Your customers want choice, convenience, and a seamless experience wherever and whenever they choose to shop with you.
The question you need to ask yourself is this: “Do you give your customers what they want?” If the answer is not a definitive ‘Yes’ then something needs to change and one of the easiest ways of doing this is to have connected multi-channel selling.
For example, can you sell online and can the order be picked up in store? Can you sell in-store and fulfill anywhere? And can you sell from different marketplaces and fulfill either from your warehouses or from your stores?
In this article we’ll show you:
What multi-channel selling is and why it’s important for your business
How multi-channel selling can help future proof your retail business
How multi-channel selling can elevate your CX
What is multi-channel selling?
Simply put, multi-channel selling is the practice of selling your products on more than one sales channel. The most obvious example of this is selling from your stores and your website. But multi-channel selling is no longer as simple as this.
There’s online and mobile marketplaces to consider, you can sell directly from social media platforms and comparison sites, you can sell on Google and the latest developments in email technology mean customers will be able to complete a purchase without leaving their inbox.
Each of your different channels will have a different focus and help you reach different consumers at different stages in their buying journeys.
Why is multi-channel selling important?
Customer journeys are no longer linear. Your customers want to create their own journeys. You no longer need to map them out for them.
With a multi-channel approach, you can meet your customers wherever they are and at whatever point in their buying journey they are on. It also means you can meet their preferences - whether that’s a particular channel or device.
Why is this important? Well, according to a survey conducted by NRF prior to the pandemic, 83% of shoppers indicated that convenience while shopping was more important to them than five years previously. In a post-pandemic world, this figure is most likely to have increased even more.
Multi-channel selling means it’s easier for you to reach new markets, it increases your touchpoints, can expand your brand recognition and it can help you stay ahead of your competition.
In short, not only does multi-channel selling give you a wider range of tools to meet your customers, it also offers them more convenience and choice.
How multi-channel selling can help future proof your retail business
One of the biggest lessons retail learnt from the pandemic was the importance of resilience. Being resilient in the face of adversity was much easier for retail businesses who were flexible and able to adapt quickly to circumstances unfolding around them.
With physical stores around the world forced to close their stores due to various different restrictions, retailers were forced to do two things. Firstly, they had to turn to - and rely more heavily on - other channels to sell their products. And, secondly, they had to diversify and find another use for their stores.
When they had the right technology in place, retailers were able to turn their stores into micro-fulfillment centers and ‘dark stores.’
A great example of this would be retailers using Connected Retail by Zalando. They were able to use their stores to pack and ship goods that customers had bought through Zalando’s marketplace. This meant they were able to still provide their store associates with employment even though their stores were closed and were able to keep stock moving that otherwise would’ve been stuck in locked down stores.
Nudie Jeans were one brand who were able to do this. With Connected Retail by Zalando, Sitoo was to help Nudie Jeans make use of their stores, so they could deliver products from their stores, despite the great drop in footfall. This was done by connecting them to the Zalando marketplace.
How multi-channel selling can elevate your CX
One of the biggest challenges facing retailers in 2022 is this; you have to be where your customers are. And you have to be there at the right time.
Most shoppers like to browse online, read reviews and compare prices. They might discover your product from an influencer they follow on Instagram or through a post they see on Pinterest. If you’re not visible in the places your customers like to hangout then they’re far less likely to find you.
With a multi-channel strategy, and visibility on platforms like Zalando, you will elevate your customer experience, CX, by being where customers are - putting you in a stronger position to give them what they want.
Elevate your CX and you’ll improve word of mouth recommendations, have a higher customer retention rate, and a higher purchase rate.
Sitoo x Connected Retail by Zalando
Sitoo entered the partnership with Connected Retail by Zalando in February 2021.
Since then,120 stores and counting have already joined Connected Retail by Zalando through the Sitoo POS and Unified Commerce Platform. Currently, Sitoo can connect brands across ten countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. As stated previously, one of these brands, Nudie Jeans, uses the Sitoo solution to connect their denim shops to the Zalando platform, enabling them to sell and deliver in-store products to millions of online shoppers.
By working with Sitoo, retailers save both time and money, as they do not have to invest in establishing or creating a POS integration on their own. With Connected Retail by Zalando, the technical connection is already set up for brands through Sitoo, making the integration process fast and seamless.
Sitoo’s technical solutions allow local stores to better serve their customers and increase their brand awareness, revenue and stock turnover. Sitoo is proud to join Zalando in their push for a more connected future.
If you’d like to know more about how this integration can benefit you, we’d love to hear from you.
Last updated: September 12, 2024
