Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 19

True convergence

Joel defines true omnichannel as when
the digital and physical converge and viceversa. This is what excites him the most.
A simple example he cites is Lego. You
are browsing the boxes on the shelves at
your local store. You try to visualize what
you can build that is in the box, shaking it.
But, instead, there is a virtual reality feature where you hold that box up and you
immediately see a picture of what the finished product looks like.
"That's true omnichannel because of that
convergence of the digital and physical,"
he explains. "It's not just a manifestation of
how you do digital in physical or physical in
digital, but how do you have a seamless experience where the customer goes, 'wow.' A
lot of brands are saying they are true omnichannel, but they aren't because all they are
doing is morphing what exists somewhere
else and the two are not truly connected."
The question is no longer: Have you gone
digital? Smartphones and tablets are ubiquitous. The shift to mobile as a shopping
device is accelerating. As Danahy jokes,
"My 88-year-old mother carries an iPhone
and uses it like a weapon!" Instead, retailers
need to recognize that the customer is now
in charge; all facets of organizations' operations need to focus on this new normal.
To engage your customers, focus first
on consistent conversations within your
organization. Then, you can better engage
consumers at every touchpoint. This engagement starts at the top.
"Executives need to lead on omnichannel, not delegate it to a technology ghetto,
which has been the tendency," Danahy says.
"When executives decide to make its offerings seamless, customer service stops being a returns desk and starts being a 24/7,
universally available activity engaged in by
everyone in the company because it's not
a complaints department anymore. Executives need to recognize omnichannel is not
a secondary or confusing new thing. It's part
of their core business and they must lead it
the way they lead every other investment to
their business."
All other facets of a retailers' business
operations, in this omnichannel world,
from logistics and information technol-

THE GROWTH OF OMNI

The Canadian e-commerce
market is expecting doubledigit annual growth by 2018,
equating to nearly $35 billion

18%
The percentage of Canadians
who are self-identified mobileassisted shoppers.

3 out of 4 - The number of retailers offering a mobile-optimized site for the consumer.

ogy to marketing needs to be a consistent
brand experience internally for customers
to have that 'wow' experience externally.
All operational decisions need to be driven
by your customers.
"Whether you like it or not, customers are
going to shop when and where they choose,
by whatever means they choose, and receive
goods and services when and where it's convenient for them," says Danahy, who has
even had a retailer deliver his beach chairs
to his cottage on a First Nations Reserve
with no address. "There is no such thing as a
single channel customer anymore."
Marketing renaissance and Utilitarianism
marketing

For the past couple of decades, marketing has been reduced to the department
that spends the most money. With the increasing role social media plays, marketing
has shifted to tie directly to the sale. It's for
this reason that many retailers are creating positions such as a Chief Omnichannel
Marketing Officer to lead their e-commerce

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Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014

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