Omnichannel vs. Multichannel: Key Differences (2024)

In the overlapping worlds of ecommerce, social selling, digital marketplaces, and physical storefronts, omnichannel and multichannel are the most popular buzzwords.

But it’s not always easy to tell the difference between the two. Omnichannel typically includes all marketing channels, while a multichannel approach includes a select few. 

Below, we’ll give you the information you need to decide which approach to take.

What is an omnichannel marketing strategy?

Omnichannel is a customer-centric sales strategy that provides a seamless shopping experience between marketing channels. It leverages customer data to provide a unified experience across channels, such as desktops, mobile devices, and in-store. An omnichannel approach uses automation and real-time updates to ensure consistency in customer interactions, whether online or offline.

It’s about communicating in ways that are aligned with why customers use a given channel, and showing awareness of their individual stage in the customer lifecycle.

Customers can make a purchase wherever they are—rather than treating channels as independent silos, omnichannel accounts for the spillover between channels and offers customer experiences within and between channels.

Advantages of omnichannel

• Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Better data collection and analysis
• Increased sales and revenue
• Improved conversion rates through data-driven marketing campaigns
• Better understanding of customer expectations and preferred channels

Disadvantages of omnichannel

• Requires significant investment in technology and infrastructure
• Complex implementation and management
• May necessitate organizational restructuring

How does omnichannel retail work?

In essence, omnichannel removes the boundaries between different sales and marketing channels to create a unified, integrated whole.

The distinctions between channels—onsite, social, mobile, email, physical, and instant messaging—disappear as a single view of the customer emerges, along withl a single experience of commerce.

For example, a customer can add items to their shopping cart on a mobile app, then complete the purchase later on their desktop, with the cart contents seamlessly transferred.

Omnichannel marketing merges the worlds of websites, emails, retargeted ads, social media marketing, and physical locations to show personalized offers, products, and messages.

Learn more: Omnichannel Retail Strategy: The What, Why, and How of “In-Store” Shopping

What is a multichannel marketing strategy?

A multichannel strategy blends the customer experience and gives consumers the choice to engage on the channel they prefer. It’s flexible, but requires brands to behave within the confines of the channel.

A multichannel approach allows businesses to reach their target audience through various channels, including digital marketing, SMS, and notifications. Each individual channel may have its own marketing campaigns and goals.

Think of multichannel marketing as a wheel with spokes. At the center of the wheel is your product. On the outer rim of the wheel are your customers, and each spoke is a channel that offers them a separate and independent opportunity to purchase.

Once it’s clear which channels resonate best with your target market, you can optimize them to maximize your marketing efforts.

Advantages of multichannel

• Greater reach and visibility
• Flexibility in targeting different customer segments
• Multiple touchpoints for customer engagement
• Ability to tailor marketing approaches to specific channels
• Opportunity to test and optimize strategies across different platforms

Disadvantages of multichannel

• Inconsistency in customer experience
• Difficulty in tracking and measuring performance
• Limited integration between channels

How does multichannel retail work?

A multichannel retail strategy uses multiple independent touchpoints to interact with customers, like websites, social media, mobile apps, and physical stores. The main goal is to expand the company’s reach, ensuring products and services are available across a variety of platforms to meet the needs of diverse customers.

Multichannel retail lets you target different customer segments and maximize visibility. The multichannel model helps you increase your market presence and cater to a wider range of customer needs by offering customers more ways to interact with your brand.

While individual channels may operate independently, they can still contribute to an overall improved customer experience and potentially higher conversion rates.

Learn more: How to Build an Effective Multichannel Retailing Strategy

Key differences between omnichannel and multichannel retail

• Omnichannel is a strategy that offers different methods of shopping to consumers (e.g., online, in a physical store) to provide a seamless, consistent experience across all channels.
• Multichannel is a strategy that uses multiple channels to reach customers, but these channels operate independently, offering separate and distinct shopping experiences.

There are a few main differences between omnichannel and multichannel strategies:

 

How to choose the right strategy for your business

Omnichannel strategy, which offers a smoother customer experience, seems like a logical choice—but it’s not so clear-cut. Starting your businesses as a physical retail store versus a digitally native brand makes a difference in which approach you should choose.

Converting a retail business to omnichannel requires significant resources. Worse yet, there’s no stopping halfway—non-functional omnichannel technology will create the same experience as absolutely no technology at all.

So while omnichannel is ideal, some businesses might be better served starting off with a multichannel experience before tying them all together.

Consider three key concepts when deciding:

• Consider your target audience and their preferences. An omnichannel customer expects a consistent experience across all platforms, including seamless transitions between digital and physical touchpoints. Evaluate your ability to manage customer data and implement automation to support this approach.
• Determine if you have the right resources: Providing an omnichannel experience requires IT investment and prowess, the right infrastructure and tech stack, and the vision necessary to integrate and execute. If you’ve built a headless commerce architecture, you may need a robust content management system to execute. If you have a traditional architecture, a product information management (PIM) system may act as your tech backbone. Without an in-house IT staff, you may need to hire ecommerce technology experts.
• Get buy-in: One key to making the transition to omnichannel involves people and incentives. Resist incentives that reward maximizing sales in one channel without considering the impact on adjacent channels or the overall customer experience. 

CMOs and CIOs in particular must develop a shared vision and ensure it’s adopted throughout the organization. Be sure your executive leadership team has the technical background to implement the components of an omnichannel transition.

Identifying the right approach for your brand starts with clearly understanding the differences between omnichannel and multichannel.

The future promises new channels not yet imagined or technologically feasible. Regardless of whether you invest in multi- or omnichannel, developing the flexibility to adapt and integrate new channels will determine whether you’ll be successful tomorrow.

5 omnichannel and multichannel examples

Here are five examples of customer-focused brands that have created a great customer experience across different channels.

Jenni Kayne

Jenni Kayne, a California lifestyle brand founded in 2002, expanded from clothing and footwear to include home furnishings and skincare. The brand migrated to Shopify Plus and Shopify POS to unify their sales channels and operations across their growing omnichannel presence.

The migration to Shopify's platform resulted in:

• More than doubling their brick-and-mortar retail store presence across the US
• Increased engagement with shoppers using unified customer profiles
• Removal of friction in how staff accessed inventory details online and in-store
• Improved partnerships with trade program members through easy creation of product quotes with imagery and branding

Jenni Kayne leverages Shopify Plus and POS to offer seamless omnichannel experiences, manage inventory across locations, and provide personalized service to both regular customers and trade professionals. The platform's user-friendly interface and customization options have enabled the brand to maintain its luxe aesthetic across all touchpoints and accelerate its rapid expansion.

Learn more: Jenni Kayne Home Unifies with Shopify to Improve Customer Experiences Online and In-Store

UglyFood

Augustine Tan founded UglyFood to combat food waste by repurposing unattractive but edible produce into juices, salads, and fruit teas. The brand gained popularity in Singapore and expanded to Europe and the United States in partnership with entrepreneur Sean Goh.

UglyFood uses Shopify Plus for its ecommerce and Shopify POS for its cafés, which also serve as fulfillment centers for local pickup orders.

Shopify POS assists UglyFood in managing perishable inventory, increasing store sales through local pickups, and improving customer retention, with 50% of sales coming from returning customers. By offering local pickup options with discounts and allowing customers to schedule pickup times, UglyFood can upsell more effectively.

Shopify’s timed inventory controls help UglyFood monitor perishable stock and minimize waste, while the app ecosystem enables scheduling and limiting store pickups. As a result, UglyFood has seen higher sales, a more loyal customer base, and a stronger focus on reducing food waste.

Learn more: How UglyFood Reduces Food Waste and Increases Store Sales with Shopify POS

Toby’s Sports

Toby's Sports, the Philippines' largest specialty sports store, transformed from a traditional retail business into a successful omnichannel retailer. The company migrated from a custom-built ecommerce solution to Shopify in 2017, upgrading to the Shopify Plus plan in 2018 to better manage their online selling and capitalize on the growing demand for ecommerce.

The new platform provided easier product management, customizable checkout experiences, and seamless integration with their physical stores. This led to significant improvements in their business metrics:

• 13.5x increase in sales
• 101% improvement in profitability
• 50% increase in conversions

Leveraging Shopify's flexibility and integration capabilities, Toby's Sports implemented click-and-collect features, connected with Microsoft Dynamics for accurate inventory management, and utilized over 20 third-party applications to manage various aspects of their business across the Philippines' 7,000 islands.

Learn more: Toby’s Sports wins omnichannel customers with Shopify, achieving a 13.5x increase in sales

Emma Bridgewater

Emma Bridgewater, a British home and kitchen brand, revitalized their ecommerce strategy with Shopify Plus.

Focusing on improving mobile user experience and multicurrency ecommerce, the company achieved a 13% increase in mobile revenue and a 32% boost in new users. A complete site redesign enhanced navigation and search, while improved data tracking by region supported international expansion. Their sales metrics immediately reflected the results, with £190,000 earned the day following migration to the new platform.

Learn more: Emma Bridgewater, That Classic English Brand, Has Gone Mobile

Allbirds

Allbirds, a startup fashion brand, used Shopify POS to create a seamless omnichannel experience for its customers.

With more than 20 stores globally, Allbirds increased conversions using buy-in-store, ship-to-customer technology and improved inventory management. The company employed up to 18 Shopify POS systems in each store, enabling fast checkouts and better customer experiences.

Allbirds’ use of Shopify Plus provided valuable insights on customer preferences and inventory decisions, creating a unified shopping experience across its channels.

Learn more: Allbirds’ Omnichannel Conversions Soared Using Buy In-store, Sship to Customer