Omnichannel, unified commerce, store-to-web, web-to-store, web-to-store-to-web, phygital approach… There is no shortage of words to describe the ability of certain retailers to create very close bridges between their stores and their e-commerce website to offer an unique customer experience.
In 2022, it is more than ever a question of proximity, driven by a strong return of local, a need for authenticity and an ability to follow an omnichannel consumer.
Unique customer base, loyalty, increased sales, avoiding stock-outs, not losing sales, better management of returns… if the implementation requires a global vision and approach, the return on investment is incontestable.
A customer who buys an item in a store, then on the internet never thinks in terms of “channels”, “stock”, or databases …
E-commerce, mobile payments, and point-of-sale payments are simply interdependent elements of a whole that form the overall brand experience.
So it makes sense for that same customer that you sell, refund or exchange the same way, regardless of the “channel”. It is also logical for this customer that a purchase made in a store brings him as many loyalty points as on the website and vice versa.
The store to web fights the price war that takes place on the internet. We get out of the systematic comparison and we are purely interested in the product offered on the website.
With the store to web, stores become windows again.
You enter the store, try on some pants, finally choose a color that is not present on the shelf and have your shopping bag delivered to your home two days later.
Payments play a key role in the implementation and success of unified commerce.
By consolidating all your payment systems and data across all channels, whether in-store, online or in-app, you can better identify your customers, understand their needs and facilitate seamless multi-channel experiences.
Some examples of unified commerce paths and scenarios:
- Order and pay in store for products associated with the website inventory (“Web-to-store”).
- Order on the website and collect in store (“Click and collect”).
- Refund via the website of an item purchased in store, and return it to the website stock.
- Return in store a product purchased on the website.
- Make products available on the website visible in store (“Store-to-web”).
- Display on the website the products in stock in the store.
- Allow, in store, to know the opinions of online users (by associating QR codes to products for example).
- Use your smartphone to quickly find a product in a store.
- Offer an e-receipt following a purchase in store.
- Have a loyalty card that works both online and offline.
- Search, watch video, book online, then use the smartphone when approaching or in store.
- Have an unified view of payments to go from intuition to a true omnichannel strategy.
- Humanize the digital experience through conversation (online chat)
- Have an unique customer repository to quickly find the history of relationships in addition to the history of purchases both on and offline.
- Process payments and refunds worldwide via one single contract, on a single platform.
- Eliminate the need to manage local acquisition from one region to another.
- Use one back-end system to manage all payments from any channel and region, with consolidated reporting.
- Keep reconciliation simple and reduce the workload on reporting and finance teams.
- Facilitate recurring payments with real-time account updates.
This #PayDecoding Store to web to store for dummies interesting you?
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