Omnichannel Retail in 2023: What the Trends are Saying

For retailers, market volatility, inflation, and evolving customer expectations have presented a whirlwind of conflicting forecasts for 2023. Despite the uncertainty, one trend is clear: retailers who perfect their omnichannel capabilities will thrive.

While omnichannel perfection is measured through the eyes of each customer, it must also include the operational efficiency required to deliver these services at scale and profitably.

As a known pillar of success, omnichannel retail is no longer a ‘nice to have’ for competitive growth-oriented retailers. In the months and years to come, a robust and evolving omnichannel retail strategy will be essential for sustained brand loyalty and revenue growth.

At the same time, simply offering BOPIS, curbside pickup, same-day delivery, and other omnichannel retail solutions will not be enough to move the needle. Instead, these experiences must be seamless, increasingly personalized, and flexible. Gone are the days when customers tolerate anything less than a truly unified shopping experience across their sales channels of choice.

Within our article, we have outlined the need-to-know omnichannel retail trends expected throughout 2023. We invite you to explore our Executive Guide to Retail Software for an in-depth look at the technology advancements underscoring these trends.

What is Omnichannel Retail?

Before diving into the impact of omnichannel retail in 2023 and beyond, let’s start with a commonly overlooked question: what is omnichannel retail? As we’ve previously covered, omnichannel retail and unified commerce are not the same.

On the one hand, omnichannel retail links your sales channels and aims to provide an integrated customer experience. On the other hand, unified commerce empowers customers to move from channel to channel at will, with absolute continuity. Instead of solely linking disconnected systems and siloed sales channels, unified commerce combines all back-end systems with all customer-facing channels in real time.

In short, unified commerce does today what omnichannel can only hope to achieve.

As a savvy retailer, you might wonder if a unified commerce strategy will help bolster your omnichannel capabilities. The definitive answer is yes, and more.

How Unified Commerce Delivers Omnichannel Retailing and More

While the breadth of what’s possible through unified commerce far exceeds omnichannel retail alone, many omnichannel retail strategies are challenging to implement without embracing unified commerce. One example is the shipment of orders from brick-and-mortar retail locations. Although omnichannel retailers using FieldStack have leveraged this approach for years, its broad popularity is only expected to grow in 2023 and beyond.

Delivering complex omnichannel capabilities at scale with accuracy, reliability, and efficiency requires robust back-end systems that only unified commerce platforms can provide. In turn, unified retailers leverage actionable insights from harmonized systems to move quickly, drive better decisions, and automate their operations.

The Ongoing Importance of Physical Retail Stores

The overwhelming majority of retail sales involve brick-and-mortar stores. Additionally, Forrester reports that nearly 60% of overall retail sales in 2021 were digitally influenced. This number includes pure online transactions and store transactions that began with online research.

Seamlessly connected retail operations are essential given the continued relevance of brick-and-mortar and the blending of retail channels. An omnichannel retailer’s ability to fully embrace BOPIS, curbside pickup, local deliveries, and the mosaic of omnichannel capabilities is critical.

The digital transformation of physical retail will play an increasingly important role in omnichannel retail strategies throughout 2023 and beyond. Unified retailers whose operations are connected at every level will continue to lead the charge.

While these omnichannel retail offerings are the first step to aligning with customer expectations and preferences, embracing ever-expanding omnichannel capabilities can become inherently complex.

In practice, Lean Retail delivers omnichannel perfection by centering on unified, data-driven operations that bring meaningful value to shoppers.

Once again, therein lies the value of unified commerce.

Unified commerce allows retailers to leverage their brick-and-mortar advantage to delight customers, grow revenue, and maximize profit, without the complexity that holds most retailers back.

Embracing the Power of Personalization

In our data-driven world, personal preferences are accessible for store associates to understand. Ultimately, customers expect personalization, meaning that one-size-fits-all omnichannel retail is no longer sufficient.

Throughout 2023, retailers that empower their associates and consistently deliver personalized customer experiences will draw more repeat shoppers and improve brand loyalty.

Omnichannel retail solutions alone address only part of the equation by allowing customers to shop through their preferred channels. The next stage comes to life through unified commerce. In turn, unified retailers can consolidate shopper activity, fully utilize customer data for better shopping experiences, maintain consistent cross-channel engagement, and beyond.

Regardless of how much personalization retailers can provide, customers at a minimum will expect increased continuity across channels and ultimate convenience.

The Rising Value of Convenience

Throughout 2023, fluid customer journeys will only become more prevalent. As a result, omnichannel retailers who enable customers to move across channels in ways that enhance their shopping experience will thrive. Growing retailers will recognize that convenience is key, as indicated by the 97% of customers who have backed out of a purchase that they felt was inconvenient.

Retailers are discovering that customers define convenience differently based on demographic, economic, geographic, and other factors. For example, one shopper may begin shopping in-store before opting for local delivery. Others may prefer an entirely online shopping experience with the option to return their purchase at any nearby store. A variety of factors might result in the same shopper having different preferences from day to day.

To address this flexibility, retailers can maximize their effectiveness by moving beyond an initial omnichannel retail approach and leveraging the right unified tools, thereby remaining adaptable so that movements between channels are 100% frictionless for customers.

Leveraging Lean Retail to Drive Omnichannel Success

As a proven framework for success, FieldStack’s Lean Retail approach will pay dividends to omnichannel retailers who embrace it in 2023. We invite you to view our Lean Retail web class and explore strategies to harness your brick-and-mortar competitive advantage.

In practice, Lean Retail delivers omnichannel perfection by centering on unified, data-driven operations that bring meaningful value to shoppers.

In turn, having a Lean Retail Platform like FieldStack will help retailers quickly implement highly efficient omnichannel solutions.

This includes leveraging the omnichannel capabilities that are popular today while laying the framework to deliver future innovations ahead of your competition.

How to Implement Omnichannel in Retail

The complex implementation of omnichannel retail strategies will continue to hold many retailers back in 2023. The key question here is how to implement omnichannel in retail.

Instead of tackling each new capability separately, forward-thinking retailers are exploring the best way to unify their operations, simplify implementation, minimize ongoing maintenance, and deliver omnichannel offerings at scale.

Although shifting from multichannel to omnichannel is centered on linking various channels, savvy retailers will seek new ways to move beyond linking alone. Their search will inevitably lead to unified commerce.

FieldStack not only supports the omnichannel capabilities that modern retailers and their customers depend on today. We also simplify the implementation of future enhancements by introducing new features that don’t rely on complex integrations or manual workarounds.

With a streamlined implementation in as little as four months, FieldStack transforms aspirations into reality for retailers looking toward omnichannel perfection and making 2023 their most impactful year yet.

Closing Remarks

While the past few years have necessitated dramatic changes for retailers, a push beyond omnichannel retail is key to maintaining a competitive edge. Visionary retailers who focus on unified commerce as the backbone of their omnichannel retail efforts will experience the most significant payout in 2023 and beyond.

Instead of tackling each new capability separately, forward-thinking retailers are exploring the best way to unify their operations, simplify implementation, minimize ongoing maintenance, and deliver omnichannel offerings at scale.

In summary, physical retail stores will continue to play an increasingly key role.

Additionally, the importance of interconnected physical and digital channels will only grow more prevalent. Likewise, continuity between digital and in-store experiences will become even more critical.

Meanwhile, ensuring employees have the time and tools to deliver personalized experiences will be paramount to building customer loyalty.

Lastly, convenience will be at the top of customers’ minds, serving as the make-or-break between completing a purchasing decision or shopping elsewhere.

Overall, successful omnichannel retail will hinge on unified sales channels, processes, and systems. From an implementation standpoint, FieldStack’s Lean Retail Platform enables this transformation, enabling you to fully leverage your brick-and-mortar advantages. Dynamic platforms like FieldStack provide the flexibility you need to adapt to your customers as their needs and expectations evolve.

For a firsthand look at how Lean Retail can help you achieve omnichannel perfection, be sure to explore our free web class. Likewise, we encourage you to take a look at our Executive Guide to Retail Software for an in-depth look at the tech driving tomorrow’s success. Thank you for reading!