Multichannel Commerce: Getting Your Products In The Hands Of Your Customers

Many online retailers focus on just one delivery channel for getting their products and services in front of potential customers. Traditional web sites complete with its own shopping carts are the most common. Many retailers went online out of necessity to to compliment their brick and mortar stores. Regardless of how you get started, its imperative to think beyond the traditional web site as a way to market and sell your products This multifaceted approach is accomplished through Multichannel Marketing, also known as Multichannel ECommerce.

So what exactly is Multichannel Marketing about? Some people define multichannel marketing as a combination of brick-and-mortar, catalog, and Internet sales. Others define it strictly in an online sense defined by the various online channels: single or multiple websites, public marketplaces (Amazon, Ebay, etc), as well as shopping comparison sites. Any way you define it, this approach to multichannel marketing can significantly increase your sales..

Regardless of how big the ecommerce industry is today, it has significant room for growth. Full market penetration is still less than, or around 20 percent of the population. Adding additional sales channels gives you the opportunity to not only expose yourself more broadly to the market, but also improve your customer’s experience. The more exposure you have to existing and potential customers, the better the customer experience tends to be. For example, sometimes customers want to reach you through the telephone to ask questions, or clarify a choice in products. Having a call center (or providing a phone number) gives you another opportunity to make sales by offering upgrades or answering the customer’s product questions. Other times, it may be through the convenience of a website formatted for mobile users on the go. Sometimes, they may want a deal and would like to checkout your online auctions. Regardless, you want to be out in front of your customers in as many ways as possible.

However, running a multichannel business is much harder than focusing on a single sales channel. For example, one of the hardest areas I struggled with (and still do to some degree) is maintaining inventory levels, across the various channels. Software and services are getting better to facilitate this type of multichannel activity, but it is still far from easy. These sales channels provide other technology challenges as well. Keeping information straight across channels and delivery systems is difficult. If a customer orders over the web, then calls your call center, will your call center have immediate access to the sale? (In many cases your online store is not connected to your call center until the next “sales feed”. These are just some of the challenges that plague multichannel merchants.

Regardless of the challenges, getting your products in front of others is key to growth. Just take it one step at a time. I treat each sales channel as its own little division (profit center) within the overall company. This way, as you grow, you can manage each based on their profitability, as well as dedicate resources as you go.