[The Chinese version follows the English one. 中文版在底部]
As mentioned in the previous two articles, due to increasing awareness of information privacy, it is more difficult nowadays for marketers to track users’ browsing behaviors across apps and websites via IDFA or cookies. To reduce the reliance on external data, enterprises need to build up their own O2O and OMO (Online merge offline) channels, put in more effort on first-hand data acquisition, and build a better database.
What is the difference between OMO and O2O?
OMO combines online business and offline business together, synchronizing online and offline data to integrate the shopping experience for customers. For example, the purchase records and loyalty points acquiring a record of the customers from both the physical store and the online shop can be recorded in their account in real-time. Apart from that, the staff members in physical stores may recommend suitable products for members the next time they visit based on the browsing history in the loyalty app.
O2O, on the other hand, it is a strategy that links businesses from online to offline. Although the strategies may drive conversion from online to offline (pick up online shop products in physical stores) or the other way around (encourage a customer to register a membership account), there is still a clear difference between the online and offline business. Apart from that, separating online and offline customer data might ruin the consistency of the customer shopping experience. Marketers will need extra time to tidy up and elaborate on the data.
Why do companies need OMO?
For the past few years, especially during the beginning of the pandemic, online shopping became the new normal for consumers because of the practice of social distancing. Adding online shopping is becoming more convenient, from the smoothness, product variety, and logistic speed, consumers nowadays are obsessed with it. Therefore, even though the pandemic has almost come to an end, and the physical retail industry is reviving, there is still a habit of customers shopping online anywhere and anytime. For businesses, it is important to cherish every business opportunity both online and offline.
The reshaping of customers’ shopping habits is the major reason why businesses need to develop their OMO selling channel. In the past, customers might prefer either online or offline shopping and treated the other one as support. (such as online shoppers treating physical stores as pickup points; offline shoppers treat online shops as a method to check prices.) But now, customers are used to both shopping models, and only applying the O2O strategy is not enough to provide a well-rounded shopping experience for customers. Businesses need to upgrade their business model and integrate the whole shopping experience.
Develop your own platform, enjoy the benefits of digital integration
Personalized user experience
Having your own platform may synchronize the database of customers’ information with ease, a complete database may also help marketers know every user in detail, combine online data with offline observations, and figure out the suitable tags for the customers. In this case, even if third-party data sources such as IDFA or cookies are banned in the future, marketers may still make use of internal data and perform accurate market segmentation, so as to deliver personalized advertisements, product recommendations, discounts, and offers, and so on, providing a more all-rounded shopping experience for customers.
Marketing Automation
Setting up an automation program allows the system to run your commands and analyze existing customers’ data and design different “next best action” for every customer, enhancing the engagement and responsiveness of the promotional campaign. For example, the system may analyze the demographic information and behavioral changes and then precisely decide on different marketing actions, such as holding back inactive customers (switchers or defectors) or performing cross-selling for existing customers.
Own your internal performance analytic tool
Apart from integrating users’ information and sales data, businesses may also gain operational insights such as sales amounts of branches, staff members’ performance, or regional sales performance. These data can be used to review the internal operation performance, assisting the brand to recognize existing problems and improve its efficiency in a transparent way.
After reading the three articles in this series, did you know more about OYOP and OMO? If you are considering developing or upgrading the smart shopping experience for your brand, our loyalty engine Aillia can provide you with personalized digital platform building service. Visit our site for more case studies and insights, and feel free to contact us for a consultation!
新隱私趨勢 III: Own your own platform，由 O2O 到 OMO
正如我們在上兩篇文章中曾提到，隨著大眾注重個人隱私的意識提高，廣告商過往透過使用行動裝置廣告識別碼 (IDFA) 或瀏覽器的第三方 Cookie 來跨應用程式及網站追蹤用戶行為的方法變得更加困難。在未來企業或需要減少對外部數據的依賴，除了要建立 O2O 渠道，企業還要做好 OMO (Online merge Offline)，投放更多資源收集及建立好自身的數據庫。
OMO 跟 O2O 的差異在哪？
OMO 融合線上線下，同步線上下的數據資料和整合消費者兩邊的購物體驗，合二為一。例如整合的消費記錄，不論消費者在網店還是在門店購物，購買紀錄和積分都能即時同步錄入帳戶；又或商家會跟據會員在程式上的商品瀏覽記錄，在下次到門店購物時向會員推薦相應產品。
而 O2O 則是線下到線上的點對點策略，儘管它能幫助商家將顧客由線下帶到線上 (如登記手機會員即時獲得獨家優惠卷結帳)；又或由線上拉到線下 (如網上購物門店自提)，但二者之間的界線仍然明確。而且，分開的兩組數據系統也容易導致消費者的購物體驗支離破碎；商家在進行數據分析及精確營銷時也需額外花時間進行數據清洗或數據整合。
為什麼企業需要升級到 OMO？
在過去兩三年疫症大流行期間，特別在疫症初期，由於各地政府的封城、社交距離等防疫措施，令不少人從以往需親自前往商場/門店購物改為網上購物。加上網上購物平台的流暢度、商品多樣性及物流服務持續不斷提升，消費者甚至可以即日下單即日收貨，網上購物的便利性令不少人著迷。故即使現時生活已大致恢復常態，實體零售業正逐步復甦，但不可否認的是消費者也習慣了透過網上隨時隨地購物的模式。對企業而言，雙管齊下才能把握線上下的商機。
消費者的消費模式轉變正是企業也需要由 O2O 更進一步到發展至 OMO 的原因。過往消費者可能會各自偏好線上或線下其中一種購物模式，而另一種模式較像是輔助的功能 (如門店對偏好線上的消費者而言只是取貨的地方；網絡商城對偏好線下的消費者而言只是查看價格的地方)。但現時，不少消費者已習慣同時使用這兩種方式購物，只應用 O2O 策略未能為這些顧客提供最簡單直覺的購物體驗，商家或需更進一步進行數碼升級，整合購物體驗。
開發及發展自家平台，享受數位營銷及整合帶來的好處
個人化用戶體驗
同步數據庫，完善品牌的數據記錄可以幫助系統更深入了解每一位用戶。結合他們過往線上下的行為數據，推斷與不同顧客相關的標籤 (Tags)。即使日後外部資訊收集渠道如廣告識別碼及第三方 Cookies 等被淘汰，在不依賴第三方服務，只靠品牌內部數據的情況下，營銷人員也能準確地把顧客劃分到不同營銷組別，進行個人化的廣告推送、商品推薦、折扣優惠等，讓顧客體驗一個更全面的線上下整合消費體驗。
自動化營銷
設定自動化程式，程式可以根據所設定的規則，使用品牌內部數據庫內的顧客或銷售數據進行自動化分析及為每個顧客貼身打造不同的推廣策略 “Next Best Action” ，提升推廣活動的回應率及互動率。如分析顧客的背景資料及行為變化，精準投放個人化的營銷動作，包括挽回不活躍舊客 (Inactive customers/ Switchers/ Defectors)、對現有顧客進行交叉銷售等。
企業內部的績效工具
被整合在一起不只有用戶及銷售數據，根據篩選條件的不同，企業也可以獲得一些經營數據例如分店銷量、銷售員表現、地區銷售差異等等。那麼這些整合了的數據便成為了企業內部的績效工具，幫助品牌以更客觀透明的角度了解自身的經營情況，提升營運效率。
在閱讀本系列的三篇文章後，你是否對建立自家數碼平台及 OMO 這個概念有了更具體的認識呢？如果你或你的品牌正在考慮為消費者建立/優化數碼化的智慧品牌體驗，Motherapp 的顧客忠誠平台引擎 Aillia 可以為你提供貼合品牌的個人化數碼平台建立服務。請前往我們的網站閱讀更多，亦歡迎隨時與我們聯絡進行一對一諮詢！