The omnichannel era

We are all interconnected. Every day we are online connected to other people, other worlds, other situations. A way of life that is now part of our being and that allows us to get in touch with realities we would otherwise not know existed.

Working together = Shared objectives

At WE RAD we give ample scope for interconnection. We firmly believe that working together towards a common goal leads to satisfying and shared results. In fact, we base our work on the RAD Strategy Model: a process that allows us to create eCommerce and online sales strategies tailored to the target brand, and built in partnership with the customer.

Our being constantly connected implies a need that has become vitally important for every business in recent years, to be present at all times and everywhere.

But how to solve this omnipresence problem? With the omnichannel strategy!

Don't panic, we will now go into the details of this strategy and give you all the answers you are looking for. In the next few lines we will explain:

• What omnichannel means; 

• What is the difference between omnichannel VS multichannel; 

• How omnichannel is managed; 

• What is WE RAD's solution for an Omnichannel eCommerce.

The ABC of omnichannel

The word omnichannel is certainly not a new word in your vocabulary. If you have landed on this page you will have heard the term omnichannel or omnichannel strategy mentioned several times. Put simply:

"Omnichannel is a co-operative management of all communication channels that belong to a commercial reality. We are therefore talking about physical channels, see real shops, or digital channels, be it eCommerce, social media and all the others."

Omnichannel strategy is therefore the way to meet the user experience of the modern, always connected, fast, dynamic and fluid user.

Implementing an omnichannel strategy, however, is not so trivial.

Let us start with an important assumption:

The user of 2023 no longer distinguishes the difference between a physical and a digital location. The connection between the user and brands is no longer established through a single channel but rather through multiple channels, at the same time and perhaps from different places.

Multichannel VS Omnichannel

There are therefore two different strategies, the multichannel and the omnichannel.

The multichannel strategy differs from the omnichannel strategy mainly for one reason: the multichannel strategy - as the name implies - refers to the use of many but not all channels, whereas the omnichannel strategy takes into account all communication touchpoints a brand may have.

However easier, the multichannel strategy will never allow you to channel and engage the entire target audience as with the omnichannel strategy for the reasons discussed above.

Using an omnichannel vision allows you to get your message across in a coherent, effective and cross-cutting manner.

OK, but how do you manage an omnichannel eCommerce strategy?

The data-driven model

Moving on to action, the first basis for pursuing such a strategy is to refer to the data-driven model.

The data-driven process is a system designed to collect, analyse and finally process data from its target audience and is divided into three main phases:

• Data collection - This primary phase is when brand-related data is collected, absorbed and organised. 

• Data analysis - In this second phase we see the analysis and study of the data collected in the previous phase. Through this step we are able to create our buyer persona, understand what our typical consumer is and adjust our communication system.

• Data execution - Here we are at the last step in this process. Now it is time to use this data to create an ad-hoc omnichannel strategy, capable of hitting its audience across all available analogue and digital platforms.

RAD Commerce, the omnichannel eCommerce developed by WE RAD

OK, now you know what an omnichannel strategy is, and what analyses are prioritised for its execution. But how do you implement an omnichannel eCommerce? The answer is RAD Commerce. 

RAD Commerce is the platform made by WE RAD open source, headless, fast, scalable and secure. RAD Commerce is designed for anyone who does not want structural limits in the construction of their eCommerce - limits imposed by other standard CMSs on the market.

But how does RAD Commerce allow you to create eCommerce from an omnichannel perspective? We asked Andrea Vannucchi, back-end developer at WE RAD:

"RAD Commerce was born omnichannel precisely because we wanted to create a platform that was modelled on the needs of the consumer. A platform that could unite all communication channels and manage them independently because it was easy and intuitive.

The omnichannel approach is the best one as it gives users the image of a real, up-to-date brand, aware of the needs of its audience.

Through omnichannel at WE RAD we are able to pursue one of our ideals, that of combining analogue and digital communication."

The RAD Strategy Model

RAD Commerce follows the process of the RAD strategy model a system consisting of eight fundamental pillars:

• Analysis of the company via business flowchart; 

• Analysis of corporate communication touchpoints via communication flowchart; 

• Study and conception of the strategy for the implementation of eCommerce; 

• Design of eCommerce; 

• Development of eCommerce via RAD Commerce; 

• Realisation of both visual and textual content for the online shop; 

• Promotion of the newly developed eCommerce; 

• Maintenance of the platform.

RAD Commerce is not the future, it is the present. Realise your omnichannel eCommerce with a new collaborative, flexible and fluid approach, learn more about our platform.