What actually is Omnichannel in a B2B context?

A great example of what omnichannel really means, with Booking.com the customer has seemingly limitless choices, options, prices – from data being fed in by providers across the globe. The platform enables online chat interactions, phone interactions and the real world to combine and come together to ensure that the paying guest gets the room and the service they expect.

These days, B2B buyers (who likely all use sites like Amazon and services like Booking.com) are expecting a full omnichannel experience from providers they deal with professionally, with respondents to a recent B2B survey seemingly using an average of ten ways to interact across all steps of their journey.

Top three most frequently used touchpoints:

Other integral interactions:

B2B omnichannel is about devising a central system which provides consistency of product information and combines insight and oversight of all customer interactions and touchpoints.

Because buyers are using so many interaction channels, the quality and seamlessness of the experience matters more than ever – and this entails capturing centrally, sharing internally and using data intelligently – every step of the way.

The B2B purchasing process is typically longer and more complex than B2C. It often involves multiple stakeholders from different departments, all of whom may interact with the business through different channels at different stages of the buying journey. Omnichannel solutions ensure that every stakeholder has access to the same information and a cohesive experience, regardless of how or when they engage with the business.

When thinking about data in an omnichannel context we could extend this out to any information your buyers and customers typically need and request (product specifications, product lead times, support requests, service bookings). Customers would deem these resources useful and contribute to creating a preference for ordering from your company.

Consistency in product and information management:

• catalogue
• website
• customer contact centre
• distributor networks

and consistency in having a single view of your B2B customer interactions. 

This requires serious thought to conceptualise and specify a unified and cohesive system for information capture and delivery, to aid selling to and supporting the customer effectively.

The potential benefits however, in terms of operational efficiencies and improved workflows, are tangible. Just look at how banking and travel has changed over the last 10 years and how empowered customers increasingly are to self-serve with confidence online.

Redefined methods of working often require new software and systems to underpin things. In our experience, legacy software adapts poorly to meet the emerging expectations of businesses and customers outlined above.

Increasingly web-based software is evolving to fulfil a wide range of business requirements and is replacing outmoded and disjointed legacy software as well as integrating with leading ERP software.