Omnichannel Retail & FinTech Banking: Creating a Seamless Customer Experience

Successful retailers have taken the lead in developing an omnichannel customer experience that creates a seamless journey across all touchpoints from e-commerce to mobile to bricks and mortar stores.

Jeff Bezos knew how important it was to have a customer-centric focus when he first launched Amazon. That approach has certainly paid off.

While all retailers were not as prescient as Bezos, there’s no question that they now share his view as they strive to compete with e-commerce giants like Amazon and Alibaba. Today’s customers demand services that meet their personal preferences whenever, wherever and however they interact.

Omnichannel Retail Meet FinTech Banking

Both retailers and financial institutions need to understand and interact with customers continuously, consistently, and conveniently with an omnichannel approach. The more technology advances, the more it's integrated into our daily lives. As you read this article, you likely have several internet-connected devices within arm's reach.

The convergence of rich data and fintech is enabling new omnichannel strategies for financial service providers. Fintech developments include more than blockchain, cryptocurrency or digital wallets -- smart apps can allow customers to pay for purchases, transfer money, view an account balance statement, deposit and withdraw funds, get loans, etc. While providing convenient, reliable and accurate transaction processing is still critical, banks are learning from retailers that they must view the customer journey through an omnichannel lens.

Incumbent banks are increasingly turning to fintech startups to help navigate this change. Just as data, customer insights and analytics benefit retailers, the biggest advantage of fintech is advanced analytical tools. Having detailed information on customers’ buying and financial habits and needs enables retailers and financial institutions to not only fulfill customers’ explicit needs, but also anticipate their wants. Every time customers touch a computer, search for a store or product on their devices or call a customer service department, they are providing an information trail—a digital gateway to more personalized customer insights. However, concerns about security and data privacy remain important issues, as highlighted by the recent Capital One data breach and $5 billion fine against Facebook for mishandling users' personal information.

Mobile is Disrupting Business

The world’s leading brands know how critical mobile is to their overall marketing performance. From desktop to mobile web to apps to tablets, users now have more connected devices than ever. For the first time ever, US consumers will spend more time using their mobile devices than watching TV, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast. The average US adult will spend 3 hours, 43 minutes per day on mobile devices in 2019, just above the 3 hours 35 minutes they spend watching TV. Millennials in 2019 make 60% of their purchases online, up from 47.0% in 2017. (Coupon Follow survey) A survey by Blumberg Capital reported that 88% of all banking interactions will be mobile by 2022.

Multichannel v. Omnichannel

Having a multichannel infrastructure and providing an omnichannel experience allows customers to enjoy seamless, personalized service across every touchpoint. But there is an important difference between "multichannel" and "omnichannel". Multichannel refers to a strategy where brands have a presence and operate on multiple marketing and service channels. Customers and prospects can interact with the company to meet their needs across these channels, including: e-commerce websites (desktop and mobile), mobile apps, SMS / text, social media, IVR (interactive voice response)/call centers, e-mail, brick and mortar stores and voice communications. They can also utilize new innovative technologies including AI enabled chatbots and AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality) and mixed reality experiences, as well as new payment platforms and other fintech advances.

However, simply allocating resources to support these multiple channels is not enough -- a multichannel strategy is table stakes today, not a competitive advantage. Each interaction with a brand should feel like a continuation from the previous one, as opposed to having a series of fragmented interactions across multiple channels. This is omnichannel -- brands intertwine different channels in a way that provides a simple, smooth and seamless experience across the customer journey, anticipating that they may start in one channel and move to another to accomplish tasks.

Customers can readily identify when an experience is fragmented, rather than omnichannel—for example, when they can’t make a seamless channel switch, they can’t order merchandise that’s out of stock in a store, or a branch banker can’t find an application the customer just completed online.

Retailers and Financial Institutions Must Take an Omnichannel Approach

Omnichannel is an imperative for retailers and financial institutions alike. The most agile brands will develop “smart bricks and connected clicks” that effectively leverage digital and human interactions and online and offline channels to create a fluid omnichannel offering. 

Deloitte found that over 50% of retail shoppers attempting to achieve a task on the go will use their smartphone to either get store locations (61%), compare prices (57%), read reviews (51%) or get product information (50%). $0.56 of every dollar spent in-store is influenced by a digital interaction. For banks, omnichannel means that clients can perform the same banking operations, whether they use a website, a mobile app, a call center, a bank’s branch, or any other available channels. This is combined with real-time data synchronisation between channels so that, as an example, customers can start an onboarding process on one channel and finish it on another without the need to provide the same data again.

Retailers and financial institutions who meet these expectations will be well-positioned to develop long-lasting relationships with their customers. Those who don’t will be left behind. As the world becomes even more digital, capitalizing on the omnichannel opportunity will be the difference between retailers and financial institutions that flourish and those that can no longer compete.

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