Omnichannel: it’s a word which has been given an almost ‘mythical’ status for the last decade, describing an infinite state that, once achieved, will allow telcos and other enterprises to drive growth, stand out in a crowded market and transform customer experience across customer services, marketing and service delivery.
Is going omnichannel worth the investment? The numbers speak for themselves:
· Businesses which have strong omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for those which don’t.
· Omnichannel shoppers have a 30% higher lifetime value than those who shop using only one channel.
· 87% of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing a seamless experience.
Despite these clear benefits and potential, many telcos are struggling to get their strategies off the ground. A research paper that looked at the state of omnichannel digital transformation in eight countries found that, for the majority of telcos, their plans were either in the “early stages” or “in progress” – but only a small minority had plans anywhere near completion. The UK is quite strong in this regard, with more than 40% at the “well advanced” or “complete” stage; but that still leaves nearly 60% of UK telcos languishing in the “early stages” or “not started” category.
