Our answer to this question is a clear "YES"!
The article in the trade magazine "eCommerce Magazin" by Dr. Clara Koetz makes it clear that consumer shopping behaviour has changed. Even though online business has grown strongly due to the pandemic and continues to grow, the physical shop is still a very important contact point for consumers to experience the products on site.
Consumer demands are increasing and technologies are evolving.
It is becoming increasingly important for companies to create a seamless shopping experience between online and offline for their consumers in order to awaken and satiate their intrinsic motivation. For this reason, the introduction of an omnichannel business model is becoming increasingly important for companies.
The essential question that needs to be asked is: What adjustments are necessary for companies to operate omnichannel in order to be able to offer their customers an innovative shopping experience?
This varies from company to company and can be clarified through an initial stocktaking. The inventory is important to determine the exact current status of a company. For this purpose, the entire company (processes, technologies, workflows, etc.) is examined.
Realisable goals must be defined so that the actual effort or the associated activities, that are necessary to achieve the goals, can be determined. These activities are recorded in a catalogue of measures and given a time schedule.
The next step is to implement the predefined activities.
In summary, it can be said that the shopping experiences, that companies offer their customers, must become more and more innovative. Companies should start laying the foundation that is necessary for this and all future omnichannel measures. Because all signs point to omnichannel.
Source:
Image from Freepik
Koetz, Dr. Clara (2022): Shopping der Zukunft: Das sind die Trends, WIN-Verlag, [online], Link [retrieved on 03.03.2023]