Mastering the omnichannel: A retail sales strategy

If you’re a retailer looking to implement a holistic omnichannel sales strategy, Gordana Redzovski offers some advice to help you started.

While New Zealand’s retail industry has largely returned to its vibrant, pre-pandemic state, the recent return of Covid cases has highlighted both the fragility of the situation and the importance of retailers finding ways to maintain their impetus. Driving sales and cultivating delightful retail experiences are the lifeblood of any retail business, especially today when every sale, every lead and every interaction matters. However, with health and safety concerns once again top of mind, to do so retailers must replace tried, tested and traditional methods with an omnichannel strategy.

Some within the industry have touted retail as a battle between ecommerce and bricks-and-mortar, however, the hallmarks of today’s savvy, successful retailers is the seamless integration of both, operating in intrinsic harmony. That’s the omnichannel approach. In lockdown, ecommerce was an important lifeline for retailers while ‘high streets’ were closed. However, since restrictions lifted, we’ve seen shoppers returning to retailers whose bricks-and-mortar stores are the centre point of an operation supplemented by an effective, targeted online presence.

So if you’re a retailer looking to implement a holistic omnichannel sales strategy, here are a few tips to help you start.

In-store health and safety

Health and safety will remain pressing concerns for some time, particularly for retailers, given the indoor, often relatively confined nature, of many stores. Before you can realistically expect to make consistent sales, your customers must feel confident that you’re taking every possible precaution with regards to social distancing. So, ensure your store layout adheres to social distancing restrictions, make sanitiser and PPE easily accessible, add decals and notices to the floor and walls so people know where to stand and what to do, and ensure your team understands best practice.

With those safeguards in place, use multiple channels including your website, social media pages and in-store signage, to explain the healthy and safety measures you’re implementing. Google research found that 61% of consumers prefer to shop with retailers with a brick and mortar location than those who solely operate online, so ensure yours is a store they can trust. With health and safety concerns unlikely to subside entirely for some time, create an environment that promotes trust and then use that as the springboard from which to launch your omnichannel sales strategy.

Owning the omnichannel

While ecommerce spiked at the height of lockdown, there is no replacement for delightful in-store experiences – especially so considering online sales in New Zealand account for only 10.3% of total retail spend. Retail has long been built on passionate, innovative retailers building meaningful connections with their customers. Online sales will never replace that, only supplement it. Whether you’re a family-owned independent store in Queenstown or a multi-location businesses with outlets on both sides of the Tasman, driving sales is dependent on developing an omnichannel strategy that reaches, engages and delights shoppers on every channel.

Listing your in-store inventory online, building loyalty programs, introducing click and collect, and targeted marketing through email and social media are great ways of creating a comprehensive sales strategy – across every platform – that is convenient, personalised and effective. After all, three in five Kiwis use their smartphone or tablet while in-store to research an item before making a purchase, so it’s important your business is active wherever they are. While new customers are important, don’t forget about existing customers, who are crucial in challenging times. It’s more costly and time-consuming to acquire new customers than to engage existing ones, so reach out to loyal shoppers with new products or tailored discounts based on their shopping preferences.

While overseeing a comprehensive strategy and keeping track of orders, inventory and customer details across various channels sounds like a daunting task, it needn’t be. In fact, innovative, intuitive technology makes it easy for retailers – irrespective of their size or previous technology knowhow- to gain business-wide insights from one central location. A cloud-based retail intelligence platform like, for example, Vend, integrates sales, inventory and other crucial insights across both bricks-and-mortar and online platforms to ensure you’re in total control, wherever you are.

Contactless click & collect

While click & collect (C&C) is by no means a new phenomenon in New Zealand, the pandemic has accelerated its adoption and heightened its importance. It’s no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ but an essential. Offering a contact-free C&C service gives shoppers added convenience and choice, and often this convenient service leads to increased customer loyalty, positive word of mouth and, eventually, consistent sales – often of higher value. What’s more, C&C has the potential to drive in-store footfall and increase in-store sales through upselling, and is a seamless way to tie together your omnichannel presence. To create a seamless customer experience, utilise a retail platform system that has the ability to keep track of orders and notify customers when their order is ready for collection.

Today, New Zealand’s savviest retailers are those who understand the answer to the ‘ecommerce versus bricks-and-mortar’ argument is not one or the other, but both. Ecommerce is a convenient, effective service, but works best when it’s the halo around a bricks-and-mortar centrepiece, rather than in isolation. So as you look to implement the strategy that will empower your retail business today, tomorrow and years from now, remember that an omnichannel approach can drive sales and create the personal, meaningful experiences that shoppers now prioritise.

Gordana Redzovski (pictured) is Vice President for APAC at Vend, a cloud-based retail productivity and intelligence platform that lets retailers run their business in-store, online and on-the-go. For more information visit https://www.vendhq.com/