Why You Need Omnichannel for Your Auction eCommerce Platform

Why Omnichannel Is Important

For auction eCommerce, an omnichannel strategy is absolutely essential. Omnichannel is having a consistent, seamless presentation for the end user across different devices and channels. Devices can include mobile devices, tablets, computers, etc., and it could be for an in-store experience, a promotional event where there's an auction, on a website, etc. We want to make sure that in all of these different scenarios, we are giving them a consistent set of data and user experience.

The reason for this is, of course, to make the users more comfortable. That seamless transition across devices reduces confusion about the layout or functions and allows the user to intuitively navigate the platform no matter what device they are using. This reduces customer frustration, and all of this translates to a higher likelihood of conversions and improved customer satisfaction.

Let's take a look at why omnichannel is important and how businesses are making the best use of already-existing customer behavior.

Centralize the Customer Journey

Centralizing the customer journey is essential for an effective omnichannel approach because it ensures a consistent and seamless experience for customers across all channels. When customers engage with a brand, they want a personalized and relevant experience that feels consistent and cohesive, regardless of which channel they are using.

This means that all touchpoints in the customer journey, including browsing, shopping, purchasing, and post-purchase support, need to be seamlessly integrated and coordinated.

Provide the Best Customer Experience

By centralizing the customer journey, platforms can ensure that all channels are working together to provide a seamless and personalized experience for customers. This includes integrating inventory and customer data across channels to ensure that customers always have access to the products and information they need, as well as personalized messaging and offers that are tailored to their needs and preferences.

Omnichannel strategies include centralizing the customer journey to enable platforms to track customer behavior and preferences across channels, providing valuable insights into customer needs and behavior. This can help platforms optimize their omnichannel strategy over time, identifying areas where they can improve the customer experience and enhance customer loyalty. It can also help make the most of your marketing efforts.

Make Products Accessible via Multiple Channels

It's also important that the omnichannel experience be robust. This enhances the interaction with the auction via software across different mediums. For auctions, these mediums can be in-person events as well as online interactions.

An omnichannel retail strategy involves addressing consumer preferences no matter where they are. This could be a mobile app, a tablet experience that could be at an in-person kiosk, at a point of sale, a scanner that's used in a warehouse, in a store, and many more. Anything that basically has some kind of visual presentation.

The data itself includes the underlying data about the customer, including location, information about their purchasing habits and what their price levels might be that they are entitled to, order history to make recommendations, etc. All this data can go with them, and if they are beginning a purchase in the store and they decide that they want to just purchase something online from the same store, they can.

Examples of How Omnichannel Works

So maybe they purchase 12 things at the store and they're trying to get out of the store, and they've got to make another appointment, but they realize, “Oh no, I forgot something!” And they want to add something to the order while they can. Because it's omnichannel, they can get on their mobile device, pull up the app on their mobile device and add the item, possibly before the order gets shipped, and then they're good.

For another example, let's say that somebody is ordering items for their contractor to pick up. Maybe they're building certain buildings that require certain materials, or we can consider just anything that requires certain raw materials, that they want to order online, but then go pick up in person.

A successful omnichannel strategy allows the user to order on their mobile device, tablet, or computer and then go in and pick the items up. They can also take their device with them or use a device in the store like a kiosk, in order to identify themselves and then get the items brought to the front. Or maybe there's a will-call area, or they can go pick the items up that would already be prepared for them, etc. And then maybe they need to add a few more items and they might need to use their phone to scan the barcode and add it to their order—with omnichannel, it's no problem.

These are all capabilities that are possible with omnichannel on a custom auction website. The concept is about making it more of an extended interaction beyond just a website in someone's home; making it more immersive, interactive, and accessible online to extend the storefront beyond the brick-and-mortar in a very seamless interaction. It also leads to better customer testimonials.

Brick and Mortar Stores & Omnichannel

There are a lot of mechanical benefits to having physical locations, and there are a lot of benefits to having a very scalable online presence, so it pays to take advantage of both of these. Omnichannel allows businesses to do that.

In many scenarios, it makes sense and is very powerful to have inventory at different locations all over a region or country. Being able to maximize multiple locations both through omnichannel, including ordering and picking up in-store, ordering and having it shipped to the store to pick up, and similar situations.

These advantages can really change the experience for the customer and make it a very dynamic experience compared to competitors who are only online. The downside for those competitors is they might not be able to offer the same shipping costs and immediate access to inventory.

Those are huge advantages that ought to be part of the model of the sales process, to get the value that's delivered to customers by having a physical presence. Omnichannel enables that marriage between the online store and a physical presence as well as any other type of scenario.

Those are huge advantages that ought to be part of the model of the sales process, to get the value that's delivered to customers by having a physical presence. Omnichannel enables that marriage between the online store and a physical presence as well as any other type of scenario.

The Infrastructure of Omnichannel

One of the downsides of working with a company that doesn't do omnichannel or has those capabilities is that some of these systems (e.g., a point-of-sale system, mobile device, or mobile application for multiple operating systems, etc.) are challenging when it comes to getting that infrastructure implemented. If you're not working with a partner who's done omnichannel and who is capable of this, it's not going to be very successful.

Register One Place, Bid Another

If the option of omnichannel is present, then it's a great benefit because there may be lots of auctions for special promotions or events. Offering this omnichannel experience during auction ventures and allowing bidders to verify their ability to make a purchase may be a key part of being able to attend the auction, in addition to registering, which could be done via a mobile or tablet device at the event in real time.

These are all options that are really helpful to be able to turn on and make sure that it's a very turnkey experience for your end users when they are attending these auctions or promotional events.

Offline and Online Opportunities

Conversely, maybe there's a conference or an in-person event, and you want to get folks to join in an eAuction, and so maybe there's a promotion to get them to make an initial auction or initial bid, but then they have to complete the process offline. Again, having omnichannel strategies in place is key for enabling this kind of carryover from in-person and a really specific interaction to some of the other, more standardized online auction experiences. Being able to seamlessly transition between the two is a really powerful thing for business.

Scalability Is Key

Otherwise, there are limits on the scalability when competing against different offerings that do have omnichannel, and that offer the inventory in stock in a very short time period, and access to view things. Imagine if you're spending a lot of money on an auction, you may want to qualify and verify eligibility online, but then actually see the items in person before making a purchase. These are even more reasons to have a robust, omnichannel auction eCommerce experience.

It boils down to adding a competitive advantage and making a particular business model that makes this work properly. There are so many benefits for businesses that are only possible with omnichannel capabilities. Not having it makes everything extremely manual and extremely expensive. The biggest expense is the lack of customer renewal with the relationship, the lack of customer organic expansion that would occur if the customers had a better experience.

You always want to think about not just the actual revenue itself, but also the unseen aspects that might be even bigger, like customer satisfaction and how that might be impacting your referrals and ongoing repeat business that clients would otherwise provide.

Work with Clarity

We'd love to hear from you about the challenges your business faces and let you know why omnichannel might be the next best step for our business. Talk to an expert at Clarity to learn more about creating the best omnichannel experience and get a free demo or no-obligation price quote.