In an ultra-connected world, companies must constantly innovate to remain competitive.
The sales strategy they put in place is a determining factor.
It is no longer possible for a company to be satisfied with a single sales channel.
A single presence on the web or, on the contrary, a physical presence alone is no longer enough to reach enough customers to develop a business.
So it’s time to turn to an omnichannel strategy.
Let’s take a look at what this means and what it can do for your business.
Defining omnichannel strategy
The aim of an omnichannel strategy is to provide customers with a seamless, consistent experience across all available sales channels.
The company’s strategy will therefore encompass physical sales in-store, sales on an online store, on a mobile application or even on social networks.
The omnichannel strategy will therefore emphasize the integration and synchronization of the various sales channels.
The purchasing process must be simple and transparent for customers, whatever sales channel they choose to use.
You are only present online
If you only sell your products via your online store, you’ll quickly reach a development threshold that will be difficult to surpass.
The tools available to you to develop your customer base are mainly advertising campaigns, marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).
The problem is that the effectiveness of all these tools is not totally guaranteed and fluctuates.
Online competition is fierce, and it’s increasingly difficult to really stand out from the crowd and stay one step ahead.
Another criterion that can dissuade a customer from placing an order is delivery and the management of any returns.
Despite very fast delivery times, the last mile remains a problem for many customers.
Whether it’s a question of cost constraints, hours when you need to be available, or simply trust, there are many obstacles to ordering online.
This problem can largely be solved by also offering a traditional store.
Of course, there’s no question of launching a blind venture that will undoubtedly require some investment.
A feasibility study will help you get off to a better start.
Nevertheless, adding a physical boutique to your sales channels can greatly enhance the credibility of your company or brand.
It can complement the services offered by your online store.
The products on offer may be slightly different.
Above all, you can offer delivery of online orders directly to the store, as well as returns in the event of a problem.
It’s always reassuring for customers to know that if the product they’ve ordered isn’t right for them, or if it’s faulty, they can take it back to a boutique and deal with a human being to manage the return or exchange.
You sell exclusively through traditional channels
These days, it’s hard to be “content” with a traditional boutique.
Even with a strong reputation, the business of a traditional boutique is strongly limited by its geographical context.
Most customers do not travel long distances to visit a boutique, whatever the products and prices on offer.
The development of sales will therefore be limited, whatever the sales and marketing strategy implemented.
Even for a traditional boutique, a website has become essential.
Naturally, it allows you to advertise your store and its products.
It also enables you to manage your brand’s marketing operations.
And thanks to the website, you’ll also be able to reach a much more distant clientele who wouldn’t make the trip to the store anyway.
It’s important not to settle for a simple Facebook page, X feed (e.g. Twitter) or Instagram account.
It’s better to create a complete site right away.
That way, you can optimize the advertising, marketing, sales and logistics aspects of your business.
What’s more, you’ll be able to build up your customer file and contact list more quickly.
Why set up a truly omnichannel operation?
Whether you’re starting from a website or a traditional boutique, implementing a truly omnichannel strategy requires careful thought upstream.
The different sales channels need to share not only the company’s logistics, but also all its data: accounting, inventory, customer files, contact lists, customer relationship management, after-sales service, returns management, etc. If this joint management of the different channels is not properly anticipated, you risk ending up managing several separate activities.
Instead of simplifying the management of your business, reducing costs and boosting sales, all you’ll end up doing is multiplying problems and errors.
That’s why it’s so important to think carefully about your omnichannel strategy, and put in place effective tools to manage the different sales channels in a coherent way. 
The benefits of an omnichannel strategy
Implementing a truly omnichannel strategy has many advantages for your business:
- Enhanced customer experience: a consistent, high-quality experience across all sales channels makes it easier to improve customer satisfaction and build loyalty.
- Sales optimization: the audience reached by an omnichannel strategy is much wider than with just a website or just a physical store.
By multiplying channels in a coherent way, you multiply sales opportunities and increase conversion rates. - More reliable data: data from different channels can be aggregated and combined.
The result is a much more complete and accurate picture of customer behavior and purchases.
As a result, marketing strategies can be better targeted and more effective. - Easier adaptation to change: the omnichannel strategy is much more flexible.
It’s much easier and quicker to adapt to changes in customer buying habits, so you can always meet demand more effectively.
How do you implement an omnichannel strategy?
To implement a coherent and effective omnichannel strategy, it’s important to follow a number of key steps.
1- Analyze the customer experience
It’s essential to know where you’re starting from before implementing an omnichannel strategy.
We need to understand how customers currently interact with the company through the various existing channels.
Each channel must be carefully analyzed.
We need to identify the different points of contact for customers, the strengths and weaknesses of each channel, and any obstacles to a quality experience.
2- Developing an integrated platform
Clearly, you need to invest in a robust technology platform capable of managing all sales channels.
This management must be integrated and the different sales channels synchronized.
As we have seen, simply managing the various channels separately can only lead to problems in the long term.
The e-commerce platform must therefore be able to synchronize simply and easily with the system used to manage the in-store point of sale.
In this way, it will be possible for customers to consult stock levels in real time, place informed orders and collect their purchases in-store if they so wish.
3- Train staff in the new tools
Of course, staff must be trained in the use of the tools that are put in place, and made aware of the importance of providing quality service whatever the sales channel.
The omnichannel strategy must be perfectly understood by everyone.
To achieve this, staff must have all the necessary skills to be effective.
4- Implement a continuous improvement and optimization process
It’s important to bear in mind that the processes put in place for the omnichannel strategy can and must always be improved.
This means constant monitoring of processes.
Customer feedback must be taken into account, areas for improvement identified and corrective actions implemented.
Implementing an omnichannel strategy with Prestashop
Prestashop provides all the functionality you need to set up an effective online store.
As this solution is highly customizable, a Prestashop online store can provide a good basis for implementing an omnichannel strategy.
The Prestashop theme used can be customized to deliver a consistent customer experience across all channels.
It is then possible to synchronize stocks, orders, prices and promotions between the different channels.
All you need to do is integrate the right modules into your Prestashop site.
There are many of them, both free and paid.
Here are 5 examples of Prestashop modules that can help you implement your omnichannel strategy.
Prestashop POS (Point Of Sale)
Prestashop POS is a pay module offering a complete solution for managing multiple physical stores and synchronizing them with the online store.
Data is synchronized for inventory, product and order management between the online store and the physical points of sale.
This makes it possible to obtain a real-time view of stock levels or product performance, manage customers, process orders offline…
Store Manager for Prestashop
This paid module enables you to synchronize your Prestashop online store data with other online sales platforms.
For example, inventory can be updated across multiple sales channels.
This means you can easily manage your products, orders and customers across different platforms, while delivering a consistent user experience.
Prestashop Connector for Odoo
Odoo is an ERP, a complete open source business management suite.
It offers a wide range of functionalities.
For example, you can manage customer relations (CRM), accounting, inventory and human resources.
This solution is highly flexible and can be adapted to suit the needs of any business. Prestashop Connector for Odoo is a free model which, as the name suggests, connects your online store to Odoo ERP.
Customers, orders and inventory are thus synchronized and commercial operations centralized.
Phimag e-commerce module
This module allows you to synchronize products and other information related to a physical store.
It’s part of a wider solution for checkout and store management.
It is designed for online store owners who wish to expand their business to include online sales, while maintaining a single management solution for customers, products, orders and inventory.
Clictill cash register software
Clictill is an online cash register.
It makes it easy to manage a physical store as if it were a conventional cash register.
Its numerous modules can also be used to add a wide range of functions, such as product, customer, order and stock management.
Data from the physical store and the online store are synchronized in real time.
In this way, all data (orders, inventory, accounting, etc.) from both physical and online stores are permanently accessible.
To conclude on omnichannel strategy
Omnichannel strategy is the key to meeting customers’ ever-increasing expectations.
In a constantly evolving and increasingly competitive business environment, an integrated and consistent approach across all sales channels is a considerable asset.
Taking into account customer expectations and user experience will improve processes, boost sales and enhance a company’s competitiveness.
If you too would like to adopt an omnichannel strategy for your business, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
You’ll benefit from my experience in e-commerce, and together we’ll find the best solutions to make your project a success.
