Commentary: Why Omnichannel Marketing Is No Longer Optional for Retailers

The modern retail consumer navigates, researches, compares, and purchases across multiple touchpoints. According to Harvard Business Review, 73% of shoppers use more than one channel to make a purchase. This evolving behaviour is reshaping how retailers must think about marketing, customer experience, and data integration.

The Rise of the Mobile Consumer

Mobile is at the heart of this shift; 59% of shoppers use their mobile devices in-store to compare prices or look for discounts (HRC Retail Advisory). This means your physical store is no longer a separate experience; it’s part of an integrated shopping journey. Retailers who fail to optimise the mobile experience are missing a huge opportunity to influence decisions at the point of purchase.

The Data Dilemma

Despite growing tech adoption, many retailers are still struggling with fragmented customer data:

• 30.9% of retailers can’t track consumers across devices

• 38.2% can only track them some of the time (Internet Retailer)

This makes personalisation incredibly difficult. If you don’t know who your customer is across platforms, how can you deliver relevant messaging? As Forrester notes, 35% of marketers say poor data quality impacts their ability to run effective digital campaigns.

To fix this, brands need to unify customer data across all channels, from in-store to email, mobile, social media, and e-commerce. This creates a 360-degree customer view, essential for delivering seamless, personalised experiences.

The Cost of Not Going Omnichannel

Failing to adopt an omnichannel strategy comes with a high price. According to VendHQ, retailers who don’t provide unified experiences could lose up to 10% in revenue. On the flip side, campaigns that use three or more channels see an average engagement rate of 18.96%, compared to just 5.4% for single-channel campaigns (Retail Dive).

Customers are telling retailers exactly what they want:

• 84% believe brands should do more to integrate their online and offline channels (RetailNext)

• 64% of consumers are more likely to increase spending if issues are resolved on the same channel they used to communicate (Zendesk)

• 56% of adults prefer shopping both online and in-person (National Retail Federation)

These figures point to a clear truth: omnichannel is now the standard. Anything less feels disconnected and inconvenient.

The future of retail belongs to brands that can seamlessly blend the digital and physical worlds. Retailers who embrace this approach will earn more than just revenue. They’ll earn customer loyalty in an increasingly competitive marketplace

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