The Omnichannel Approach to Marketing and Commerce: What It Is and Why You Need It Now

It’s taken some time for B2B commerce as we know it to adapt to the online format as a viable alternative to brick-and-mortar storefronts and face-to-face interaction between companies.

However, it’s clear that as of 2021, online commerce has become a significant part of the B2B sales world—not to mention its considerable role in increasing small business  interactions in general and allowing them to create wider communities of clientele.

Though online business interactions have been steadily rising over the past 20 years, 2020 yielded more growth in the online market than any preceding year, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing many businesses to switch to a virtual format.

 Though 2020 broke records in online business, many analysts and experts don’t expect B2B business practices to simply go back to their brick-and-mortar roots as the world begins to open back up post-pandemic.

In fact, according to McKinsey research, around 85% of the world’s leading B2B wholesale providers, manufacturers, distributors, and B2B brands expect to develop and establish a hybrid mixture of online and in-person business activities by 2024.

What exactly is it about online commerce that is so appealing to so many types of businesses? There’s more to it than the simple convenience of online access to B2B orderwriting, marketing, and supply chain tracking.

The secret to success in online B2B sales? The introduction of an omnichannel approach.

What is Omnichannel?

The concept of omnichannel commerce refers to the unification of a brand’s presence across every platform or channel through which the brand does business.

In-person sales and marketing are what’s known as a channel. Each of the many online platforms available to businesses today, including websites, apps, text messaging, and email, can each be a channel, too.

The goal of B2B omnichannel commerce is to create a seamless experience for the consumer across all interactions they have with your brand, whether your company does business strictly with other companies, directly with customers, or as a combination of the two.

Omnichannel success requires many important details to be in place. These include strong and consistent branding, website and app modifications to suit different devices, and the intentional utilization of multiple channels to improve and deepen customer relationships. 

The most successful omnichannel marketing solutions combine a company’s offline and online presence to create a singular brand. Essentially, clients shouldn’t feel like they can only interact with your brand effectively through a single channel. Similarly, they shouldn’t feel like any of your platforms are less reliable than others.

So what does omnichannel commerce look like in B2B sales? It allows B2B businesses to view and consider products before a tradeshow, build customized wishlists on brand websites, place online orders in person, or simply meet face to face with a sales rep in your retail store, all while enjoying a consistent experience.

Benefits of Omnichannel Commerce

The omnichannel approach highly prioritizes the consumer’s experience, but it also offers several distinct benefits to brands. Let’s discuss some of the ways that B2B omnichannel commerce could improve your business.

Increased Sales and Customer Retention

When your company’s shopping experience is streamlined and consistent for your consumers, they will be more inclined to purchase your products and come back for more. A user-friendly, well-rounded experience is paramount to driving sales.

Replacing lost customers can come at a considerable expense, especially in B2B industries with high conversion costs. A streamlined omnichannel approach will keep your hard-won customers happy. 

More High-Value Shoppers

According to the Harvard Business Review, omnichannel consumers spend 10% more on average than single-channel shoppers or consumers that interact with brands through a singular platform or channel.

This disparity means that today’s high-value shoppers seek the omnichannel experience from the brands they patronize. You can apply this principle to attract high-value companies to your B2B business.

With more high-value shoppers, your company’s profitability per transaction will improve, allowing you to raise the bottom line without seeing additional expenses along the way.

Personalized Client Experiences

With the advent of algorithmic online shopping and social media, consuming content and products has become more personalized than ever before. The increased personalization of shopping transactions with B2B omnichannel commerce greatly benefits B2B businesses.

With the ability to individualize your clients’ experiences, your brand will dominate the wholesale marketplace. You’ll have a unique ability to offer a completely customized approach to product design and distribution.  

Challenges of an Omnichannel Approach

Though omnichannel commerce has created significant growth and increased sales for brands of all industries, sizes, and scopes, the method isn’t without its downsides.

As you consider adding additional channels or platforms to your current business model and creating the positions within your company to manage them, it’s important to be aware of the potential challenges you might face.

Omnichannel marketing is designed to establish touchpoints for buyers in a variety of places—in your online store, at a tradeshow, within the greater B2B eCommerce marketplace, or at a buyer’s brick-and-mortar store.

By establishing an over-arching omnichannel approach and making sure each touchpoint is properly supported, you can keep the many moving parts of your organization working together in harmony.

Does Omnichannel Marketing Work?

Since many national and worldwide businesses continued their sales success or even increased their revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that an omnichannel approach to marketing and sales is extremely effective.

Though most B2B sales took place online over the past year, the return to in-person business has been a significant addition to the success of already thriving omnichannel companies.

The best way to set up your B2B business for success with an omnichannel approach is to make sure that each platform or channel’s management team works toward a common goal and utilizes a cohesive brand image.

Your potential clients should be able to get a clear sense of your brand, including your overall message, as well as your products or services. Above all else, whether they’re interacting with you on your app, on your website, through email, or in person, they should be able to experience the same powerful message from one encounter to the next.

Public perception can be a powerful tool for businesses, and the shared belief in the effectiveness of omnichannel commerce has grown from 54% at the beginning of the pandemic to 83% as of February 2021.

MarketTime’s turnkey approach to B2B businesses allows business owners to trust us with the onboarding process as their team receives the simple training they need to build a truly omnichannel approach to commerce. Create your personalized B2B eCommerce presence, connect with other B2B businesses in the marketplace, and set up your sales teams for success with the easy-to-use MarketTime app for iOS and Android. 

MarketTime currently powers sales for more than 2,000 distinct brands, 300 sales agencies, and 160,000 product buyers. Ready to learn more and begin your journey to omnichannel success? Book your demo today with MarketTime.