I have had the opportunity to witness and participate in various organizations attempts to implement an omnichannel approach, and I'd like to share some insights on potential pitfalls.
One company’s management team was so sure that if they do a lot of development in digital channels they will have a very good customer experience and they didn’t want to hear about process or product changes. This is one of the most common mistakes: to assume that adding digital functionality automatically transforms a company into a digital or omnichannel enterprise. Bad process + new digital development = poor digital customer experience. Achieving true omnichannel success requires a more customer-centric approach that spans across all departments and channels. This means significant changes across the organization in terms of products, processes, marketing, operations, IT, and more. It could be orchestrated and led by digital people, but it’s much more than digital change.
Another challenge is the "I know better attitude" where employees try to innovate or create processes based on their perception, ignoring customer preferences. I often hear different companies saying excuses that “we don’t have time for that”, “we don’t have a budget for that”, “it’s a big secret” and so on. Sometimes employees ignore even other collogues from different departments responsible for their areas. This results in poorly designed processes, useless products, and a bad customer experience. To avoid this, companies can learn from startups: make a squad of professionals working on this topic and test ideas with customers straight away, making changes on the go.
Finally, overcomplicating the omnichannel strategy can be a huge mistake. Attempting to implement too many channels or features all at once can overwhelm customers and make it challenging for them to navigate the various options. I saw how sometimes it becomes challenging even for the very smart teams to master this change and it becomes a big chaos wave internally and externally if it’s not managed properly. To avoid this, it's essential to keep the customer at the center of everything you do, set proper management of initiatives, streamline your process, establish clear strategy and responsibilities for each channel, ensure continuous testing and iterating with customers. Don’t be afraid to “copy with pride" and learn from other industries it also helps not to overcomplicate things.
In summary, try to avoid these 3 pitfalls and you will be one step closer to making something tangible, simple, and useful for your customer.
Mindaugas Dambrauskas
CDO @ FSQUARE