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Omnichannel retail has put all of the control into consumers’ hands. Today’s shopper is hopping between apps, social media, websites, and in-store experiences, and they expect a totally seamless experience no matter how they shop. The advent of social media shopping, live marketplaces, and using search to find products means that the retailer has lost the ability to control the buyer’s journey. Their legacy systems haven’t kept up.
Impact of Social Selling and Retail Search
Today, retailing goes beyond the traditional Omnichannel approach. It isn’t just delivering a cohesive experience with your own stores and websites and apps. Now an entry point might be a social media experience or third party application.
More and more often, we see consumers entering a product name into their favorite search engine, and making a purchase based on their top criteria, such as price, availability, or quickest delivery. Today’s retailer must make relevant fulfillment, location, and inventory data available to search engines in order to capture that sale. Otherwise, they risk losing to another retailer who has opened up that data.
Adapting Tech Stacks for Success
To meet the demands of today's consumers, retailers must build robust and adaptable tech stacks that support today's consumer behaviors. In the new world of social selling and search-powered product discovery, retailers are suddenly working in an ecosystem that is not their own. Microservices provide the quickest, most agile way for them to compete in these new shopping experiences.
According to McKinsey, the pandemic hastened the adoption of digital interactions – making today’s consumer much more inclined to shift between physical and online shopping without even thinking about it. As retailers continue to evolve their tech stack to meet these expectations, they have a tremendous opportunity to engage customers in these new experiences, but they must live up to their promises in order to keep the customer happy and loyal.
APIs, powered by microservices that serve up inventory, store availability, and promising data make it possible for retailers to compete in social- and search-driven sales environments. When a consumer searches for a product, they are most likely to choose the search result that lists availability and fastest delivery, along with the best price. In fact, in a recent survey, 62 percent of online shoppers said that fast delivery is the most important factor in a positive customer experience.
Delivering on the Promise
In 2023, the promise of omnichannel retailing has become even more critical as consumers continue to hop between apps, social media platforms, websites, and physical stores. Retailers must adapt their tech stacks to accommodate this behavior and deliver a consistent and seamless shopping experience. Microservices provide a quick and effective path to keeping up with ever-changing consumer behaviors.
Want to learn more about how we’ve been able to help retailers serve up promising data to increase conversions? Check out our case study – and contact us today to learn more!
