Keep Up With These 3 Omnichannel Retail Trends in 2023

2022 has been a challenging year for brick-and-mortar retailers. Many are still recovering from the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, and the global financial forecast for 2023 looks less than promising. Retailers are turning to innovation to enable customers to buy from them despite tighter budgets. What can B2C businesses learn from the latest omnichannel trends? 

The consumer's mindset is ever-changing. Omnichannel sales and marketing is a growing retail model designed to keep up with new customer behaviors. Harvard Business Review’s research suggests that customers spend more money for every additional channel a company uses and that sales increase by up to 10% online and 4% in-store for retailers using omnichannel instead of single-channel approaches.

These are the three most important trends you as a retailer need to keep up with:

1. Personalization at scale

Customer experience has moved far beyond “Dear {firstname}”. 83% of shoppers are willing to share personal data if they, in turn, get a customized experience, such as recommendations, upselling, or after-sales support. By creating personalized experiences, the retailer can improve customer satisfaction, lower return rates, and increase sales – especially if the experience is built on personalized data, such as fit measurements.

Volumental’s Retail Scanner matches the shopper's 3D foot scan with retail purchase data and uses an AI engine to deliver perfect size and style recommendations. Based on the data, you can launch personal marketing campaigns, increase promotion conversion rate by 200% and build long-term relationships by only recommending products that truly fit. 

2. Branded mobile apps

It’s no longer enough to connect with customers online and in-store – today’s shoppers want to interact with their favorite stores and brands on their mobile phones. Forbes calls branded mobile apps “the missing piece of the omnichannel puzzle” since apps directly connect the consumer, store, e-commerce, digital channels, and logistics. Gathering everything from content, mobile in-store capabilities, and mobile shopping to curate personalized experiences can help you multiply your sales nearly five times. 

3. Sustainability in focus 

Not all e-commerce trends are environmentally sound; the returns alone create 5 billion tons of landfill waste and produce as much CO₂ emissions as 3 million cars do in a year.  Omnichannel approaches can help you reduce some of these effects:

• Minimize customer travel. Every online purchase reduces the need for customers to travel to the store, which can reduce the shopper’s fuel usage depending on how they get to the store. 
• Reduce returns. E-commerce returns are 2-3 times higher than in-store. Omnichannel approaches that provide your customers with personalized recommendations can reduce these returns by up to 18%.
• Circular approach. Omnichannel retail can accelerate the transition to a more circular economy by promoting ‘sharing’-services, such as subscription of products, thereby expanding the life expectancy of new goods.

Implement omnichannel retail trends with Volumental

Want to deliver better fit experiences across your marketplaces? Contact us, and we’ll show you how Volumental can improve your omnichannel CX for footwear.