Tips for Multi-Platform E-Commerce

It's 2024, and we're living in a multi-channel world. Between physical stores, online sites, marketplaces, social commerce, and mobile apps, all online and physical channels have become deeply intertwined.

The average digital consumer engages with 7 different channels in a single month. In the apparel category, shoppers gather information from an average of 4 different sources before making a purchase. Where customers go to find that information is shifting too. Marketplaces are now the more common starting point for information (38%), ahead of search engines (30%).

Brands want a presence across multiple digital channels for a range of reasons: expanding into new markets through marketplaces, reaching new customers via platforms like TikTok, boosting customer satisfaction, benefiting from economies of scale, and creating more touchpoints throughout the customer journey.

At the same time, brands also want visibility across different digital channels to build awareness and trust, which naturally drives even more channel proliferation.

So how should brands manage this multi-channel reality? By reaching the right customer, on the right channel, at the right time. You wouldn't, for example, market a product aimed at older consumers on TikTok.

So what should you actually do?

1. Use a strong tool that effectively orchestrates activity across all channels, with fully integrated systems.

2. Keep your pricing and product information consistent across every channel. Your category structure, product attributes, and messaging all need to align. What you say on one channel needs to match what you say on another.

3. Reflect customer reviews and feedback consistently across all channels.

4. Maintain visual consistency that works seamlessly across every channel.

5. Use tools that properly optimize your content, so you can effectively communicate product benefits everywhere you sell.

6. Keep inventory and stock levels synced in real time. Data driven sales and stock forecasting is essential here, and you should closely track both your top sellers and your underperformers.

7. Retail media is a fast growing channel with real potential. It allows you to target buyers directly and run highly efficient campaigns, while also making good use of retail media's own data.