Insights
Headless Technology Enables Omnichannel Experiences
When it comes to creating seamless omnichannel experiences, headless technology is king.
- Article
- 3 MIN READ
- Mar 22, 2022
Head of Business Development LATAM
Summary
If you’re looking to improve your omnichannel strategy, there is a lot to consider. It encompasses your technology stack, digital marketing strategy, and online communities. Ultimately, modern businesses need to think about all of these pieces to give people the freedom to choose how and when they interact with you.
In this article, we’ll cover how we see omnichannel strategy today and the key technology components you’ll need to provide a great experience.
What is omnichannel and how does it improve customer relationships?
An omnichannel strategy involves unifying all your digital touchpoints so people can easily shop and interact with you in the way that is most convenient for them. Whether people are buying products from their laptop or cell phone, you want to provide the same high-quality brand experience as the rest of your digital channels and physical store.
Embracing an omnichannel strategy allows you to connect with more people around the globe. And with more businesses going online, omnichannel is becoming table stakes. In a global survey by Think with Google, 74% of online shoppers said they searched online for store information before making a purchase. They explored locations, products in stock, opening hours, directions, wait times, and contact details, among other key pieces of company information.
By offering a cohesive experience across devices, you can put your best foot forward as prospective customers explore your brand and decide if you’re the best fit for their needs.
Data from Google showed an increase in the number of people looking for fast-moving consumer goods online in the wake of the pandemic. But for other more high-touch areas like finance and insurance, more than 70% of people preferred to connect with a customer service representative in person. It’s important to understand your target customer's preferences and adjust your omnichannel strategy accordingly.
Headless technology drives omnichannel strategy
Headless technology refers to a way of building your site architecture that separates the front-end from the back-end. This makes it so that your team can make changes to the front-end experience of your site, at the same time that your development team is making changes to the back-end.
Taking the example of an eCommerce store, you could make interface updates to the presentation side that your customers see. You can have full control over the information that your customer is seeing, without affecting the back-end operations of your site. This setup reduces the risk of altering site functionality due to code errors since any changes you make can be tested independently of the back-end infrastructure.
In addition to these benefits, one of the main advantages of a headless approach is that it helps improve your omnichannel strategy. You will be able to integrate new tools and device touchpoints better than in a monolithic environment. This is because you can connect multiple front-ends (different channels) to the same back-end.
Overall, using headless technology will help you create a seamless and personalized omnichannel shopping experience.
The importance of being within reach
Let’s look at an example of the benefits of investing in omnichannel. Booking.com offers exclusive discounts for accommodation booked through their mobile app. By offering these benefits, the company encourages their customers to interact and make purchases on different devices. According to the company, this practice has "increased bookings from mobile devices by up to 28%" and is key to "reaching the millennial market."
Google data supports this finding. In Latin America, there has been an increase of more than 54% in the use of mobile applications since the pandemic. This means that companies need to establish touchpoints on mobile devices, and deliver the same functionality and experience as in other channels.
Commerce Layer: Headless platforms enable omnichannel
It is natural for people to have a preferred digital channel for making purchases, so the task for every brand is to adapt to these preferences, and provide a great experience. No matter what channel people choose, you need to be visible and consistent in your approach.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by this task and all the technology that’s required. Development teams often get stuck using inefficient tools and processes and can feel unsure of what technology provides the best solution. Commerce Layer is a platform that can help address these issues.
Commerce Layer is a headless commerce platform that allows teams to add global shopping features to any website, mobile app, or chatbot — all without the need for advanced programming skills. Using a platform designed to enable great omnichannel experiences saves a lot of the headache involved when teams try to assemble things from scratch.
You can integrate your current tools and site with Commerce Layer through secure and fast APIs. It’s designed to work with other eCommerce tools and operate with a decoupled approach that separates the front-end from the back-end. This allows you to unify your channels and facilitate omnichannel adoption.
At Apply Digital, we use Commerce Layer for our clients when suitable, as it helps build ecosystems focused on providing great experiences across channels. No matter what product or service you offer, modern businesses can benefit from integrating technology that facilitates omnichannel-friendly interactions. If you’d like to discuss how these technologies can work for you, reach out to someone on our team, and we’d be happy to help.
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