In 2017 and beyond, successful businesses will showcase bold, innovative approaches to personalize and elevate every aspect of the shopping experience. Technology and retail are increasingly entwined in a way that has changed the vocabulary we use to describe shopping.

Successful businesses can no longer compartmentalize their brick-and-mortar and online sales; a seamless ‘omnichannel’ shopping experience comes to the customer, while a ‘retailtainment’ experience greets them at the storefront. In this new world of distributed commerce, successful retailers will need to focus less on their own points of sale and more on meeting the customer wherever, whenever and however they want to engage.

What is Omnichannel?

An omnichannel customer experience feels natural and effortless to the consumer. All customer interactions with a business, whether through physical channels or digital channels, are integrated and seamless. Channels span from traditional to high-tech and include brick-and-mortar stores, catalogs, call centers, websites, online chat and social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.

Omnichannel is quickly becoming omnipresent in the retail world. Domino’s Pizza allows customers to order via phone, website, an app and, most recently, Facebook Messenger. Starbucks’ mobile app users can order and pay ahead before picking up their order in-store. “The omnichannel customer experience is the future of everything that involves extracting money from a customer in a way that the customer actually likes to have it extracted,” said Micah Solomon, customer service speaker, author and consultant.

Omnichannel allows a customer to move fluidly between in-person, online and catalog interactions within a business. “In an omnichannel customer experience, the customer can order a dress on the phone, pick it up in person, and send it back from her front porch if it doesn’t fit,” Solomon said. With her purchase history, credit card information and personal preference data following her successfully from channel to channel, it’s updated [along with inventory and general ledger] along the way.”

Omnichannel means the end of customer frustration when dealing between online and offline channels of business. “I’m sorry, this gift card is only redeemable in person,” and “You can’t return those shoes in-store, they were purchased online,” are problems of the past. Omnichannel requires a shift in a business’ perspective; there is no longer a distinction between online and off-line channels but a united front of superior customer service.

In 2017 and beyond, omnichannel efforts will become the difference between businesses that succeed and businesses that fail. The millennial generation of customers does not have the same patience for limitations in commerce as previous generations. “They don’t believe that commerce needs to take place on one channel to the exclusion of another,” Solomon said. A business risks poor reviews and loss of patronage if it does not honor its online pricing in-store, or refuses to honor a gift card in-store that someone sent by email.

Investing in a Seamless Customer Experience

Online efforts may once have been an afterthought or footnote to establishing a new business. Webpages may have been built haphazardly using the most inexpensive, or even free, software. Appointments may have been quickly booked using a free appointment app. But the importance the modern consumer places on an integrated shopping experience demands that retailers invest in the omnichannel functionality of their business. Just as it is worth spending extra on a better location that provides more traffic, it is imperative to invest in the digital tools needed to create a seamless customer experience. “When you lower the barrier to reaching your company through any possible channel, you’ll hear from the customer more — and more often with an open pocketbook,” Solomon said.

A focus on inventory and order management systems is imperative to achieve a buy, fulfill and return anywhere strategy. “Your inventory systems and databases need to be connected. Your return procedures and order histories need to be synchronized,” Solomon said. This can be difficult to accomplish and often requires investing in systems that allow this level of coordination. Once achieved, a customer can purchase and return an item via any channel and the information is updated and accessible by any other channel. This way, “a phone call or web interaction, even moments after an in-store return, for example, can be based on up-to-the-minute information,” Solomon said.

“This approach makes sales seamless and almost invisible to boot, and by removing barriers to buying you will likely spur customers to purchase more,” he said.

How to apply this to the car wash industry

Investing in omnichannel strategies for your car wash showcases to clients that you will provide an end-to-end premium experience. Imagine a mobile app for a car wash that pushes out personalized coupons to complement the customer’s purchase history as well as reminders to schedule a visit after a set time duration. When the customer is ready to book an appointment it can be done via phone, online, an app or walk-in, and then can be later modified through any method without overbooking, omission or confusion. A beacon-enabled network sends an alert to the front desk that a particular client has arrived so the host can greet them by name and offer the client’s favorite beverage. Upon completion of service, the customer is notified by text message that their car is ready. Payment can be made through cash, credit, gift card, mobile payment or any combination of these. When the client leaves, the app pushes out a request to rate the service received. He is invited to inspect his car and take a photo of any areas that are not quite up to par to send directly to the manager via the app — heeding off any potential disastrous online reviews. If there is a problem with the service, the manager can send a message via the app and continue the conversation over the phone without any loss of information.

Beyond Retail

Omnichannel is not limited to retail business. “Omnichannel isn’t just about delivering, picking up and returning physical goods,” Solomon said. “Omnichannel customer service, and the omnichannel customer experience, should, and can, be all about providing service where and when a customer wants it,” he said. Omnichannel can be implemented with success in professional, business-to-business and other non-retail settings.

Healthcare has seen a surge of omnichannel service, with coordinated treatment centers becoming the norm. Patients can find all of their health services under one roof and can communicate with their doctor’s office via phone, text and web portal. Business-to-business sales can provide greater continuity to their clients. “A system such as one from Aspect can provide valuable omnichannel functionality, for example, by allowing customers to move seamlessly from chat to a phone call and connect to the same agent, enabling the customer to start an interaction in a chat session and continue where they left off on the phone without having to repeat their issue. Which is, emotionally and efficiency-wise, quite a big deal for a customer,” Solomon said.

Boundaryless Retail

Even as “omnichannel” is being accepted into business jargon, advancements in technology have some pushing to move to an even more progressive model, “boundaryless retail.” HSNi CEO Mindy Grossman introduced the term at the 2016 National Retail Federation BIG Show. The increasingly prevalent “buy button” found across social media and personal devices demands that retailers prepare to transact in a way that is platform-agnostic and audience-centric. “We’ve entered the age of boundaryless retail — a world devoid of artificial barriers, driven by innovation and collaboration, where we leverage the power of technology to create a seamless experience for consumers,” Grossman said. “With the customer as the new point of sale, it is essential to create a relative, meaningful and emotional experience,” she said.

Retailtainment

In the same vein, retailers are using retailtainment, the fusion of retail and entertainment, to make in-store shopping relevant and worthwhile for the customer while increasing a business’ bottomline. Over the next five years, U.S. consumer spending is forecasted to grow by 22 percent. Mintel global market research reports that more than three in four millennials would choose to spend money on an experience, and that people use experiences to define themselves on social media. Retailtainment capitalizes on this trend, purposefully adding a free experience alongside normal sales offerings to draw consumers into the store.

Walmart has used retailtainment for years as a way to bring customers into their physical stores. Annual Oreo stacking contests in the ’90s proved immensely popular. A recent South Dakota event featuring photo-ops and autographs with pro bull riders drew lines of fans, all at no cost to Walmart. By inviting marketers to operate and fund the events, Walmart is able to add a new dimension of entertainment at little to no cost, never compromising their low prices.

Some of the most successful retailtainment innovatively incorporate lifestyle elements into the store, from product demonstrations to luxury, spa-like touches. Origins beauty retailers advertises free mini facials, while Nike offers free in-store fitness classes like yoga. In Singapore, health promoting shopping malls offer free weekly workout classes with professional instructors, and the American Dream Meadowlands mall in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, will offer the first indoor skiing facility in the U.S.

Industry Examples

The car wash industry has pioneered retailtainment with owners using out-of-the-box methods to elevate the car wash experience. “We are always open to new ideas and always listening to our customers about what new features they may like,” said Adam Tocci, general manager of Belmont Car Wash in Belmont, Massachusetts. Belmont Car Wash recently renovated its waiting area to make it as comfortable as possible for customers. Large screen TVs, free Wi-Fi, laptop workstations, and free refreshments and popcorn provide clients a first-class waiting experience along with a clean car. A separate children’s waiting room is available featuring a water cannon kids can aim at passing cars in the automatic car wash.

Showmanship can make the mundane memorable. NS Corporation offers the “Bubblizer” for purchase, a multi-use chemical applicator arc that creates a light show for customers. It can even be purchased in a “Bubblecano” package that creates the effect of driving into the mouth of a volcano and being covered in lava-colored soap. Happy Cow Car Wash in El Cajon, California, may boast the ultimate example of retailtainment in the car wash industry: a laser light show, complete with dancing cow and soundtrack, brings some customers back daily to their automatic car wash bays.