Contributed By to CS Gill, Country Manager, Infobip Malaysia
With sales worth billions of dollars recorded within the first hour of the 11.11 online sale across multiple e-commerce platforms this year, an equal enthusiasm is expected for the year’s last 12.12 online sales. Coinciding with the holiday season and last minute shoppers, this gives businesses an opportunity to leverage the upcoming sale season.
But in today’s online shopping scene, where options are many, are good discounts and promotions enough to make those sales numbers that businesses look forward to?
The online shopping scene has been changing dramatically over the last few years. In today’s customer centric digital world, a good deal is not enough to convince consumers to interact with your brand or business.
The customer of today interacts with a brand on a wide range of spectrums. This includes interaction via multiple devices (handphones, tablets, laptops) and engagement across multiple channels (social, marketplaces, forums, games). While the customer touchpoints with a brand in the digital world keeps on multiplying, the expectation on brands to achieve consistency in communication across all channels has never been higher.
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| omni-channel e-commerce | Customer satisfaction |
Emergence of omnichannel customer engagement as a top technology trend for marketing in 2020
According to the 2020 Omnichannel Statistic Report, marketers using three or more channels in any one campaign earned a 287% higher purchase rate than those using a single-channel campaign. This number was only at 250% in 2018, showcasing an increase in preference for omnichannel strategies over the last two years.
An omnichannel customer engagement strategy leverages a multi-channel sales approach to provide customers an integrated shopping experience. This means giving customers the complete power over how they choose to shop, playing a big role in building brand trust and loyalty.
A study conducted by digital engagement platform Thanx, states that loyal customers are likely to spend 67% more with a brand as compared to new ones. This statistic is good news for businesses who have been working diligently on their customer engagement strategies. More so during a critical sales period like 12.12 when customers make fast decisions and the bandwidth for education and customer interaction is subsequently reduced.
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| CS Gill,Infobip |
So how can businesses ensure that their omnichannel digital engagement strategies works for them during the busy 12.12 sale period?
Customer engagement in the digital age is no easy feat to achieve. But sticking to these tips can help businesses actively engage with their customers for the last sales season of the year.
Develop consistent messaging – Any good omnichannel strategy relies heavily on consistent communication. Set time aside to develop content templates that can be used across multiple channels. For example, if you are doing a campaign shout on Whatsapp, ensure that you are using the key messages across your social as well, so customers looking at your brand from multiple channels get access to the right deals and items you are promoting.
Streamline your messaging within one platform - One way marketers can ensure that their communication strategies across all channels remain consistent is by working with a reliable platform that allows them to streamline content and messaging within a single platform. Working with a single platform will also make it possible to reduce the number of document templates being created and offer the functionality to generate content that ensures consistency. For instance, Infobip provides a variety of solutions for customers looking to simplify their customer journey all through a single platform.
Be responsive across all channels – Customer queries often tend to triple fold during sales period. These could be queries regarding a preferred item, available discounts or delivery schedule. While managing multiple queries is no easy feat to achieve, businesses can look to implement platforms like Infobip’s Conversations that is optimised to help businesses to stay connected to customers while managing multiple enquiries all at the same time thus improving the overall customer experience through contextual conversations. Platforms as such can help you to access customer data from CRM systems, web shop, ticketing, and loyalty programs systems to get a clearer picture of their journey and deliver fast responses to queries like a post sales enquiry.
Create personalised communications – Customers respond positively when brands are able to personalize their online journey. This could involve sending them a personal greeting, reminders for items in the cart, availability for items they are searching for etc. Personalised communications becomes even more crucial during mega online sales when you want to ensure that customers have the best engagement with your brand, enticing them to continue their shopping journey.
In a competitive and crowded market, having the right omnichannel strategy allows businesses to maintain great customer engagement through personalised experiences that ultimately drives brand loyalty and increase sales – whether it is everyday shopping needs or a busy sales period.
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