Influenced by the e-commerce boom and the recovery of physical stores, consumers are now considering doing their holiday shopping through more than one channel. Given this, it is essential that brands have a flexible platform when choosing sales and distribution channels.

In the last two years, the adoption of the online channel has expanded exponentially, especially in Latin America, where the growth of e-commerce almost doubled.

However, in a context of greater freedom and fewer restrictions, physical channels are recovering and hybrid purchasing appears and consolidates. Looking ahead to the end of year holidays, a study revealed that 3 out of 4 users plan a purchase of these characteristics: more than 50% of Latin American Internet users will look for products online for Christmas and New Year, while the remaining half will do so in physical stores.

“This indicates that while consumers are largely choosing to revisit physical stores to improve their shopping experience, levels will not return to pre-pandemic levels because they have already added the online channel to their purchasing habits.”said Germán Torres, director of Digital Transformation at Snoop Consulting.

Omnichannel becomes the key to retaining those customers who experienced the new normal. By using different channels under the same communication strategy to be in contact with prospects or clients, consumers can choose the most comfortable way when purchasing and brands can reach the consumer at the right time.

Omnichannel offers a unified and consistent experience between channels, and gives businesses the ability to optimize stock, reduce logistics and SLA costs, and increase revenue.

The important thing is to have a platform that offers flexibility when choosing sales and distribution channels and the possibility of adding third-party sales channels, thus achieving an expanded distribution network.

“Ecommerce platforms that have an omnichannel solution offer the possibility of defining different commercial strategies in each channel and enhance each one of them”Torres concluded. “The online channel can be used to bring the customer closer to the physical channel and encourage upselling.”