Last year, many experts talked about omnichannel being at the forefront of business – and it’s easy to see why. Omnichannel is a logical next step, as it’s a multichannel approach to sales and retail strategy that unifies strands of a business, such as its brick-and-mortar store and its online equivalent.
However, many businesses are struggling to go truly omnichannel as individual parts of their company are still siloed, or they don’t have the right data to fully inform their decisions.
While omnichannel has been a huge stepping stone for merchants, it’ll soon be eclipsed by open ecosystems, where early adopters will work together to create a truly fluid consumer experience based on data partnerships between key businesses.
Right now, the consumer experience is limited by a lack of integrations – for example, you need individual loyalty cards for each separate brand you shop with. What if you could unify all your loyalty cards into one place, instead of carrying one for a book shop, two separate coffee cards, and one for each of your favourite clothes brands?
An eventual future may see the formation of a centralised “sharing hub” that exists between organisations so that everything is as efficient as possible both for merchants and consumers alike.
Essentially, it’d be a data economy based on these data partnerships, with companies working together in a retail cooperative that allows for the freedom of information.
To make it real, let’s consider your local shopping mall. Each shop has an individual loyalty card, linked to each shops’ data bank and independent loyalty programme. But what if each store banded together to share their data such that customers benefited from shopping in the one mall – and it was all centralised into one loyalty card?
Instead of carrying ten cards, the consumer would have one – and the shops would have a trove of legitimate buyer data. The future may take it a step further again, with companies using APIs to link multiple businesses around the world.
In real terms, however, we’re already seeing the beginnings of a more open source world, and PSD2/Open Banking is already changing the financial market.
Payment Services
When companies have no competition, they can take advantage of their customers. Open Banking means that banking data is freely available and that a range of new competitors can come to the fore, allowing for a more open and competitive financial market.
As more merchants make their data and APIs available, consumers can connect multiple products and services in one centralised hub – their smartphone.
Several high-profile companies are already making leaps in the age of open data:
- Yolt – Dutch multinational ING Group’s Yolt is an app that uses APIs of other banks to pull all your account information into a single app for full visibility of your accounts.
- BBVA API Market – Spanish bank, BBVA, spent a year working with over 1,500 developers and businesses to optimise its Open API service, to connect its customer data with other platforms for ease of use, i.e. AliPay and PayStats.
- Nordea – Innovative banking solutions for the Nordic region.
While retail banks are currently seeing the biggest shift, it’s safe to assume that in 2019 the retail marketplace in general will start to follow suit.
Already, companies are stepping up. For example, ASICS, the global athletic footwear and apparel company, is building an application network to enhance customer experience by using reputable APIs to gain access to data such as real-time inventory, pricing, and order statuses.
ASICS can reach its customers around the globe and build strong relationships with them, while customers benefit from a more personalised, efficient system.
If merchants can unify and allow for the freedom of their data (within the remits of privacy legislation), they’ll be able to layer data from multiple sources to see an entirely new story – and to create a “total” solution that truly puts the consumers’ needs first.