Has COVID-19 changed the landscape for multichannel retail, and if so what will the future bring?

It’s no surprise that the adoption of multichannel shopping behavior by consumers has risen during the pandemic. In both the US and Europe there was rapid adoption and growth in buy online and pick up in-store services, partly because many retailers quickly introduced things like curbside collection during lockdown.

During the pandemic, in the US the best online channel growth rates were achieved by more traditional retailers like Walmart and Target employing multichannel services, many of whom are now growing at a faster rate than online focused retailers like Amazon. (GlobalData).

Ecommerce has seen rapid growth during the pandemic, rising by over 31% in just three months in the US (U.S. Census Bureau), and shoppers are frequently using multiple platforms before making a purchase.

Rapidly changing consumer behaviours

Multichannel retail is constantly changing, especially during the uncertainty of last minute lock-downs and quick changes in shopper habits. Therefore, staying agile, responsive to change and creating an easy seamless shopping experience are vital for success.

Online and offline shopping channels are no longer considered separate, consumers simultaneously shop across channels, interacting with many touchpoints before making a purchase, expecting each interaction to be seamless.

In the US, over the course of 2020, the online non-food spend supported by physical stores has risen by 2.6% since the start of the year. And 71% of consumers said that not being able to visit stores during the height of the pandemic reduced the overall amount of money they spent on non-food. (GlobalData). However, ecommerce has had massive growth and 58% of consumers said they expect to do more online shopping after the pandemic than they did before it (Salesforce Survey). Online shopping is clearly on the rise, but don’t discount the role physical shops have to play alongside their online counterparts.

The challenge of consistency across platforms

Many retailers have quickly adapted to the “new normal” by bolstering their online presence and embracing new platforms. The challenge now is staying consistent across these channels and effectively implementing multichannel marketing along with multichannel selling. This can seem daunting, but having a skilled team of experts ready to project-manage with enthusiasm and scale using innovative technology will make the process fast, effective and straightforward.

With budgets being cut, and the peak Christmas season almost upon us many brands and agencies are now partnering with an offshore company for all their multichannel marketing needs, such as We Are Amnet. Taking advantage of the cheaper prices, exceptional quality and faster turnaround times that are on offer for their multichannel campaigns.

Future multichannel retail trends

This year retailers are reporting a correlation between traditional advertising, such as off-the-page ads, and an increase in online sales. So even though there has been an uptake in the use of shoppers using digital platforms and ordering through ecommerce sites, don’t discount traditional print media outlets either. Direct mail, PPC, influencer marketing and social media marketing all seem to be working well this year (IMRG).

If you haven’t already, now is the time to fully optimize your ecommerce website. Adobe have projected that of the overall online holiday spend (Nov 1 – Dec 31) in the US 42% of purchases will be made on smartphones. This will be an increase of $28.1 billion over 2019. Not only that but holiday spend in the U.S. is projected to reach $189 billion throughout the season—a 33% year-over-year increase. (AdWeek).

Consumers expect a unified shopping experience and streamlined platforms, using multiple devices as well as shopping in store. Its not enough just to look visually unified with the same tone of voice and visuals, shoppers details should be saved across platforms, two of the top five reasons for customers abandoning their shopping carts in the US is because of having to re-enter their address or credit card information (Statistica).

We Are Amnet has been working with brand and agency partners for over two decades, managing their creative production needs for multi-channel campaigns as well as website and app development.

If you’re looking for that perfect partner to deliver unmatched creative production services, whether it’s for your global advertising campaigns, Out of Home (OOH) advertising, digital, print or retail PoS, We Are Amnet can fully support you.  We Are Amnet provide expertise for your mass-market or personalised communications.