Omnichannel Retailing Strategy: Benefits and Examples

Consumers have long since become accustomed to every business operating on an omnichannel model.

Whether they want to buy online and pickup in-store, browse in-store and buy online, or any number of combinations and permutations, customers expect to be able to travel through your funnel in a mix of IRL and digital experiences. 

But just because customer expectations have changed, doesn't mean it's easy for retailers to deliver. And what exactly does omnichannel retailing mean, anyway?

In a growing online world, it becomes harder and harder to differentiate real tactics from buzzwords. To add to that, the word “multichannel” often gets thrown into the mix, and it can be confusing to understand how multichannel and omnichannel are different.

Here is the why, what, and how of an omnichannel retailing strategy to cover your customers from beginning to end—and why unification is at the heart of omnichannel success.

What is an omnichannel retail strategy?

An omnichannel retail strategy integrates multiple shopping channels to provide a seamless customer experience. This strategy can involve synchronizing online and in-store inventories, offering in-store pickup for online purchases, and using mobile apps for personalized in-store experiences.

A unified customer data model built on first-party data is at the core of a successful omnichannel retail strategy. An effective omnichannel approach integrates this first-party data across all touchpoints, creating a holistic picture of each customer.

First-party data is customer data that you own, and that your customers have opted-in to share with you. It's where customers are clicking, it's the forms they fill out—and it's the foundation of everything that comes next in modern retail.

A unified data model allows retailers to:

• Personalize experiences across channels: From your website to your physical store, email marketing to social media, first-party data enables consistent, tailored interactions.
• Adapt to privacy changes: As third-party cookies become obsolete, first-party data future-proofs your strategy against regulatory and privacy shifts.
• Enable seamless transitions: Customers expect consistency when shopping online, in-store, or through a mobile app. First-party data makes this seamless experience possible.
• Drive cost-effective acquisition: Tools leveraging first-party data, like Shopify Audiences, can significantly reduce customer acquisition costs.

By centering your omnichannel strategy around a strong first-party data foundation, you create a more resilient, adaptable, and customer-centric retail experience that can evolve with changing consumer expectations.

Single channel vs. multichannel vs. omnichannel retail

• Single channel: A business that sells its products or services through only one channel, such as a retail store.
• Multichannel: A business that sells through multiple channels, such as a brick-and-mortar store, an ecommerce site, and marketplaces.
• Omnichannel: A business that offers seamless shopping across all of its channels, such as physical stores, online stores, marketplaces, mobile apps, and catalogs.

The central idea of omnichannel is that every customer interaction changes the customer’s overall experience of your product and brand.

Omnichannel strategy example

Pressing questions surround a truly omnichannel retail strategy:

• Can your customers browse a product in-store, scan it with your app, and then add it to their bag to purchase later at home in a different size?
• Can they browse your online store for new styles, explore those outfits on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, then get an in-store coupon to redeem?
• Does your data connect in-store purchases so loyal customers get notified on Messenger when similar styles are released online or off?
• Can your customers search for your products on Amazon or another marketplace, then purchase them in-person?
• Can you offer personalized experiences that don’t feel intrusive and offer real value to customers? 

They should be able to do all those things and more.

To illustrate, let’s look at an example from discovery to checkout and beyond:

Discovery

The entire omnichannel customer journey typically begins with discovery. A customer will research products, find detailed information, and compare prices across different channels, such as the company website, retailer websites, online marketplaces, in-store, and on social media.

Personalization plays a huge role in discovery. Retailers can use unified customer data to create dynamic segments for targeted marketing. This means a customer browsing shoes online might see personalized recommendations based on their previous purchases or browsing history across all channels.

Purchase

Once customers have identified the product they want to purchase, they typically move to the purchase phase. Here, customers can make a purchase through a retailer’s website, an online marketplace, or a physical store.

Fulfillment

After the purchase has been made, the fulfillment stage kicks in. This starts when the customer receives confirmation of their order, making the purchase official. 

Behind the scenes, retailers typically partner with third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to coordinate the warehousing, picking, packing, and shipping of products to customers. This partnership is especially crucial in today's omnichannel retail environment, where orders may come through multiple platforms and need to be unified in a single system for efficient fulfillment.

Customers are kept up to date through email, SMS notifications, or automated tracking systems as their purchase makes its way to their door. These automated multichannel communications are key to a seamless fulfillment process. 

Retailers can set up automation to send personalized updates about order status, shipping, and delivery via email, SMS, or app notifications based on customer preferences, while their backend systems work with 3PL partners to ensure accurate and timely delivery.

Post purchase

The post-purchase stage is where the customer decides if they are satisfied with their purchase and overall experience with the brand. This extends beyond the initial unboxing moment—retailers now engage with customers throughout their product's lifecycle, offering timely support, educational content, and maintenance tips at key moments. For instance, a furniture retailer might send care instructions after delivery, check in after three months of use, or provide seasonal cleaning guides.

Customer feedback and reviews are vital touchpoints, as is access to customer service through multiple channels. Just as important is a seamless returns process—modern consumers expect omnichannel return options that match the convenience of their purchase experience.

This might include in-store returns for online purchases, boxless returns through partnerships with shipping providers, or QR code-based drop-offs at convenient locations. While returns present logistical challenges for retailers, they're increasingly viewed as another opportunity to deliver exceptional customer service and build loyalty.

First-party data is important in creating ongoing personalized experiences throughout this journey. For example, after purchasing shoes a customer might receive personalized product recommendations for complementary items across various channels. Retailers can also use this data to create targeted reengagement campaigns, bringing customers back through their preferred channels.

Underpinning these omnichannel strategies is a core customer model—a unified first-party data foundation. This enables retailers to craft consistent, personalized experiences throughout the entire customer journey, from initial discovery to long-term loyalty, while also informing how they evolve their returns and post-purchase support services to better serve customer needs.

Benefits of an omnichannel strategy

There are a few key benefits to creating an omnichannel strategy:

1. Makes it easier to optimize stock levels and improve inventory management. An omnichannel strategy gives a business a better understanding of its inventory, and lets it fill orders from anywhere.
2. Helps you gain a competitive edge. Some 23% of US adults say they research a product online and purchase it in-store, according to a November 2023 survey by ESW.
3. Provides better customer experiences. Customers want options when it comes to how they interact with brands. With an omnichannel approach, customers can engage on different channels and get a consistent experience, which improves customer engagement and satisfaction.
4. Improves customer understanding; Collecting and analyzing first-party data gives you deeper insights into customer preferences and behaviors, allowing for more targeted and effective marketing efforts.
5. Increases sales. By using multiple channels, omnichannel businesses can reach a larger customer base. As a result, you'll make more sales and improve your customer lifetime value (CLV). 
6. Personalizes the customer journey. An omnichannel strategy makes capturing customer data and creating detailed customer segments easier, leading to more personalized shopping experiences.
7. Creates a unified brand experience. Omnichannel retailing makes creating a consistent brand experience easier across all channels. This can help you build trust and customer loyalty.

Shoppers love an integrated omnichannel experience. Creating a more seamless transition from channel to channel has the power to help you retain the majority of your customers.

Are you ready to create your own omnichannel retail strategy? Here’s where to get started.

How to develop an omnichannel retail strategy

1. Research where your customers already are.
2. Make every touchpoint shoppable.
3. Bridge the gap between online and offline.

1. Research where your customers already are

The first step in creating a flawless omnichannel retail strategy is figuring out which platforms, media, and devices your customers use daily. That includes where they like to shop, where they hang out, and what experiences motivate their everyday lives.

A recent IDC InfoBrief report, in partnership with Shopify, highlights that 74% of retailers prioritize better understanding customers’ preferences and behaviors. 

Use Shopify's unified core customer model to create a comprehensive view of your customers. This model combines browsing, purchasing, and order data from all your selling channels. Analyze this data to identify which platforms and touchpoints your customers frequent most.

Consider using tools like Shopify Analytics to evaluate customer behavior across channels. The centralized dashboard can provide critical insights into acquisition, behavior, and marketing performance, helping you pinpoint where your customers are most active and engaged.

2. Make every touchpoint shoppable

One major key to designing an omnichannel retail strategy is making every touchpoint shoppable. Every interaction with your brand should provide an opportunity to make a sale.

For example, if someone adds a product to their cart on your website, it should also appear in your mobile app on their phone. If they visit your social media platforms, like Facebook or Instagram, they should see suggested products based on their previous browsing. Shopify’s integration capabilities allow you to synchronize your store with these platforms, so customers can check out directly without leaving the app. This seamless connection supports a truly personalized experience, driven by your first-party data.

Checkout is another touchpoint. Shopify's checkout system gathers and uses first-party data in real time, so it can tailor offers, upsells, and loyalty rewards based on a customer's shopping habits.

Using a unified customer model, you can make all your customer touchpoints shoppable. In addition to driving sales, this approach enhances customers’ experience, making them feel valued and understood like they would in a store with a helpful sales associate.

3. Bridge the gap between online and offline

If your retail strategy involves online sales as well as offline, connecting the two is critical. Just being present in both channels isn’t enough—not in today’s world where consumers don’t make a purchase instantly at your store.

Consumers want to connect with your brand both on- and offline. They want to know what’s in stock before they come to visit. They want to add that item to their cart on the way to the store and have it sitting at the register for pickup.

Creating product catalog feeds that work with Google Shopping campaigns is often a messy, time-consuming, and technically complex issue for large inventory retailers. Shopify and Google’s direct integration makes it easy for omnichannel shoppers to discover and buy your products with Shopping campaigns.

A user can go from keyword search to product location to buying it and picking it up in-store, while hitting multiple interconnected touchpoints in the process.

Another fantastic example of an online-to-offline relationship can be seen with many retail mobile applications.

When shopping in-store, customers can use these apps to find out-of-stock items or look for special discounts via loyalty programs. With some apps, users can even test products virtually, adding them to their cart for later in-store pickups. With that, the cycle repeats and continues to generate sales.

A successful omnichannel retail strategy is one that doesn't focus on a specific end destination. The most sophisticated retailers ensure their omnichannel marketing strategies are geared toward enabling customers to convert on any channel.

You shouldn't approach omnichannel with the end goal of producing sales on one specific platform. Instead, sales should have the ability to naturally occur on every platform, syncing perfectly between them. 

This seamless synchronization is powered by a unified data foundation that brings together all customer interactions, inventory data, and transaction information into a single source of truth. With platforms like Shopify, everything from customer profiles and front-end experiences to back-end operations and logistics is unified in one place, making these sophisticated omnichannel experiences not just possible, but scalable and manageable.

Retail and POS apps for your growing ecommerce business

These Shopify Plus retail and POS apps were hand-selected for their elite functionality and ability to reduce complexity in your retail business so you can focus on growth.

These certified app technologies work seamlessly with Shopify Plus and have been approved at our highest technology standard:

• Dor: Real-time foot traffic analytics for retailers
• Endear: CRM with personalized and trackable messaging that drives revenue
• Marsello: Marketing automation, loyalty and referrals built for retail

Create an omnichannel retail experience for your brand today

Ten years ago, omnichannel strategies would have seemed absurd—but today they’re the norm. The majority of shoppers have various online shopping and in-store experiences before making a purchase.

Limiting yourself to one or two platforms and lacking the seamless integration you’ve seen here can be detrimental to your long-term growth.

These tips should serve as a jumping-off point for your omnichannel retail strategy.

Always look for new outlets and ways to connect each and every channel. Create an experience that isn’t locked into a single platform—rather, create a seamless experience that can be completed and repeated on all of them.