an Ongoing/Anticipatory basis

d.    Illustration: Most retailers have a fair view of Inventory across all their Channels today. However, they are still struggling with the decision/allocation process of the said Inventory across multiple channels. Nike has specialist ‘Allocation Analyst’ roles to manage Inventory flows across channels, depending on various Sales and Supply Chain insights

12.   Single Unit Delivery: Distribution Models capable of sending a single item to a Customer's Door

a.    Retailer Thinks: MEH – We need a minimum size/value order because our unit economics do not allow us to deliver a single Item to a Customer’s Door

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – If the likes of Amazon, Swiggy and our Local Kiranas can manage this single item delivery, why can’t you? It is high time you made it work, else you continue to lose my Share of Wallet

c.    OX Levers: Process Effectiveness – Retailers have to figure out a variety of ways to deliver even a single item to a customer’s door – Nearest Store Delivery, Hyper-local Tie-ups, Dark Stores in multiple places, Uber Delivery, Etc. And, it can be a Paid Service.

d.    Illustration: Wal-Mart Express Delivery uses 74000 ‘Personal Shoppers’ to pick orders from its Stores and deliver to Customer’s Door – available for additional $10 fee to Delivery Charges

13.   Order Delivery Choices: Allow preferred Locations, Mode of Delivery and Time of Delivery

a.    Retailer Thinks: MEH – Not possible in a complex ecosystem of Indian Markets

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – Hyper-local Kiranas are able to do this. Why can’t the Retailers do it? It is the same market they all operate in

c.    OX Levers: People Alignment – Most of the back-end Order Management is already sorted for most retailers. What needs focus is the last mile delivery from Store/Hub to the Customer’s Door which can be managed at a Pincode Level

d.    Illustration: Wal-Mart Express Delivery aligns the availability of ‘Personal Shoppers’ by Pincode to ensure Deliveries within 2 Hours of Order Pick-up

14.   Order History Availability: One view of Customer Transactions/Orders available to All

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We have one view of all Customer Transactions

b.    Customer Thinks: AYE – Agree, they have one view of all my Transactions

c.    OX Levers: Process Effectiveness – One view of transactions/orders was probably the first use case every retailer chased and achieved – in their Omnichannel journey. With rising volumes and increasing channels, the next challenge is to sustain this achievement

d.    Illustration: All retailers today more or less have one view of Transaction/Orders/Transit Status and information is available across the Value Chain for validation, redressal and resolution. This is probably the 2nd biggest win on everyone’s Omnichannel Agenda

15.   Uniform Policy: Uniform Sales, Return & Exchange Policy across all Channels

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We have uniform Policies across all our Retail Channels

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – Only the Sales policy is uniform and functional. The Returns and Exchange policy (and thereby the Process) is broken. Most common push is to connect back with the Channel of Sales, which isn’t always an easy process since Store is likely to be far from a customer’s Residence who would prefer an Home Pick-up even for Store Items

c.    OX Levers: Quality Adherence – There are variations with most retailer Returns/Exchange policies for Online and Offline purchases on variables like Return Days Allowed, Channel of Service, Card Refund vs. Credit Notes, Offline Receipts vs. No Online Receipts Etc. These need to be streamlined at a Chain-level and not at a Channel-level

d.    Illustration: Nordstrom has no return time limits, no receipt requirements and no paperwork. For Offline or Online purchase, store provides free return shipping or collection at Store

16.   Channel-agnostic Customer Services: For Sales/Service Requests to Associates

a.    Retailer Thinks: MEH – We are doing our best to align Sales/Services requests to Sales and Customer Care across Channels. But, the sheer complexity of issues overwhelm what we can achieve during the day

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – Irrespective of the channel, any Sales/Service issue raise with a Retailer becomes a project – which moves from Denial, to Fault Allocation, to Escalation, to Resolution after X Days. If it is a cross-channel issue, it eventually gets allocated to some specific channel Associate rather than a Joint-resolution Effort

c.    OX Levers: People Alignment – The primary reason so many Sales/Services requests stand unresolved and/or get escalated is that the front-line Sales/Service Associate is simply not empowered to do the right thing for the Customer. Make this change – spanning all Channel functions – and 80% of Customer Service issues will be FTR (First-Time-Resolution) closed

d.    Illustration: Best Buy’s Geek Squad has its own App to address omnichannel customer requirements related to Warranty, Repairs, Agent support Etc. This facility is available via Call, E-Mail, Store Appointment, App Chat, Service-at-Home

17.   Consistent Pricing & Guarantees: Pursue ‘Range-bound’ Pricing across Channels and Offer Price Match/Offers, in case of any price differences across Channels

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We have single/consistent Pricing across all Channels

b.    Customer Thinks: AYE – Yes, we agree with the above

c.    OX Levers: Quality Adherence – Ensure this good practice sustains even with the addition of new Geographies and new Channels

d.    Illustration: All retailers offer consistent Pricing across Channels and have Tools to effectively address any gaps. This is probably the 3rd biggest win on everyone’s Omnichannel Agenda

18.   Personalized Marketing & Communications: Experience an integrated Annual Marketing & Transactional Approach and have multiple connect options across Digital/Traditional Media

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We deliver highly personalized, highly contextual and exciting Marketing and Communications matching our customer’s Interest intimately

b.    Customer Thinks: MEH – We are mostly bombarded with tens of ‘mass customized’ Marketing Offers and Communications – which sometimes turns out to be relevant for my Interests – more out of chance rather than Intent

c.    OX Levers: People Alignment – With one view of a Customer available, there are multiple contenders, with varying agendas, within an organization to connect with the Customer – Merchandise team wants to push new launches, Operations team wants to offload old inventory, Marketing team wants to deliver Experiences, Brand team wants to build a Brand Loyalty and so on. An alignment needs to be achieved between all this Stakeholders – maybe by the CX team – such that only the ‘Best Fit’ Marketing/Communication goes out to the Customer – 12 Times/Year vs. 52 Times/Year

d.    Illustration: Starbucks delivers outright personalized Campaigns basis your Consumption Patterns, to encourage Patronage and Loyalty, with validity lasting several Months rather than ‘Limited’ Time

19.   Omnichannel Loyalty: Seamless Offline & Online Rewards Accrual as well as Redemption

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – Our Loyalty Program benefits extend to all Channels and Partners we operate with

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – Most retailers do not have integrated Loyalty Programs whereby all my shopping transactions can help me earn and burn rewards interchangeably between multiple Channels

c.    OX Levers: Outcomes – This is probably an area of most dissonance when it comes to delivering an Omnichannel Experience. There is lack of flexibility in earn/burn of points, limitations of Online/Offline-only Offers, few options to spend outside of current Retailer ecosystem and so on. Instead of being a key differentiator, most Loyalty programs are rendered as meaningless by Customers as well as Retailers themselves. This element of Omnichannel can deliver maximum impact, if done right

d.    Illustration: Tesco’s Clubcard Program has seamlessly blended both its Offline and Online worlds towards being an ‘Experience-based Program’ and has even opened up to outside ecosystem Partners (like Zizzi and Pizza Express) which is focused allowing families to spend quality time together and treat themselves (and deliver more meaning than Vouchers)

20.   Connect Programs: Hear me everywhere (Track VOC) on all Digital as well as Offline Mediums

a.    Retailer Thinks: AYE – We have presence across all Customer Listening Posts and we are quick to respond with whatever the Customers need

b.    Customer Thinks: NAY – The quick approach is more like “Your business is important to us. We have noted down your comments/feedback. (Or kindly DM your Number so we can connect). We will connect with you shortly with our Inputs/Resolution – which never arrives

c.    OX Levers: Product/Service Innovation – Tens of Listening Tools are now available in the market, which allow you to listen to the customer on any channel of their choice and engage with them right there in real-time and/or capture these on internal Collaboration Platforms

d.    Illustration: Let’s recap the famous Zara ‘Pink Scarves’ Story – In 2015, a lady named Miko walked into a Zara store in Tokyo and asked the store assistant for a pink scarf, but the store did not have any pink scarves. The same happened almost simultaneously for Michelle in Toronto, Elaine in San Francisco, and Giselle in Frankfurt, who all walked into Zara stores and asked for pink scarves. They all left the stores without any scarves – an experience many other Zara fans encountered globally in different Zara stores over the next few days. 7 days later, more than 2,000 Zara stores globally started selling pink scarves. 500,000 pink scarves were dispatched – to be exact. They sold out in 3 days. Point noted

In Conclusion – Omnichannel Retail is ‘Still Arriving’…

Retailer Thinks have collected 14 AYEs, 4 MEHs and 1 NAYs.

Customer Thinks have communicated 4 AYEs, 6 MEHs and 10 NAYs.

There are 4 elements of Omnichannel where there seems to be an alignment between Retailer’s efforts and Customer’s Experiences:

·        (2) Channels Variety: Multiple/All Digital formats as an extension of Stores and Web

·        (5) Unique Relationship Identifier: Have a Single view of Customer, based on a Unique ID

·        (14) Order History Availability: One view of Customer Transactions/Orders available to All

·        (17) Consistent Pricing & Guarantees: Pursue ‘Range-bound’ Pricing across Channels and Offer Price Match/Offers, in case of any price differences across Channels

Apart from these areas of agreement on the State of Omnichannel Retail, there is a considerable gap between these 2 sentiments highlights the difference between Omnichannel Retail ‘having arrived’ and ‘still arriving’. This gap can be bridged effectively using some of the OX Levers noted in this article with Industry Illustrations for reference and validation. As the famous quote from the movie The Matrix goes – There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Let the walking continue, Onwards and Upwards.

Paper References

1.    TCS-FICCI Paper on Omnichannel Retail at Massmerize 2012: http://www.ficci.in/events/20995/ISP/Driving-Indian-Consumption.pdf

2.    TCS-FICCI Paper on Omnichannel Retail at Massmerize 2013: http://ficci.in/spdocument/20296/massmerize-report.pdf

3.    The Wevalgo Operational Excellence Model: https://www.wevalgo.com/know-how/operational-excellence#:~:text=What%20is%20Operational%20Excellence%3F,you're%20trying%20to%20serve.

4.    6 pillars of Operational Excellence (OX): https://outsideinlens.substack.com/p/the-pursuit-of-dynamite-experiences

5.    Airlines Customer Value Scores: https://www.economist.com/gulliver/2018/11/08/flyers-should-worry-about-customer-lifetime-value-scores

6.    Tesco’s Clubcard Experienced-based Program: https://outsideinlens.substack.com/p/the-pursuit-of-dynamite-experiences-087

7.    Nordstrom Return Policy: https://www.retailmenot.com/blog/stores-with-the-best-return-policies.html

8.    Walmart Personal Shoppers: https://www.supermarketnews.com/online-retail/walmart-bring-two-hour-express-delivery-2000-stores#:~:text=To%20use%20Express%20Delivery%2C%20customers,items%20they%20need%2C%20Walmart%20said.

9.    Zara – A Culture of Customer Co-creation: https://martinroll.com/resources/articles/strategy/the-secret-of-zaras-success-a-culture-of-customer-co-creation/

10. Best Buy Geek Squad App: https://www.mobilemarketer.com/ex/mobilemarketer/cms/news/software-technology/22341.html