Marketing has changed significantly over the last four decades. Before the internet, brick-and-mortar stores used radio, television, or print ads to reach their customers. The internet (and eCommerce) brought about changes in the form of digital marketing- specifically search and display ads. Eventually, they evolved into device-specific ads, social media ads, separate ads for mobile apps and websites, and so on.
As retailers faced the challenge of engaging customers across all those channels, they adapted in the form of multi-channel, cross-channel, and omni-channel marketing strategies. However, determining the ideal approach among these three remains a major challenge for eCommerce businesses. Let’s decode these so you can choose the best one for your business.
Multi-channel, Cross-channel, and Omni-channel eCommerce Marketing Techniques: Key Distinctions
Multi-channel marketing can be considered the foundation- the concept from which the other two have emerged. Understanding their connection and individual strengths is the first step to building an optimal marketing strategy.
Multi-channel Marketing
The method of interacting with customers across several sales and communication channels is known as multi-channel marketing. The focus is on reaching a wider audience by leveraging different platforms. However, each channel operates independently. The marketing strategy for each touchpoint can be entirely different from others, making the customer experience inconsistent.
For instance, consider a retail business advertising its products through social media (Facebook, Instagram etc.), email marketing, website, eStores on marketplaces like Amazon or eBay, and brick-and-mortar stores. This way, customers have the option of purchasing the products either online or offline from the business. However, this approach also poses the risk of fragmented consumer experiences and inconsistent brand messaging across different touchpoints. Utilizing a reliable logistics partner like shipwithmina.com can help ensure smoother operations and more consistent service, enhancing the overall customer experience.
Cross-channel Marketing
Cross-channel marketing refers to using a strategic combination of relevant marketing activity across multiple touchpoints. This helps keep the brand message consistent and enhance the overall consumer experience.
An instance of cross-channel marketing is a product launch for an electronics company. Social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube can be used to release teaser videos to launch the campaign and build interest among users. Subscribers to the business’s email list can be sent exclusive pre-order discounts and first access to product details. The company can also work with well-known tech influencers on YouTube who can post unpacking and review videos on their channels. To sum it up, the branding and promotions are coordinated using many channels, so the customers experience consistent messaging and as a result, engagement and conversions can increase.
However, while the consumer gets a unified experience, the business does not. They have to separately monitor and collect data from the email marketing system, social media platforms, eCommerce sites, website, and advertising campaigns. Since this supporting infrastructure is siloed, the workload of the marketing team increases significantly.
Omni-channel Marketing
Omni-channel marketing builds on the multi-channel strategy (i.e., using many channels at once) but takes it further by providing customers with a seamless and integrated experience as they switch between various channels.
For example, consider this omni-channel strategy of an online retailer in the fashion domain. A shopper begins browsing the retailer’s mobile app for clothing products and adds items to their shopping cart before finding out that their size is out of stock. However, the integrated inventory system displays that their size is available in the retail store. The customer then goes to the actual store to try on the chosen items. The personnel in the store have access to the customer’s account, which includes their shopping basket and preferences. The buyer then completes the transaction by making the purchase on the retailer’s website by combining both online and offline channels, and their data and preferences are synchronized across all touchpoints.
Here, the coordination is not simply between all potential user touchpoints, but also among backend elements, like inventory and transactions.
Which Marketing Strategy to Choose?
All three strategies discussed above are effective but each one can be used to meet a specialized goal. This section covers how you can pick which suits your business the best.
- Assess what the competition is doing and which marketing plan is proving more effective for them using competitor mapping. You can gain important knowledge from this and use it to guide your decision-making.
- Use the selected technique on a lesser scale while regularly assessing its effectiveness. Based on current data, the plan can always be adjusted.
- Make sure the plan you choose complies with data protection laws and protects all of your customers’ personal information.
- It’s crucial to get customer feedback. Be prepared to adjust to your clients’ wants and preferences while remaining receptive to what they have to say.
- Implement reliable tracking and analytics tools to assess the success of the marketing plan and make data-driven decisions.
Integration & Implementation Challenges
Omni-channel, cross-channel, or multi-channel marketplace management can present various challenges for businesses. Let’s explore them in detail.
· Product Data Entry and Listings
When a business wants to expand its presence across multiple online marketplaces, one of the key challenges is eCommerce product data entry and listing. This is mainly because each marketplace has its formats and listing requirements, making it time-consuming and labor-intensive to manually enter all of the information, such as titles, descriptions, images, categories, etc. into each platform.
· Bulk Product Uploads
For huge businesses with a large inventory, manually uploading each product is not practical. Bulk product uploads become necessary to save time and effort. However, accurately formatting data for bulk uploads can take time.
· Product Description Management
Product description management is essential for giving customers accurate information and ensuring consistency across all channels. However, manually writing unique descriptions on each channel, optimizing them with the right keywords and ensuring they follow the right guidelines can be difficult and error-prone, especially when changes are required.
· Pricing and Promotion Management
There lies a challenge in managing fluctuating prices (e.g., X today, 2X next month, and 1.7X due to discounts in the next festive season) and promptly reflecting these adjustments across all platforms in near real-time. Businesses need to align with such dynamic pricing trends while maintaining uniformity across channels.
· Inventory Synchronization
To prevent overselling or underselling of products, keeping inventory levels synchronized across different marketplaces is crucial. To guarantee this, the inventory levels must be updated in real-time.
· Data Quality Control
Typographical or informational errors while entering data can have a negative effect on client experiences and lower sales. To reduce such problems, strict data quality control procedures must be used.
Must Read – Mastering multichannel management: 10 strategies for overcoming challenges
Outsourcing: A Potential Solution
· Technical support and expertise
Technical help and knowledge related to multi-channel management can be accessed via outsourcing to specialized service providers. These businesses offer expertise in managing several channels, integrating channels and systems, streamlining data, and resolving technological incompatibilities.
· Cost-Effectiveness
Outsourcing for multi-channel inventory management and multi-channel marketplace listing for eCommerce activities might be a less expensive option than hiring and training in-house personnel. It enables companies to leverage outside resources without making lengthy commitments.
· Faster Implementation
Outsourcing speeds up the integration process because specialized suppliers are familiar with efficient multi-channel marketing strategies and best practices.
· Concentrate on Core Competencies
By outsourcing multi-channel inventory management and multi-channel marketplace listing tasks, businesses can concentrate on their core competencies and strategic initiatives.
Wrapping Up
Businesses wishing to increase their eCommerce marketing efforts must comprehend the distinctions between multi-channel, cross-channel, and omni-channel strategies.
However, you should carefully analyze the target demographic, product offers, and resources before deciding on the best eCommerce marketing plan. Each strategy has benefits and drawbacks, and the decision should be made based on the particular objectives and resources that your business has at its disposal.
Author Bio
Jessica Campbell is an eCommerce consultant and content strategist. She has published over 2000 articles & informative write-ups about eCommerce & Amazon marketplace solutions covering Amazon listing optimization, Amazon PPC management services, Amazon SEO & marketing, Amazon store setup, and Amazon product data entry. Her well-researched and valuable write-ups have helped thousands of businesses uncover rich insights, strengthen their business processes, and stay afloat amidst the rising competition.
