Many companies are jumping on the omnichannel bandwagon. But it’s not enough to offer products on different channels without them somehow being connected to one another. This is a recipe for confusion among customers and a surefire way to put them off using your services or buying your products in the future.
Here is an example of omnichannel marketing done wrong: The second largest discount store retailer in the US, Target, came under fire from a customer that wanted to buy a treadmill from the company. The customer used Target’s eBay store to order the exact model he wanted as it happened to be $1,000 less than on Target’s main site. The customer presumed that both websites were supported by Target but found that not to be the case as he encountered problems with the delivery. He contacted Target customer service, located in Minneapolis, but when they realized he’d ordered from Target’s eBay store, they said there was nothing they could do. After contacting the Target eBay store and having to go over the whole shtick again, the customer was told the item was no longer for sale. It was, however, still on sale on Target’s website for double the price, but Target wouldn’t allow the customer to buy it for the original price he’d paid even, although it was their fault they’d messed up the delivery in the first place. In the end, the treadmill WAS delivered at the lower price AND the customer even received an additional $100 off.
So even though multiple channels should have helped the retailer, they actually ended up hindering it as they didn’t work in unison and print catalogs. If a company has bad customer service, it can really damage loyalty and cause customers to shop elsewhere. Especially in the day and age of social media, one bad post about the store can be catastrophic.