Consider how retail consumers shop today. They’re searching for and buying products across every channel: websites, apps, in-store and on social. More than 70% of buyers between the ages of 18 and 39 shop from brands in an omnichannel way.¹

Now that customers have higher expectations, lower brand loyalty, and more touchpoints than ever before – success moving forward will be all about channel-less. You need to be visible and effective through every channel, otherwise, when a customer channel-shifts, a competitor will be ready and waiting to win the sale.

How can you achieve these channel-less experiences? For complex, modern brands, managing a channel-less go-to-market strategy requires a streamlined operation.

But if you’re a multi-national organization with many sub-brands, for example, you might be held back by de-centralized assets, legacy systems, and the lack of a central content repository. And you wouldn’t be alone. Over half (51%) of businesses consider managing omnichannel experiences to be their greatest engagement challenge.

To deliver on customers’ high expectations, it’s important that retailers can manage content across multiple platforms in an efficient way. Let’s explore the current state of retail experiences and how adopting the right technology can overcome these obstacles and deliver new opportunities.

What channel-less means for the future
Channel-less is the future standard in customer experience. Customers expect you to go further to understand them at every touchpoint. They want personalized content that meets them through the many channels they’re on.

If you get it right, channel-less will unlock a serious competitive advantage. Roughly 65% of consumers find positive experiences with a brand across sales channels to be more influential than great advertising. And there’s potential for long-term impact, with 75% of executives agreeing that strong content is the strategic key to growing customer lifetime value.²

Connecting your content and commerce
For many retailers, channel-less success will require a new and intelligent way of managing their content and commerce lifecycle – orchestrating it in the right context, for the right channel at the right time. Improving efficiency, reducing costs and, ultimately, creating harmonious customer experiences is the goal.

Avanade, Sitecore and Microsoft are redefining what’s possible for retailers with composable technology, helping them stay relevant in consumers’ lives and closing the gap to evolving channels. Avanade can get you started with Sitecore’s Digital Experience Platform (DXP). Built on a composable architecture, it brings together your content and commerce strategies through Sitecore Content Hub and Commerce Cloud.

Content Hub centralizes your digital assets for flexible planning and collaboration, while Sitecore Commerce Cloud enables you to deliver modern commerce experiences on any channel. The technology helps connect your website, mobile, social media, messaging apps and in-store applications for seamless experiences, no matter how customers interact with your brand.

Providing multi-region, multi-language and multi-brand support, our approach will let you move away from siloed systems and disconnected ways of working. With central content control, it can deliver marketing content to the right audience group, at the right time, in the right way, for commerce everywhere. Working with us can bring the following benefits:

Accelerated ROI – by increasing margins and average order value with personalized customer experiences and the ability to repurpose marketing assets
Saving time and resources through self-service and streamlined processes – while growing customer loyalty and value
Launching new features, channels and creative assets quickly for a faster time to market – and gaining improved insights on performance

The power of partnership
Avanade gives you unique and exclusive access to Sitecore’s DXP. We invest in developing market-leading skills that accelerate Sitecore’s cutting-edge composable solutions across content, commerce and personalization. While our deep technical insight, wealth of expertise and close alliance with Microsoft mean we can integrate the Sitecore platform into the Microsoft ecosystem to unlock its true value for our partners.

It can be difficult to know where to start with such a significant project, so Avanade acts as your guide, shaping a roadmap for your channel-less future. In just 12 weeks, we can fast-track your content and commerce strategies with our accelerator, so you can achieve rapid results and ROI sooner.

We adopt a holistic and practical approach, taking the time to understand the best solution for your challenges, and working with you to explore the right move forward. You’ll get a made-to-measure solution and 360° approach for total transparency.

Make channel-less your reality
Together, Avanade, Sitecore and Microsoft help you keep every customer at the core of your business, so you can revolve around them. Just as we revolve around you. We’re always here as your ongoing partners, guiding you forward and showing you what’s possible with custom builds and capabilities that keep your brand ahead.

To get started with the Sitecore Partner offering or to reach the next stop on your channel-less journey with the Avanade accelerator, get in touch with us.

For more retail insights and solutions, don’t miss us at NRF 2024 in New York City from January 14-16 at the Javits Convention Center.

Sources:
1 Accenture Song Research, 2023
2 You Are Your Content. Accenture State of Content Report

Create the retail experience your customers want