Omnichannel Orchestration and Brand Controlled Experiences

What is an Omnichannel Experience platform?

Within the industry, we spend a lot of time and money attracting customers from an eCommerce standpoint, focusing on the Buy transaction. For over two decades, KPIs like impression share and conversions were the primary force of experience-driven disciplines. Cost of Customer Acquisition, Life Time Value rates, and other critical indicators was attributed solely to cart and getting someone to make a purchase. 

The force behind this sort of thinking has evolved. Optimizing an eCommerce platform for these metrics is considered table stakes, the entry price. Retailers understand, and Consumers expect state-of-the-art user interfaces and the prescriptive use of marketing campaigns to generate website visits, impressions, and conversions. More recently, we've seen an unheard-of double-digit growth of eCommerce through the pandemic as online shopping is becoming more prevalent with consumers.

We are seeing a shift where consumers are beginning to make decisions based on their brand's purchase experience and the experience (flexibility, speed, cost, optionality, customer service) of how a brand fulfills and continues interacting with them during the post-purchase transaction.

The existing paradigm is very transactional and, from an experience perspective, needs to be revised and more nuanced. For example, as a consumer, you purchase on a brand's native eCommerce website and expect it to be shipped. From this stage, the experience breaks away from a brand-centric focus; the carrier receives your order, and you receive a third-party tracking link to view the status on the shipper's website. From the brand's perspective, once they've made the sale, the rest of the consumer experience is a transactional point A to point B journey. 

There's nothing stellar about that. Instead, we've seen, especially from data collected throughout the pandemic, that people care about what happens to their order after they click to purchase. Consumers care about the speed at which they get an item and the optionality they get from a fulfillment standpoint. 

Being able to choose and interact with a brand, when and how you get your delivery, and at what speed and price point are all top of mind for today's consumer. Suppose you are not thinking Beyond the Cart. In that case, you are giving up the opportunity to reinforce brand equity and loyalty with your customers during the most critical part of their transaction.

Do you want somebody to come to your residence and drop off your package? Do you instead want your delivery to arrive at your workplace? Avoiding porch pirates is one of many benefits of this new optionality; there's a growing demand for Buy-Online-Pickup-Anywhere (BOPA). You can have packages available for pickup at a storage locker, alternate pickup points, and pick up in-store or curbside, which we're all becoming used to. 

This optionality in varying fulfillment channels influences consumer purchase patterns before the cart.

When Manil Uppal and I were running Lash Delivery, we saw the impending need for these single-use fleets to branch out and make general retail deliveries. Delivery Solutions and our omnichannel platform are the gateways the market needs. 

Fulfillment isn't just post-purchase but also a heavy consideration of a brand's pre-purchase experience and strategy. In addition, ride-share onset has bled into expectations across the board; we're all primed to track the status of everything in real time and see where deliveries are, not just when they arrive. 

Because the market has conditioned consumers to want to be in control, visibility is now a significant part of the experience. Not only do they want options, but they also desire to change options or add to their order while it's "in flight." 

How will unification help your brand?

Consumers want to have access to their journey. They want to be able to change their mind and update a curbside delivery to in-store pickup or add on some last-minute items. They want to be able to connect with the delivery driver to ensure delivery to the correct address, and they want to see digital evidence of delivery irrespective of where they may be at the time.

Interactions with a consumer no longer end at purchase or even post-purchase. As a result, brands now have a new frontier to own, delivering an inspirational experience. Returns, exchanges, and the ability to dispose of or resell products are all consumer interactions that imprint experience. 

These omnichannel delivery options and how they've allowed consumers to engage with their journey directly transcends what existed before.

What happens to a product when consumers look at it within an environment the brand doesn't own? Out in the wild, within an online marketplace, or in the metaverse, shifts in context aren't always controllable. What is controllable is fulfillment. 

By expanding upon and orchestrating a nuanced branded fulfillment experience, all of the conveniences consumers come to know will transfer back to the brand. 

What we've created at Delivery Solutions is a gateway for brands to access consistent experiences. Our platform is an ecosystem of various best-in-class products, partners, and a full suite of analytics that will work with, support, and scale eCommerce omnichannel strategy that puts customer experiences at its soul.

Join some of the world's most trusted retail brands and partner with a delivery provider that can help you deliver on that final mile promise. Schedule a personalized demo today and see what Delivery Solutions can do for you.

Delivery Solutions orchestrates fulfillment experiences for enterprise retailers, supplying flexible optionality for consumers and priming merchants for innovation at scale.