Omni-channel is the new buzzword for retailers
Retailers are no longer thinking of luring customers using the so-called multi-channel approach
Mumbai: Retailers such as Shoppers Stop, The Mobile Store, Croma and Spencer’s Retail are talking up their strategy of integrating their stores with their websites as they battle with online retailers such as Flipkart and Amazon.com for customers.
Executives at many traditional retailers are no longer thinking of luring customers using the so-called multi-channel approach; now it’s omni-channel, which offers the same benefits, value and shopping experience across formats.
Indian companies are slowly starting to do what large retailers in the US and the UK, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., have been doing for the past two years: trying to make e-commerce a crucial medium of sales.
“Over the next 12-15 months every large player who wants to make an impact and make sure that their customer base doesn’t get eroded will move (towards omni-channel),” said Govind Shrikhande, managing director, Shoppers Stop Ltd.
Infiniti Retail Ltd, which runs the Croma electronics store chain, offered different prices on its website and its stores when it started out. To avoid confusing customers, the company then began offering the same prices across formats, Infiniti chief executive Ajit Joshi said in an interview at the Retail Leadership Summit in Mumbai.
Infiniti has also started including its website in its marketing campaigns, Joshi said.
Mohit Kampani, chief executive at Spencer’s said the omni-channel approach is about making the shopping experience “seamless across” mediums and offering the same “brand proposition”.
“If you’re offering the best value offline, you need to match that online as well,” he said. “If you’re known for service then you need to maintain that kind of quality online too.”
Access to the Internet from phones will change retail in a significant way, said Himanshu Taware, chief executive officer at The Mobile Store.
“As far as the customer is concerned, from our earlier, linear pattern of thinking—that I will know what the customer wants, then I will make the product, then make the customer aware, and hope that he converts into a buyer—this model has gone bust in the new paradigm,” Taware said. “The customer experience now needs to be integrated. All the touch points with the customers that you can have—from the website to the social media platform to the retail store and the service centre—all these need to be integrated. You need to make yourself accessible to the customer from anywhere.”
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First Published:5 Feb 2014, 06:31 PM IST
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