"With These Tools, Your Omnichannel Strategy Will Succeed"

Ordering clothes, furniture and home accessories online: What has been a matter of course for us for years requires a lot of work in the background. Stockkeeping, logistics around shipping and returns and most notably the online shop are just a few of the to-dos that merchants have to keep in mind. Tools are key in keeping the shop running smoothly, as in so many areas, in order to successfully manage everyday e-commerce.

It gets even more challenging when more channels and venues are added in addition to an online shop - true to the so-called omnichannel strategy. If you want to sell your products not only through your own shop page, but also in addition through marketplaces or perhaps even in brick-and-mortar retail, you should be especially well positioned in terms of tools. This ensures that your omnichannel strategy bears fruit. The essential thing here, especially, is good and well sorted content and the ability to play it out properly. We'll tell you which tools work best for this in this article - so that you can really get started in the omnichannel business.

Without a shop system, there's no online shop

If you want to offer your customers the option to shop through different channels, you should go for a flexible tech stack. It starts with the shop system, which is a mainstay of your business. Simple all-in-one shop systems are great for getting into the online business, but they quickly hit their limits in this task. Instead, it makes sense to rely on headless commerce from the outset, that is to put together the required tools yourself and network them. Here, the frontend and backend are separate, which facilitates adjustments or the individual addressing of different target groups. For this headless approach you can use shop systems like, Shopify, BigCommerce or Spryker. They can be linked with numerous other tools, which in turn supports you in your omnichannel strategy and your omnichannel marketing.

With the omnichannel approach, you offer your customers seamless transitions between your channels. You can, for example, link stationary and online retail. Because, these days many customer journeys start with online research, but can be continued in stores. This happens especially often for high-ticket or high-involvement products like sofas or kitchens, which customers prefer to purchase offline - but doing so without first getting an overview and impression online is becoming increasingly rare. If you're not appealing here, you risk your potential customers not coming to the store at all.

For an improved search experience you should also link your shop system with an Onsite Search Software. Tools like Algolia or Fact-Finder support you in developing and improving search experiences. For example, they extract more from your customers' search queries using artificial intelligence and help you understand their needs.

Storyblok integration for efficient content workflows

While your shop system is the heart of your online shop, without content there wouldn't be a holistic buying experience. To get particularly much out of your omnichannel strategy, you should not only rely on a headless shop system but also on a headless CMS. This way, you not only remain particularly flexible, but also benefit technically from short loading times and high performance. And in turn, your customers will appreciate this.

With a headless CMS like Storyblok you ensure that all important content is precisely played out to all channels. Especially with a large number of products, you should use a flexible CMS that both your developers and your marketing team can use efficiently. In Storyblok, teams can easily create, adapt and optimize extensive content. A visual editor and practical workflows for collaboration of the respective teams help with this. As a headless e-commerce CMS, Storyblok allows projects to be developed faster and campaigns to be started at the turn of a hand. With this tool you can, for example, create contents like product and category texts and integrate visual elements. This way, you offer your customers many inspiration options and can direct them from mood pictures to linked products with just one click. And you don't have to miss out on clever AI in Storyblok: Numerous integrations ensure more efficiency and optimized experiences on all sides, thanks to Headless AI.

Omnichannel is the future and the future is now

Consumers are demanding, and this will not change in the coming years. Therefore, you should fully exploit technological possibilities - so that the competition doesn't outpace you. Already, personalization and immersive experience are in high demand and should certainly be taken into account in your omnichannel marketing strategy. Furthermore, for e-commerce companies, the step into omnichannel is not simply a trend, but a crucial element of their strategy. Your customers want seamless experiences, and that's where they are - not where you'd like to be.

The main advantages of an omnichannel strategy are:

• Holistic user experience: No interruptions when switching between channels.
• Adaptation to customer behavior: Brands can adapt their messages to the behavior of their customers, especially dynamically, when they use AI.
• Consistent strategy across all channels: With omnichannel, you communicate uniform messages and a uniform look and feel.

Here is the tech stack you can rely on for your omnichannel strategy

Your omnichannel tech stack should support all crucial business areas, including marketing, sales and customer service. With headless shop systems and CMS you lay an important foundation for this and enable full flexibility in all areas at all times. Via practical integrations or via API, you can build up an effective and efficient tech stack that can grow with your business. Essential for this are:

• Headless e-commerce platforms with integrated omnichannel support, such as Shopify, BigCommerce and Spryker.
• Headless content management systems like Storyblok for the seamless management of product data across various channels.
• Data and analytics tools like Semrush for comprehensive insights and meaningful tracking.
• Tools for personalizing your customer experiences like Ninetailed.
• CRM systems for personalized customer care, like Salesforce CRM, SAP and HubSpot CRM.
• ERP systems like Xentral and Myfactory to ensure smooth administration in all areas.

In addition, you can prepare for the future with AR and VR technology and secure an important advantage. Offer your customers, for example, a modern shopping experience with virtual try-on functions or let them view your furniture via smartphone directly in their homes. Tools like Unreal Engine support you in this.

To meet the high demands of omnichannel retail, a well thought-out tech stack is crucial. If you want to retain your customers in the future and inspire them with your offer, you will not be able to avoid it.