Create A Synchronized Cross-Channel Customer Experience

February 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Dwight D. Hill, strategist, The Retail Advisory LLC

Here’s the cross-channel checklist necessary to meet your customer’s needs.

Let’s face it; today’s customer is as demanding as ever. She wants choices, available merchandise at the right price, and convenience. She doesn’t consider your organization structure while shopping — in other words stores, online, or catalog; she considers and shops you as a brand. She wants to shop across your stores, online, or catalog as she chooses and expects a convenient shopping experience — period. Translation — she expects your operations to be synchronized across all channels from her point of view.

To win this customer, retailers must have a singular focus on creating and maintaining a synchronized cross-channel customer experience. Only by testing your operations from the customer’s point of view will you gain any level of certainty that you are getting it right. Below is a checklist and call to action that could guide your priorities for 2012.