If a customer is unhappy with your brand, it is very likely that they have not had a seamless experience during their interactions with the brand across multiple touch points and devices. A ‘unified customer journey’ approach holds immense potential for brands. Having a well-orchestrated omni-channel strategy will ensure that customer convenience is always treated as topmost priority.
Senior VP for Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at Shoppers Stop, Tony Navin, in his 2015 interview to Fortune India, said, “E-commerce and physical retail are no longer two separate silos. They are integrating, so we are like a mall with multiple delivery options.”
This statement resonates across industries today catering to the new-age consumer and stresses the increasing need for brands to adopt an omni-channel marketing strategy, irrespective of where and how they choose to shop.
Here are a few reasons why your business needs a ‘unified customer journey’ strategy.
An Integrated Channel Experience Is not an Option Anymore
In today’s fast-paced digital world, if the customer experience is not consistent across all channels, it is bound to have a negative impact on the brand sooner or later. If the customer faces a glitch along the way, they have several other options to choose from.
A Unified Approach Is More Profitable
According to a Retail Systems Research study of U.S. retailers, 59% of respondents said that omni-channel customers were significantly or slightly more profitable than single-channel customers. eMarketer report further states, “While Amazon is expanding its physical presence, Walmart is strengthening its e-commerce business. The moves are simply the latest signs of blurring lines in retail, and reflect consumer preference for choice. As consumers move essentially freely from physical shopping to virtual experiences, retailers are working to catch their attention in both areas.”
It Provides a Satisfying and Consistent Customer Experience
If your company has all channels (mobile app, social media, website) working independently, it will serve no purpose. On the importance of a unified customer experience strategy, workforce customer service solution provider Aspect sums it up on their website: “Customers now expect to receive service from your organization on the channel of their choice, which might be voice, email, SMS/text, web, mobile or social media. Companies are beginning to provide service on all of these channels – but too often, those channels may exist in silos. This multi-channel service can be taken to the next level with an omni-channel solution that integrates channels to provide a consistent customer experience.”
It's Critical for Your Brand’s Growth
Another critical step toward achieving a unified customer journey experience is having a solid data strategy in place, and more companies are doing that. The key is to have as much information as possible about customer preferences and requirements. According to a Forbes Insights survey of 357 executives of large organizations, the benefits of evolving to data-driven customer experiences (data-driven CX) are wide-ranging, including enhancing revenue generation and enabling cost reduction, as well as accelerating process efficiencies and quality improvements. It also states that a data-driven customer experience is critical to the future growth and development of organizations, particularly in today’s hyper-competitive economy.
A Unified Channel Equals a Single View of the Customer
Drawing from IBM’s latest CMO study, Bill Payne, former VP of CRM and Industries, Global Process Service, IBM, writes on why delivering a unified customer experience is critical to gaining significant competitive advantage. On the importance of a unified customer journey channel, Payne states, “Managing the customer experience through a single view – that includes unified channel communication -- is being perceived with renewed importance. Beyond being able to obtain a single view, deemed so vital for creating a common language that can help get all areas of a business ‘on the same page’, acting on this view is critical to achieving a positive experience. Likewise, delivering unified, coordinated communication is vital.”
