Omnichannel Platforms: How do they optimize the end-user experience?5 min read

The interaction with customers is the cornerstone of any company. Ensuring end-user satisfaction is, therefore, a task for all departments, especially Sales and Technology. The union of these two areas plays a fundamental role when it comes to generating profitability and corporate growth. In this way, omnichannel platforms are ideal tools for orchestrating comprehensive and collaborative strategies. 

 

 

Omnichannel resources have another peculiarity: they facilitate customer fidelization. Although it seems that this is only a benefit for marketing, this type of users reduce the CAC; as well as allow to identify behaviors, needs, and weaknesses in the front end systems.

 

As you can see, omnichannality is a more than necessary approach in today’s organizations. In this article, we explain in depth its benefits and applications. 

Omnichannel is the key to e-commerce. Many of the world’s leading companies use this kind of strategies. Their secret is simpler than it seems: they hyper-connect users to their customer service systems, as well as integrate at each stage of the conversion path various technological products that respond to users’ needs. 

 

One of the most emblematic examples of omnichannel approaches is Disney’s fidelization strategy. This giant of family entertainment offers a series of apps and devices to facilitate the user experience. 

 

The client’s journey begins on their website, which shows a responsive design and modules that categorize and organize the company’s products. At the same time, each module has its own sign-in feature, booking, technical support, and billing system. Disney even offers mobile tools to direct the experience inside its parks and hotels. 

 

And that is precisely the effect that is sought with omnichannel platforms. The user requests must be answered instantly, with adaptive interfaces and a logical flow of information. 

 

At the end of the day, the user does not have to interrupt his experience within the systems to call Customer Service, understand the operation of any tool or return to other unconnected pages.

It is very common to understand omnichannality and multichannelity approaches as irreconcilable antonyms. However, these concepts can be implemented together in UX strategies, where technology has a fundamental role. 

 

While omnichannality avoids information cracks and gaps in the user experience; multichannelity can be used to diversify front-end communication pathways. In this sense, having a multichannel system refers to the structure and format of the systems.

 

This could be: Apps, websites, online store, customer service channels, and electronic devices. 

 

 

On the other hand, the omnichannel approach refers to the characteristics, features, and complements within these resources. In e-commerce best practices, omnichannel platforms should have multichannel integrations. 

 

One of the best ways to run omnichannel UX is with corporate software that centralizes all user activities and requests. In this way, you can start closing all communication silos between client and company; as well as optimize waiting times and user flow within your digital resources. 

 

This software must be able to combine the work of customer service, sales, technical support, and programming. For this reason, it is necessary to have CRM modules, internal and external chat, ticketing, interdepartmental collaboration, metrics, and Uptime monitoring. 

Below we explain the medium and long term advantages of implementing omnichannel platforms.

Having omnichannel technology translates into intuitive customer service available 24 hours a day. The software for omnichannel strategies allows the integration of Live Chats and bots in all online resources, whether in private profiles, during the purchase process, or in the home page of the website. 

 

This makes it possible to respond to the user’s queries in a timely manner, and thus facilitate their conversion path.

 

In some cases, online customer service is complemented by more analogous systems such as the call center. This allows the homogeneity of the service and the adaptation of the company to the different users.

 

 

Centralizing communication and user services have multiple benefits. These include obtaining accurate data and a comprehensive Knowledge Base to improve end-user computing products.

 

When you have information about online traffic and its navigation behavior, it is easier to understand what the technical needs of your systems are. It is also possible to identify at which stage of the digital journey silos, formatting errors, vulnerabilities, and interrupted requests exist. 

 

Some omnichannel platforms offer tools to further explore web activity, such as heat maps and yield alerts. On the other hand, the Knowledge Base helps to reduce downtime and promotes good system status.

Centralization of end-user activities allows the IT team to automate tickets. Automating repetitive tasks reduces workload and improves the end user experience. Also, you can connect the support service to Sales or Customer Service, which helps to quickly address cases such as upgrades, installations, version restoration, bug fixes and so on.

It works synchronously with all the departments that manage clients. Omnichannel platforms organize internal information in one place. Each collaborator can follow up cases fluently and without communication gaps that confuse the user. 

 

Product Information Management also benefits from the integration of omnichannel content managers and marketing performance metrics. A good PIM is essential to provide the customer with the right information at the right time, and centralizing the Human Readable Knowledge Base is the best way to achieve this. 

 

 

At GB Advisors we recommend Freshworks 360, an omnichannel Customer Fidelization Suite to execute comprehensive UX strategies. It has all the necessary modules to optimize collaborative work and centralized systems management. Contact us for consultation.