How Your Legacy Networks Hinders Your Omnichannel Marketing
Omnichannel has grown into a catchphrase within both industry and marketing circles in the past few years. In many ways, omnichannel combines the two spheres into one for customers.
The end game of omnichannel marketing is to funnel clients from all channels into interacting with or buying from a brand. Omnichannel provides those customers countless possibilities for purchasing in a way that’s appropriate for them. Many assume that there only two ways to buy – in-store or online. Omnichannel unlocks a great amount of crossover between the two. Customers can make purchase online and pick up their order in store. Or they can have their order delivered right to their doorstep.
This creates the opportunity for a two-fold customer interaction, exposing customers to a brand twice as much, and coordination between online, in-store, and even delivery offers can inspire more engagement. Many store operators have the ability to include a link to a store page in social media posts, creating a direct line from social media to sales to grab customers while they’re already engaged. With the right tools and creativity to craft them, the opportunities for customer engagement are endless.
And it’s working. 89% of customers are retained by companies with omnichannel engagement strategies (Invesp).
Given that fact, it’s been predicted that over 20% of brick-and-mortars will begin implementing omnichannel strategies to streamline and integrate their operations.
Omnichannel interactions require a wide range of technologies, including in-store WiFi, digital signage, self-checkouts and more – and require 100% transaction uptime. The success of these technologies is dependent on the network, All of these advanced technologies are highly dependent on your organization’s WAN network. Legacy WANs were developed before the dawn of omnichannel, and most cannot effectively support omnichannel interactions. A move to software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) should be top priority for any organization that plans to focus on omnichannel strategy.
Contact us to find out more about why legacy networks are challenged, and to receive useful guidance on the best path to migrating to SD-WAN.
