10 Omnichannel Statistics You Need to Know

Gigi Peccolo

JUNE 29, 2015 CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 0

Have you ever reached out to customer service on one channel, gotten frustrated because things are going nowhere, and switched to another channel? Then, are you increasingly exasperated when you find out you have to start your conversation over?

Yeah, so are we.

Luckily, this type of customer experience can be avoided by companies that take an omnichannel approach. Despite its association with marketing and retail, omnichannel can be applied to customer service as well. Omnichannel service means bringing various channels together in a more integrated and consistent way, drawing on past interactions and customer data to create a seamless service experience. In fact, over 90% of customers expect this kind of experience from companies.

At OneReach, we think omnichannel is an essential part of customer service that not only boosts customer retention but creates a powerfully positive customer experience. By adding omnichannel (and integration to inform the customer experience), businesses can increase CSAT tremendously with easy and effortless service experiences.

Check out these insights on the importance of omnichannel (and what happens when companies aren’t using it).

1. 87% of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing a seamless experience. (Zendesk)
2. 98% of Americans switch between devices in the same day. (Google Research)
3. Companies with extremely strong omnichannel customer engagement retain on average 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for companies with weak omnichannel customer engagement. (Aberdeen Group)
4. 89% of customers get frustrated having to repeat their issues to multiple representatives. (Accenture)
5. Over 35% of customers expect to be able to contact the same customer service representative on any channel. (Zendesk)
6. 77% of strong omnichannel companies store customer data across channels, compared to 48% for weak omnichannel companies. (Aberdeen Group)
7. 61% of customers have not been able to easily switch from one channel to another when interacting with customer service. (Aspect)
8. 64% of customers expect to receive real-time assistance regardless of the customer service channel they use. (Zendesk)
9. Companies with extremely strong omnichannel customer engagement see a 9.5% year-over-year increase in annual revenue, compared to 3.4% for weak omnichannel companies. Similarly, strong omnichannel companies see a 7.5% year-over-year decrease in cost per contact, compared to a 0.2% year-over-year decrease for weak companies. (Aberdeen Group)
10. By 2020, the demand for an omnichannel customer experience will be amplified by the need for nearly perfect execution. (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

Kroger expands online ordering to Lebanon store

View Larger 

Greg Lynch

Kroger associate Ashley Scharfenberg collects items for the new online shopping service at the Liberty Twp. Kroger store, Thursday, June 11, 2015. GREG LYNCH / STAFF

By Chelsey Levingston

Staff Writer

LEBANON — 

A Lebanon Kroger is the chain’s latest store to test a new online shopping service, according to the grocer.

The retailer is inviting select customers of the Kroger on Columbus Avenue in Lebanon to try it, as the chain expands online ordering to a second store in Southwest Ohio, said Patty Leesemann, spokeswoman for Kroger’s Cincinnati/Dayton Division.

Earlier this month, Kroger expanded online ordering to all shoppers at a Liberty Twp. Kroger Marketplace on Yankee Road. But first, it was tested with employees and select customers. So far, the Liberty Twp. store is the first Kroger-branded store nationwide to offer the service to all customers.

Leesemann previously said more Kroger stores would test the service, but did not name which locations before.

To order (at participating locations), go online to www.kroger.com/onlineshopping, build a cart, and select a pick-up time and location.

A Kroger employee hand-picks items and stores them in proper temperature zones. A customer can pay for the purchase in a drive-through without leaving their car. Kroger employees load the bags in the vehicles.

Pick-up times are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week in Liberty Twp.

Kroger charges $4.95 for an online order, but the fee was waived for a Liberty Twp. customer’s first three orders.

“Customers are always looking for alternative ways to grocery shop, or to shop period, and we want to make our customers’ lives as easy as possible. Online shopping is the way to do it,” Leesemann told this reporter earlier this month.

Cincinnati-based The Kroger Co. employs more than 20,000 people at 109 supermarkets in Greater Cincinnati, Dayton and Springfield as part of its Cincinnati/Dayton Division.

Amazon launches ‘Prime Now’ 1-hour delivery service in London, its first city outside the U.S.

Above: Amazon Prime Now

Image Credit: Paul Sawers / VentureBeat

Amazon has launched its one-hour “Prime Now” delivery service in London, marking its first appearance outside the U.S.

As its name suggests, Prime Now is only available to those who subscribe to Amazon’s annual Prime membership, which costs $99 a year in the U.S., or £79 in the U.K.

Above: Prime Now

Prime Now made its debut in Manhattan, New York, last December, promising to narrow delivery slots for “tens of thousands of daily essentials” to a one-hour delivery slot. The service has been rolling out across the U.S. in the six months since, but an international launch is a notable milestone for the service.

Launched in 2005, Amazon’s annual subscription was traditionally all about the free two-day shipping, but the company has been looking to increase the appeal of the membership with additional exclusive “perks” in some markets, including same-day shipping, a video-streaming service similar to Netflix, an ad-free music-streaming service, unlimited cloud storage for photos, and an “ethical” own-brand line of products.

Prime Now is only open to a select number of post-codes (similar to U.S. zip codes) in central London for now, but for those it is open to, they can order through a dedicated mobile app — available onGoogle Play, Apple’s App Store and the Amazon Appstore — from 8am until midnight.

You’ll not be able to beckon a new TV to your house within a 60-minute time-frame, however. This is all about “daily essentials” such as batteries, chargers, USB cables, cereal, paper towels, books, soap, and toys. So smaller items, basically.

It’s also worth noting that the one-hour delivery slot isn’t free — it will cost an extra £6.99 ($7.99 in the U.S.), so it’s only really worth it if your purchase amounts to more than that. You can get a two-hour delivery window for free, seven days a week.

Why Reverse Logistics Systems and Transportation Management Should Be Considered Together

By Adam Robinson on Jun 29, 2015

Needs for efficient reverse logistics systems continue to increase as e-commerce claims greater market share, and as so many traditionally functioning businesses grow and inevitably incur increasing volume of returns. This presents opportunities for developing new revenue streams, an exciting challenge to logistics professionals.

However, forward logistics management skills (involving original production and distribution of new products) may scarcely apply to reverse processes of moving products from  buyers’ locations in order to recover remaining value or appropriately dispose of items. Product travel in reverse of their original paths from the seller to buyers’ locations, after which they may undergo disassembly and disposal or recycling, or repair or refurbishment, testing, packaging, warehousing, resale, shipping, customer support, and other reverse logistical processes executed by the seller outsourced services.

Need For Reverse Logistics Breeds Opportunity

Efficiently managing reverse logistics is a daunting challenge for many businesses. Quality, service, costs, environmental and legislative issues are strategic issues that must be managed in addition to the operational challenges mentioned above. Successful reverse logistics systems and programs significantly increase customer satisfaction, decreases necessary allocations storage, energy, and other resources. Program managers recognize the revenue potential of returned assets and strive to streamline processing systems in order to capitalize accordingly. Opportunities in this area of U.S. business are huge. The annual volume of returns in the U.S. is estimated to be as much as $200 billion, per theReverse Logistics Association.

Customers want results. So, many suppliers utilize outside logistics management to ensure customers remain fully satisfied and continue to repeat purchasing. Companies that integrate reverse logistics systems into their logistics systems distinguish themselves from competitors in:

• effective management of inventory availability and cost
• reverse logistic cycle time control
• meaningful and accurate performance metrics
• responsiveness to fluctuating market demands
• reputation for excellence in reverse logistical results
• customer satisfaction

Effective Cost Management Driven By Reverse Logistics Systems

A growing network of channels for disposition of product returns, regardless of condition, has opened up major opportunities. (Asset depreciation also offers significant profit potential to some companies.) Managing returns is a customer service fundamental requiring your company to balance your customers’ needs for competitive product and service value and your company’s need to yield profit. In the interest of both, businesses are increasingly tying reverse logistical operations to transportation management as a natural fit.

Managing all costs associated with moving, handling, and shipping returns and/or replacements, in conjunction with warehousing functions, amount to a logistical enterprise that often is not among a company’s core competencies. In such cases, it’s advisable to look to experts in freight management, logistics, and reverse logisticssystems implementation to optimize customer service and maximize potential profit.

Many companies now outsource transportation, logistics technology, accounting, and other systems management. Use the3PL checklist to identify your company’s resource needs.

Recapturing Value

The value of a product is more likely to decline and damage to it is likely to increase when movement through the reverse logistical process is unnecessarily prolonged. The speediest possible disposition is critical to recapturing the full remaining value from the product. Further, ability to accurately track movements of components and measure costs of returns to your company and supply chain members is essential to profitable reverse logistics management. TMS software in conjunction with a reverse logistics system provides necessary metrics, including:

• average travel distance per item
• energy expenditures, performance of sustainability initiatives
• total cost of the product, original acquisition, return, resale, or move to secondary market, or trash disposal
• continuous GPS tracking data regarding locations of return goods in relation to causes of delays, and routing adjustments for traffic, road construction, and convoluted routes
• scheduling to prevent route crossovers, increasing numbers of serviced locations per trip

Optimized Reverse Logistics Systems

Your company may have the resources and the will to invest in developing and maintaining optimal reverse logistics systems. However, it’s becoming more common for businesses to outsource these logistics services. Especially if your company does significant amounts of e-business, your reverse logistics services should offer your company these essential features.

Website

• Your site should be customized to suit your customers’ submissions of returns.
• Functionality should include custom text fields and/or dropdown menus that can contain whatever information your company and customer need to communicate.
• Entry fields should be fully compatible with any type of return being submitted.
• Mobile capability is increasingly becoming a basic these days.
• Data tracking should display for your customers the status of their returns
• The system should display the BOL (bill of lading) once a return is approved.
• Systems should be integrated with web or file upload functions so your company can send data to validate returns received.

Return center

• Your return management system must provide all functions necessary for your company to manage all returns.
• The system for entering new returns, tracking all returns, approving returns, and authorizing payment of approved returns should be fully integrated.
• Proof of Delivery receipts for returns should be closely tracked—checking carrier sites every 2 hours for POD documents.

Benefits

• Your reverse logistics provider should create BOLs using least cost rules for your company as a shipping customer.
• The service should ensure that multiple returns are consolidated into every shipment possible to reduce costs.
• The reverse logistics system software program elements and functions provided should be streamlined, centralized, coordinated to meet lean operating standards, and built for ease of use with thetransportation management system.

Going Forward with Reverse Logistics Systems

As your business grows, reverse logistics necessarily becomes more demanding. Turning this obstacle into an opportunity for  the establishment of an additional revenue stream requires managing this need to the satisfaction of the parties on both ends of the reverse transaction—your customer and your company. That presents overwhelming challenges for many companies that do not have resources or sufficiently developed competencies to sustain a viable program long-term. Obtain professional consultation as necessary to thoroughly evaluate needs. And, keep sight of the profit potential in making full commitment to optimal management of this critical business function.

Walmart Executives Discuss their Omni-Channel Logistics Initiatives at the 3PL Summit Last Week in Chicago

By editor on Jun 23, 2015

Kevin X. Jones, the Vice President of Inbound Transportation at Walmart, and Sheila Taylor, the Vice President of Logistics at Sam’s Club, discussed Walmart’s approach to omni-channel logistics at the eft's 3PL Summit & CSCO Forum last week.

On Walmart’s approach to omni-channel logistics, from the North American 3PL Summit & CSCO Forum

Walmart’s ultimate goal is to understand their customers’ expectations, and yet be able to meet these expectations in a profitable manner.  “We are expected to make a profit,” Kevin said.

The task is not trivial.  In the first quarter of 2015 the company had $115 billion in sales, with 17 percent growth in ecommerce sales.  The world’s biggest retailer has 260 million customers across their channels, which they serve with a combination of their own fleet and third party carriers.

In the US, their fleet is primarily focused on outbound moves.  Walmart ships 6.3 billion cases annually out of 23 distribution centers (some run by 3PL partners) using roughly 6,000 tractors and 58,000 trailers on which they drive over one billion miles.  Walmart employs over 12,000 associates in the transportation department.

Sheila talked about putting the customer in charge.  Customers don’t want to do as much driving.  Walmart’s customers have decreased their trip distance by 11 percent, partially based on Walmart opening more stores, particularly smaller format stores in more urban settings, and partially based on ecommerce sales.

There has been growth in mobile, up to 70 percent of customers use smartphones to shop.  Walmart customers do come into the store and touch and feel products and then buy online, hopefully from Walmart.

Customers want goods fast and free.  22 percent of customers want to buy online and pick those goods up somewhere – at a store, or in a locker closer to their residence.  And the pickup destinations aren’t easy to forecast.  Customers are starting to buy goods for vacations, for example, and having them sent forward to the vacation destination.  65 percent of customers want to have items consolidated in fewer packages, and 63 percent of customers want to schedule a day and time for delivery.

While the demands on logistics are increasing, the pressure to move goods efficiently remains.  Trailer utilization remains important despite the growth in each picking and shipping.  Walmart executives know they don’t do a good enough job in inventory management at the store.  The store level inventory accuracy must increase to facilitate new omni-channel flow paths.

The company knows they can’t build separate networks to support the different flow paths to the customers.  They will need to move to a dynamic distribution model where goods don’t always flow from DCs to stores; or ecommerce warehouses to homes.  The company will need to support new flow paths where goods may ship from a retail DC to a home; or an ecommerce warehouse to a store; or goods may flow to new, more customer centric, omni-channel formats not even in existence yet.

Walmart knows they don’t know how to do dynamic distribution yet; they will need help from 3PL partners and suppliers to move to this new model.  They will need to continue to do pilots and experiments to learn what works.  They have experimented with home delivery of groceries and grocery store pickup in Phoenix, Denver, and San Jose.

And in Phoenix, the retailer has began testing off-site pickup with a delivery truck parking in local business centers for two hours each week. The temperature controlled truck is segmented to keep frozen foods, refrigerated foods and items at room temperature. Walmart coordinates with area businesses to determine the appropriate times to park the truck at the mobile pickup site. At the site, customers pull up and are treated to a bottled water and snack while their online grocery order is retrieved from the truck and loaded into the customer’s car.

But Kevin said that when an experiment works, when they learn the costs and prove they can make money, Walmart is capable of scaling very quickly.  Mr. Jones pointed to the example of neighborhood markets.  For years they struggled to make money with these formats, when they figured out how to make a profit with this format they build 300 of these stores in the second half of the year.  None of this was in the strategic plan at the beginning of the year.

While there is much work to do to improve their omni-channel capabilities, there have also been wins.  Sheila pointed out that the integration between the ecommerce teams and store merchandizing is improving.  The ecommerce team is doing a better job of giving their brick and mortar colleagues a head’s up when a particular SKU is selling extremely well.  And the ecommerce and store procurement teams are talking more and doing a better job of leveraging their joint spend.