Did you know that companies with omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain 89% of customers compared to just 33% for those with a weak omnichannel strategy? Furthermore, Google research claims that 42% of in-store shoppers search for information online while in-store. Another extensive study by the Harvard Business Review studied the shopping behavior of just over 46,000 customers and focused on which channels they used and why. The writing is on the wall: Fusing the shopping experience across channels – or in other words, omnichannel marketing – is the future, and the future is now. To that end, let's look at four examples of brands that are offering a seamless omnichannel experience and blurring the lines between physical and digital shopping, one channel at a time.

As we progress from "the new normal" to "the next normal," businesses are working hard to revise their marketing strategy and develop an omnichannel presence to improve sales in the brave new world of e-commerce. Read on to learn everything you ever wanted to know (and then some) about omnichannel, including what it is, how to build yours with voice commerce, and how to use it to maximize reach and fulfill consumer needs. Recently, Forrester hosted the Engage Digital conference, a virtual adaptation of its annual user event. According to Brendan Witcher, Principal Analyst for Digital Business Strategy, "the next normal" will "involve advances in omnichannel." During his presentation, Witcher noted that it will be necessary for retailers to switch gears to be prepared for the next phase of e-commerce.

Businesses can now use conversational AI to automate customer-facing touchpoints everywhere -- on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, on their website, their app or on voice assistant devices. Industry giants like Apple, Amazon, Baidu, Facebook, Google, IBM and Microsoft are investing large resources to drive AI progress. And though it's still relatively new among enterprises, by 2021 Gartner predicts 25% of enterprises across the globe will have a virtual assistant to handle support issues. If your organization is not yet familiar with conversational artificial intelligence, it is a set of technologies that enable computers to simulate real conversations. According to Georgia Partners, conversational AI refers to the use of messaging apps, speech-based assistants and chatbots to automate communication and create personalized customer experiences at scale.

Disney, Oasis, REI, Starbucks, Virgin Atlantic, and others excel at delivering omnichannel experiences using AI and machine learning to fine-tune their selling and service strategies. Bottom Line: AI and machine learning are enabling omnichannel strategies to scale by providing insights into the changing needs and preferences of customers, creating customer journeys that scale, delivering consistent experiences. For any omnichannel strategy to succeed, each customer touchpoint needs to be orchestrated as part of an overarching customer journey. That's the only way to reduce and eventually eliminate customers' perceptions of using one channel versus another. What makes omnichannel so challenging to excel at is the need to scale a variety of customer journeys in real-time as customers are also changing.

Disney, Oasis, REI, Starbucks, Virgin Atlantic, and others excel at delivering omnichannel experiences using AI and machine learning to fine-tune their selling and service strategies. Bottom Line: AI and machine learning are enabling omnichannel strategies to scale by providing insights into the changing needs and preferences of customers, creating customer journeys that scale, delivering consistent experiences. For any omnichannel strategy to succeed, each customer touchpoint needs to be orchestrated as part of an overarching customer journey. That's the only way to reduce and eventually eliminate customers' perceptions of using one channel versus another. What makes omnichannel so challenging to excel at is the need to scale a variety of customer journeys in real-time as customers are also changing.

Bottom Line: AI and machine learning are enabling omnichannel strategies to scale by providing insights into the changing needs and preferences of customers, creating customer journeys that scale, delivering consistent experiences. For any omnichannel strategy to succeed, each customer touchpoint needs to be orchestrated as part of an overarching customer journey. That's the only way to reduce and eventually eliminate customers' perceptions of using one channel versus another. What makes omnichannel so challenging to excel at is the need to scale a variety of customer journeys in real-time as customers are also changing. AI and machine learning are being used to close these gaps with greater intelligence and knowledge.

Disney, Oasis, REI, Starbucks, Virgin Atlantic, and others excel at delivering omnichannel experiences using AI and machine learning to fine-tune their selling and service strategies. Bottom Line: AI and machine learning are enabling omnichannel strategies to scale by providing insights into the changing needs and preferences of customers, creating customer journeys that scale, delivering consistent experiences. For any omnichannel strategy to succeed, each customer touchpoint needs to be orchestrated as part of an overarching customer journey. That's the only way to reduce and eventually eliminate customers' perceptions of using one channel versus another. What makes omnichannel so challenging to excel at is the need to scale a variety of customer journeys in real-time as customers are also changing.

According to Forrester Research, the adoption of e-commerce solutions is accelerating, driven by the advantages offered by omnichannel strategies. So much, in fact, that Forrester is recommending business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses embrace an omnichannel strategy -- one that offers several significant benefits to both retailers and wholesalers alike. In essence, omnichannel adoption can tear down silos and reduce operational overhead while bringing more opportunities to businesses looking to sell products and services. However, omnichannel solutions are still plagued by supply chain inefficiencies that can reduce value and hamper productivity. Take, for example, the returns management process, where defined methodologies for handling customer returns have become high-touch processes that can introduce delays, inefficiencies and mistakes -- all of which can impact the bottom line while also affecting the relationship with the customer.