10 Omnichannel Retail Trends That You Can't Miss Out On! [2024]

If you are running an online retail business, you must have heard the term omnichannel. It's a retail strategy that integrates multiple channels such as physical stores, websites, and mobile apps to provide a seamless customer experience.

Interestingly, with the omnichannel approach purchase frequency is 250% higher than single-channel online sales in stores! All thanks to integrated shopping that enhances customer experiences on multiple touchpoints.

Gone are the days when a single avenue defined the brands. There is a reason why everything from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, is commercialized to the peak in today's retail environment. Only for one good reason: creating seamless shopping experiences.

Omnichannel shopping experiences give customers the flexibility to start their shopping journey on one channel and continue another channel with the same information in the process. Throughout the past few years, several significant trends have emerged to enhance retail omnichannel shopping.

Retail marketers are actively seeking omnichannel retail trends to stay competitive, meet customer expectations and increase engagement.

Therefore, in this blog, we will see how to implement omnichannel in retail with the latest trends, its importance and benefits.

What Is Omnichannel Retailing?

Omnichannel retailing refers to providing customers with a seamless shopping experience through multiple channels, including offline and online mediums. This consists of brick-and-mortar stores, websites, social media platforms, and mobile apps.

The omnichannel retail experience aims to create a convenient and unified customer experience, with multiple sales channels for customers to navigate smoothly from discovery to purchase.

An interesting statistic says that omnichannel strategy increases customer lifetime value by 30% than the single channel!

Businesses require to follow omnichannel retail trends to meet evolving customer demands and expand their outreach through different sales and marketing channels. Moreover, engaging customers through various channels and touchpoints cultivates solid relationships and boosts satisfaction. 

Example of Omnichannel Retailing

For instance, a customer discovers a product on an online shopping website. Customer wants to see it in person and heads to a nearby physical store.

Impressed by the in-store demonstration and in-person assistance from the staff influences them to make a purchase. This is how the convenience of multiple touchpoints including online and offline, is beneficial for both companies and customers.

What Are The 10 Latest Omnichannel Retail Trends?

Finally, it's time to explore the ten most popular retail omnichannel trends. These trends will provide valuable insights into the current direction of retail strategy and uncover opportunities for businesses to enhance customer experience and stay ahead in the competitive landscape.

1. Introduction of AI and AR

The omnichannel retail strategy must include AI and AR in their business models. They are being used to enhance customer engagement and overall online purchases.

Let's understand how each can be implemented in the online retail world.

Artificial Intelligence - 78% of brands have already implemented AI tools in their online stores. AI is not just a cool factor but a transformative approach for the online retail industry.

Curious to know how?

Customers don't like to waste time in search queries. If search engines don't understand what customers are trying to search, they will likely leave the website.

Thanks to Experro’s AI-powered search that understands natural language queries, that facilitates users in finding the product they are looking for quickly. It emphasizes creating personalized navigation of products.

Augmented Reality - Did you know that 57% of customers say they will buy from a brand that provides AR experience!

Omnichannel shoppers value real-time online experiences rather than standing in long queues. Shoppers love to feel the products before making a purchase.

AR in virtual shopping allows users to see and feel the product in real time before making a purchase. With AR, customers can try a variety of products in a virtual space.

Moreover, AR experiences are engaging and interactive, which reduces browsing time for customers and helps them to make quick decisions. This enhances confidence in product selection and reduces the return rates.

Why will this trend work?

AI and AR make the shopping experience easy and enable customers to make a purchase decision quickly. This significantly increases revenue.

2. Personalization to Increase Engagement

Personalization is a vital omnichannel retail trend that never gets outdated.

A total of 88% of customers are likely to buy from a company that provides tailored customer experiences.

Creating personalized experiences on different channels, such as social media platforms, websites, and mobile device apps, aids in building robust customer relationships.

It's a win-win when marketers know what customers want and they provide the users with exactly that on their phone screens!

In retail eCommerce, almost everything can be personalized for customers. From the very first product recommendation that brought customers to the website to the personalized pop-ups of items in their mailboxes, the shopping experience can be tailored for each customer.

Tip! - Adopting a power-pack headless CMS solution is a great way to create personalized shopping experiences for customers and elevate the omnichannel retail experience.

Why will this trend work?

Omnichannel personalization is one of the most effective omnichannel retail trends. With personalization, you are not only helping customers with their purchase journey but building a connection between your brand and customers. It fosters a sense of loyalty and trust that leads to more purchases!

3. Using Customer Data and Insights

In this omnichannel retail trend, businesses use customer data to craft hyper-personalized marketing campaigns, curate product recommendations, and refine their overall strategies.

Using customer data and insights allows you to offer them the right product at the right time! Retailers gather data from customer interactions to understand their preferences, consumer expectations, and behaviors.

By customer requirements and purchase history, businesses can offer accurate product recommendations. This helps to increase customer engagement and conversion.

For instance, a customer scrolls through an online website, puts a particular product in the cart, but needs to make a purchase. Now, the company uses the data to send personalized messages to customers to complete the purchase.

Why will this trend work?

Customer data and insights help to redefine marketing strategies according to customer preferences. This approach leads to more engagement.

4. Consistent User Experience

83% of consumers believe that a consistent user experience across all devices is important!

Creating consistent brand experience is another important omnichannel retail trend. It enhances customer loyalty and satisfaction and allows them to continue the shopping journey on any digital device or channel.

This omnichannel retail trend focuses on whether your customer is browsing on a mobile device, desktop, or tablet, they should enjoy seamless functionality across all devices.

For instance, if a customer discovers the product on a website and then visits the physical store, there should be similarity in the information, look and feel of the product. This builds trust in customers and helps to establish a better brand image.

Why will this trend work?

Providing consistent user experience simply enables users to enjoy the browsing experience. This is how they stay longer on the website and increase the chances of making a purchase.

5. Mobile-First Approach

Approximately 54% of web traffic comes from mobile phones.

This omnichannel retail trend is unavoidable in today's digital era. With a significant portion of online shopping on mobile phones, retailers design their online experiences primarily for mobile users. This means websites or apps are fully adaptable to mobile screen sizes as well.

Especially, Millennials and Gen Z are increasingly drawn to online purchases from their mobile phones due to the convenience and easy accessibility.

For instance, a clothing store's website would be easy to navigate on a small screen. Users can easily navigate through the listed products, view them in detail, and make purchases without any hassle.

Tip! - A headless CMS that builds blazing-fast eCommerce storefront that looks beautiful on desktop or mobile devices is a great way to optimize the first approach.

Why will this trend work?

The mobile-first approach helps to reduce bounce rates. Customers stay engaged on a mobile for longer due to easy accessibility. This significantly improves engagement and click-through rates.

6. Selling Through Content

There are numerous benefits of selling through content. It provides useful information about products and boosts omnichannel marketing. Moreover, content marketing is a great way to engage with customers as it encourages customers to engage through comments, likes, and reviews.

Customers expect brands to create relevant content on different channels. Retailers use content like blogs, videos, and social media to engage customers and provide helpful information. This can help customers make informed decisions and build brand loyalty.

Tip! – Enhancing content delivery with CDN is a great way to improve website performance and ensure fast loading times.

Why will this trend work?

Selling through content trend is famous among the popular omnichannel retail trends that aligns with the way how modern customers seek information and engage with the brands. This ultimately works as an effective marketing tactic for driving conversions.

7. Virtual Assistance and Customer Support

An interesting statistic says that 69% of the time, chatbots handle full conversations with customers. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are helping customers with questions and issues in real time.

Without investing in manpower, chatbots allow companies to handle multiple customer queries simultaneously. Interestingly, they can also gather customer data and feedback to improve overall customer experiences.

Why will this trend work?

Including virtual assistance and customer support in omnichannel retail trends make shopping more convenient and help customers with quick product discovery. Moreover, chatbots provide round-the-clock support, ensuring the customer receives a response anytime.

8. The Legacy of Brick-and-Mortar Stores

54% of shoppers will look at a product in-store and then buy online.

Brick-and-mortar stores are no exception to omnichannel retail trends. However, marketers often misunderstand omnichannel customer experience and multichannel, but omnichannel is more than just being an online store. It's about blending the online and physical stores, so customers have a convenient shopping experience everywhere.

Even with the rise of online shopping, people still enjoy visiting physical stores. A large segment of customers still wants to touch and feel the product before making a purchase. Providing them with physical store options increases customer engagement rates, as in-store staff can provide immediate assistance.

Why will this trend work?

Including in-store shopping experiences is an important omnichannel strategy. This gives customers the best of both online and offline worlds encouraging them to make a purchase.

9. Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS)

A total of 50% of shoppers expect that they will be able to make a purchase online and pick up in-store.

Buying online and picking up in-store is also one of the significant omnichannel retail trends that allows customers to browse and select items anytime, anywhere, without the pressure of store closing times. It enables eCommerce and brick-and-mortar synergy. Customers can often skip the delivery charges associated with online shopping by picking up in-store.

Customers can pick the product up immediately from the store instead of waiting for the product to arrive. Moreover, this approach increases the chances of cross-selling and upselling of products. Let us explain how!

When a customer visits a physical store to purchase the item, they are treated by the staff in person. The staff can have the opportunity to suggest complimentary products.

For instance, if a customer goes to pick a pair of shoes, staff could possibly show the customer matching socks. And they can try them in real-time. This not only helps to drive revenue but enables a personalized shopping experience.

Why will this trend work?

Buy online and pick up in-store omnichannel retail strategy bridges the gap between online convenience and tangible experience for customers.

10. Buy Online, Return In-Store (BORIS)

Providing buy online and return in-store facilities shows a customer-centric approach and enhances satisfaction. Moreover, the in-store staff can provide immediate assistance and get feedback to improve product offerings and address potential issues.

Undoubtedly, buy online, pick up in-store, and buy online, return in-store approaches are lucrative omnichannel retail trend for companies and convenient for customers. Yet, it may create confusion in inventory management. This is one of the prime reasons why retailers are struggling with omnichannel!

Worry not, Experro has got you covered!

Experro offers the perfect solution to this challenge. It provides a centralized content repository, keeping a record of all transactions, product information, and stock levels across both online and in-store channels.

Why will this trend work?

During the in-store return process, the staff can seize the opportunity to suggest an alternative product and increase sales.

3 Key Benefits of Omnichannel Retail Strategy

Omnichannel retail trends have several benefits. The three significant benefits are as follows:

1. Increased Sales Potential

Using 3+ channels increase order rate by 494%. That's a big boost in orders and omnichannel growth!

Having more ways for customers to shop is like opening more doors to your store. Let's say you have an online shop, a physical store, and even a mobile app.

Customers can choose where they feel most comfortable shopping. This means more chances for them to find what they're looking for while shopping online.

Providing a seamless omni channel shopping experience elevates brand trust and loyalty. Satisfied customers are more likely to return for purchase in the future, driving long-term customer relationships.

Moreover, the in-store engagement encourages customers to try products and buy them immediately, which increases sales.

2. Reduced Cart Abandonment

Have you ever added something to your online cart, then got distracted and never actually bought it? However, you can pick up right where you left off with omnichannel.

Imagine you're browsing on your phone during lunch break and adding a couple of items to your cart. Later, when you're on your computer at home, those items are still there waiting for you.

There is no need to start over, meaning fewer abandoned carts and more completed purchases. This enhances omnichannel shopping experience and helps to retain customers.

3. Effective Marketing Attribution

Knowing which marketing efforts drive sales is like having a treasure map to success. By enabling retail omnichannel, you can track exactly where your customers are coming from. Did they find you through a Google search? Or maybe from an Instagram ad?

Marketers can allocate resources to the channels where they're getting most engagement and sales.

This way, you can focus your efforts where they're most effective. For example, if you see that a lot of sales come from Instagram, you might want to invest more in that platform.

Case Study – Diamonds Direct

Diamonds Direct is America's largest, most successful jewelry company, with over 15 brick-and-mortar locations in the US. It operates on a B2C model and offers diamond jewelry on online channels as well.

As a part of this multi-layer retail omnichannel strategy, Diamonds Direct has launched its online platform using Experro.

From inventory management, storing the content in a unified location, and personalization to providing a seamless customer experience, Experro aims to exceed customer expectations as always.

We at Experro believe that it's all about creating convenience for customers.

In omnichannel shopping, customers' expectations have evolved, placing convenience and accessibility at the forefront. Customers now expect products and services to be readily available at the tip of their fingers, regardless of the platform they're using.

Omnichannel content distribution using headless CMS has emerged as a strategic response to these changing consumer demands, focusing on seamless integration across various platforms to provide customers with a cohesive and streamlined journey.

Conclusion

Following the latest omnichannel retail trends empowers marketers to meet changing customer expectations and increase engagement. The presence at multiple touchpoints increases brand awareness and helps to attract more customers. These trends of omnichannel retailing enable businesses to stay ahead of competitors and drive in more revenue.

Book a demo with our team to explore how Experro can help you enforce omnichannel business and drive revenue.