With the preference of consumers leaning toward online shopping, now more than ever retailers need to ensure their customers get the same experience shopping online as they would shopping in a brick-and-mortar store. From being educated while they shop, to processing their payment seamlessly, retailers need to be able to tender and bag transactions with the same intention: getting the consumer to return in the future.
Being omnichannel-ready essentially asks current retailers if they’re set up to do all the above properly. Do they have a system in place with shippers and carriers? Are they proactively able to manage the Amazon model and compete with major industry leaders? To answer, we must first qualify what retailers should be looking for from their omnichannel service providers.
Omnichannel optimizes engagement, meets high customer expectations, enables better service, and provides actionable data. But to do that properly, it needs to be implemented right. To succeed at this, we must consider several factors:
1. Security
Ensuring that you have a service that provides adequate security is of foremost importance as data breaches are a common occurrence. Therefore, you must ensure the security surrounding your omnichannel platform is robust. The customer data should be protected, and encryption should be used where appropriate. Your service should also limit what information agents can access. They should only have access to the data they need to perform their role. One big red flag is if the provider you’re looking into has no advice or standards surrounding security or how to manage the platform safely.
2. Ready out-of-the box
An effective omnichannel service should be ready right away so you can start using it immediately. That way you can know instantly know whether it’s good for your business since some custom solutions take up a lot of time and money.
3. Forward-thinking
Omnichannel providers should be continually updating and improving their platform and offering more functionality for a variety of clients. If the provider is constantly improving, your business will also improve rapidly.
4. Flexible and scalable
Ask yourself: will the platform work and grow as you do? Will you be able to expand the use of the platform for other departments? If you think you will need several providers in the future, it defeats the purpose of having just one and serves as a red flag not to invest in this provider.
5. True cost
Make sure you know what you’re getting. Look out for confusing price structures and hidden costs. Keep an eye out for subscription models that start low but charge high after a certain threshold. It’s best to finalize the cost and determine exactly what the platform can achieve based on what you’re paying from the very beginning.
That's it for us! We hope these five tips will help you find the right solution for you. But remember that SHEA’s SMART Retail meets all these criteria and more. To learn more about our many solutions ranging from the aerospace industry to high technology, visit us at https://sheaglobal.com/