Instead of a physical retail shelf full of choices, the digital shelf is made up of every customer experience your buyers have with your product — search results, mobile apps, websites, social media, in-store shopping, etc. If you want to win on the digital shelf in e-commerce you need to stock every location with high-quality product information. 

This change from physical to digital is challenging for some, but it also presents a big opportunity. You now have more control over the appearance of your product and story (e.g. branded videos and 360º photography). To start stocking your digital shelf, identify and prioritize your most important products, clarify price points, invest in search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, and garner as many reviews as possible. 

Omnichannel and multichannel may sound like they're the same thing, but in reality, these two strategies are quite different. Although they both involve many digital channels and steps along the customer journey, multichannel focuses on pre-defined sales pathways for each channel, and omnichannel focuses on how you sell based on evolving customer behavior.

Both are effective e-commerce strategies and you often have to get multichannel selling right before you’re able to excel at omnichannel e-commerce. Let’s explore the key differences between the two and take a look at how to choose which approach is right for you.

E-commerce wouldn’t exist without product information; plain and simple. The problem is there’s a lot of quality information needed to support a single product. A digital buyer can’t take a product off the shelf, feel its weight, and experience it in the same way they can in person. They rely on the information they read, see, and hear about a product online — the product’s specs, text about its benefits, how-to videos, images, and so much more. 

Organizations need accurate, robust, up-to-date, compelling product information to compete (and ultimately win) in the digital arena. Managing all of this information is challenging without the help of product information management (PIM). Today we’ll discuss what PIM entails and how it’s helping a wide range of organizations and roles harness the true power of their product information to find greater e-commerce success. 

It’s increasingly difficult to orchestrate a cohesive customer experience across multiple channels and touchpoints. And at the same time, it’s never been more important — customers spent US$861.12 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2020 (up 44.0% year over year). You need to build a seamless omnichannel e-commerce experience to capture your share of these growing online sales.

That means you’ll need to prioritize the mobile experience, understand how your customers like to shop, establish a strong brand position, and create a consistent experience across platforms. We’ll cover the basics of those areas and give you some tips for launching your own omnichannel e-commerce strategy. First, let’s start with a clear definition of what omnichannel e-commerce is. 

We’re exposed to product branding every day. From the coffee cup we’re handed at Starbucks to the toothpaste we choose from the shelves of grocery stores and the ads we see on our smartphones. Companies like Coca-Cola, Apple, and Starbucks have product branding that is so recognizable we take it as a normal part of our environment.

When you hone and execute your product branding strategy to this level, you get some serious advantages. One of them is that people recognize your product and buy it without having to qualify whether or not your product is good enough. Let’s take a closer look at the definition of product branding, learn about some of the advantages of getting it right, and take a look at some of the most successful product branding examples.

Every year comes with more digital touchpoints, new product content demands, and an increasingly complex omnichannel customer experience. At the same time, e-commerce is growing faster and faster — customers spent $861.12 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2020 (up 44.0% year over year). It’s never been so important to deliver personalized content at every step of the customer journey or so difficult to orchestrate.

While some brands are struggling to keep up, others use a digital asset management (DAM) solution to streamline their content workflow and deliver an omnichannel customer experience. New Balance and Fanatics have both stepped up to the challenge to deliver omnichannel customer experiences that are consistent, positive, and personalized. Here’s how they’re doing it. 

The e-commerce space is overflowing with revenue potential for brands, but that’s no surprise. Online shopping has been on the rise for quite some time, affording brands with what’s projected to be a $5.4 trillion opportunity in 2022. But just because there’s opportunity, doesn’t mean every brand will find success on the digital shelf. 

In our 2021 Widen Connectivity Report, we explore the role of product information in helping brands achieve e-commerce success. We learn that while every brand is different, there are best practices that brands must follow in order to get the most out of their product information, strengthen audience connections, and ultimately deliver customer experiences that count. 

What is omnichannel retailing?

Omnichannel retailing refers to the use of various sales channels (physical and digital storefronts) to create a unified, seamless brand experience for consumers on any platform, at any time. When done effectively, users should be able to move freely from one channel to the next, building a relationship that improves the overall buying experience and encourages brand loyalty. 

Most businesses today use multiple platforms and channels for sales. Brands are spread across websites, social media, print catalogs, and brick and mortar stores. Since sales on various channels can essentially act independently of one another, if they aren’t set up properly they can create a disjointed or inconsistent experience for the consumer.

The steady growth in e-commerce sales over the past three decades has been significantly accelerated by the coronavirus crisis. Research from McKinsey found that since COVID-19, there's been a 15-30% increase in consumers who make purchases online, suggesting that digital shopping is here to stay.

But a successful e-commerce strategy requires a unique combination of tools to engage customers, generate sales, and fulfill orders as seamlessly as possible. We’ve compiled a list of these essential tools for you to consider adding to your marketing technology (martech) stack.

In today’s digital landscape, staying ahead of the curve is more important than ever as brands vie for profitability in a crowded, competitive online marketplace. Finding an effective approach to managing product information is critical...it allows you to be confident that your product data is complete, consistent, and up-to-date at every stage of the process.

A product information management (PIM) system can help you manage data associated with your product lines. PIM e-commerce solutions offer significant benefits that can promote higher profitability in today's fiercely cutthroat consumer and B2B markets.