Omnichannel is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit in digital commerce, and for good reason. For one, omnichannel shoppers are far more valuable than those who purchase items through only one channel. They spend an average of 4% more every time they are in a physical store, and 10% more when they shop online.

But what exactly does omnichannel mean?


Well, at its very core, omnichannel simply means giving your customers more options – more channels through which they can shop, various ways that they can have their orders fulfilled, and more options in which they can return items. But, wait – there’s more…omnichannel is having all of those options and channels and touchpoints synchronised to provide a fluid customer experience, regardless of what way they are shopping. Take, for example, customer loyalty cards. An omnichannel experience is one whereby a customer can walk into a physical retail store, buy an item and accumulate points on their loyalty card. Then, at a later time, they can visit the same store online, and use the points that they’ve accumulated to make a purchase.

We asked our CEO, Ciaran Bollard to give a no-nonsense explanation of what omnichannel means in digital commerce, to cut through all of the industry jargon that we’re so used to seeing. Here’s what he had to say…