Lately I’ve been thinking about how to help our retail and brand partners succeed in an omnichannel world.
What\’s omnichannel? It\’s how the consumer shops — and expects to shop — in today\’s always connected world.
For example …
- Yesterday, I saw a nice scarf in a store window. I was in a rush, so I bought it — online — from my phone, on a train I ran to catch —
— but not before adding a $12 pair of socks to my order, to qualify for free shipping.
(And if I don’t like it, I’ll return it to the store!)
- On November 11, also known as \”singles day\” in China – Alibaba sold $2 billion in the first HOUR. That\’s billion with a \”B\”!
- Checking sales of our own direct-to-consumer Olympia Glove brand last month, I saw that our online sales have tripled in less than a year.
Today’s consumer shops the way they want, when they want, where they want.
This means visiting the mall … or avoiding the hassle of parking and expense of gas, and shopping on a tablet while watching The Voice, or on a mobile device from a train.
It\’s an omnichannel world …with lots of new challenges for retailers and brands. Are you ready for this? Here\’s how your suppliers can HELP.more
Glove Company TIps: 4 Ways Your Suppliers Can Help You Win at OmniChannel
With this online tailwind, every brand and retailer should see increased ecommerce sales this season.
But without proper planning, there can be missed opportunities going forward.
Here are 4 ways to up your game, and how your supply chain can help you take advantage of ecommerce and omnichannel growth.
From hangtags to educate the consumer at point of purchase to online content, your suppliers can provide detailed product information to satisfy the customer\’s need for information.
Enable reviews on your product pages, and offer incentives and reminders to get your customers to leave helpful reviews for others.
And if you\’re not getting 5-Star reviews, have a conversation with your supplier ASAP about needed product improvements.
Look for creative ways to fulfill online demand and ship faster.
Today, product can be shipped from manufacturer to consumer without ever taking inventory ownership. Fast delivery, happy consumers, and retail inventory carrying cost? Zero!
How Else to Drive Omnichannel Performance? You\’ve Got This!
There are probably other ideas we could add to this list —
Let\’s start a conversation about collaborative strategies we can all use to increase category revenue, profits, and market share in an omnichannel world.
Are there other ways your supply chain partners can help you respond to the opporturnities presented by omnichannel retailing, and ecommerce growth?
Please leave a comment below — we\’d like to crowdsource many more tips — let\’s hear from you!
You May Also Enjoy Reading:
Merchandising TIps: 3 Smart Year-End Strategies for Retail Brands