What is personalized omnichannel?
In the era of the customer, organizations across industries understand that the key to success lies in delivering a great customer experience. This often involves a key ingredient: ensuring a personalized omnichannel experience.
Today, personalized omnichannel is at the heart of not only delivering a great customer experience, but also increasing revenue. In fact, research shows that customers that receive personalized omnichannel experiences are more likely to engage with a company's channels, products, and services; in addition, they are likely to spend 15-30% more than single-channel customers.
That said, what does a personalized omnichannel experience look like and what are the challenges to delivering it?
What is personalized omnichannel?
The reality is that customers across industries – from retail to financial services – are expecting deeper, more personalized omnichannel relationships with customers across various channels––whether it is in-stores, on mobile, on web, or any other channel. What does this look like?
Imagine John Doe, a working professional, is shopping on his mobile phone and looking for a new carry-on suitcase. He stumbles upon a black suitcase from a store that also has branches in the city he lives in, New York City. He likes the carry-on suitcase, but wants to see it in-person to make sure that it fits his needs.
When he checks on his mobile app, it says that the suitcase is available at a branch that is less than 2 miles away. John drives to the store and the experience lives up to his expectations. He is able to see the suitcase in-person and ultimately purchases it. The customer experience, however, does not end there.
After purchasing the suitcase, when John regularly checks the mobile shopping app, he receives personalized notifications of travel accessories that may interest him, as well as discounts for items based on his past search history. In this case, John’s relationship with the retailer is not simply a one-time transaction, it’s an ongoing, personalized, omnichannel relationship.
Challenges to delivering a personalized omnichannel experience
The above scenario represents a great personalized omnichannel experience. However, the reality is that – on the back-end – this seamless experience requires addressing a key challenge: siloed data. In John’s scenario, data – whether it is regarding his shopping behavior, search history, purchasing history in-stores, etc – lives everywhere.
Connectivity is key to addressing this challenge. Integrating these disparate sources of data helps the retailer provide John with a more personalized omnichannel. Imagine, for example, that the retailer’s product stock systems were not integrated with their mobile front-end in real-time. In this case, John may see in the mobile-app that the suitcase is available in-stores, but once he gets to the store, it may not be available as the data that he referenced in the app was not integrated and, thus, not up-to-date.
Company and customer data live everywhere and change frequently––from the pre-purchase stage, where companies first create a customer identity to the post-purchase stage, where companies offer personalized discounts to establish a relationship with the customer. All of these stages involve a multitude of systems, applications, and devices. Connecting these data sources is critical for delivering a personalized omnichannel experience.
MuleSoft: Your solution for personalized omnichannel
MuleSoft can help companies across industries deliver more personalized omnichannel experiences. Our solutions for omnichannel allow companies to deliver a unified customer experience 3x faster.
Learn more about MuleSoft’s solutions for omnichannel and see how your company can deliver a personalized omnichannel strategy.