May 7th 2024, the Omnichannel Index by IMPACT Commerce in collaboration with Google, was presented at an event in Stockholm. The event was filled with great insights and strategies from leading experts in the omnichannel and eCommerce landscape across Europe, including IKEA, Kronans Apotek, Matas (Kicks), YSL Beauty, Givenchy, and more.
Per-Mattias Nordkvist, Managing Director at IMPACT Commerce, kicked off the event by setting the stage for a day filled with knowledge sharing and actionable takeaways.
Omnichannel: A Team Effort
First speaker up on stage was Karoline Lotz Jonassen, Future Commerce Lead at IMPACT Commerce, and Vera Lefebvre, Performance Specialist at Google. They spoke about handpicked parts from the Omnichannel Index report findings, and how omnichannel is a team effort – a mix of dedicated work around:
Team Effort: Vera and Karoline emphasized the collaborative nature of omnichannel success, highlighting the importance of cohesive strategies across all channels.
Success Stories and Failures: Stefan Kirkedal, Matas
Stefan, SVP Digital Development & Loyalty, introduced Matas, the beauty & health retail giant that acquired KICKS, one of the largest beauty destinations in Sweden. Five years ago, they made a comprehensive decision and focused on building a stronger omnichannel presence as well as a digital team, working on loyalty and digital.
Today, they have 2 million members in their loyalty program. Here’s what they focus on when it comes to omnichannel:
“Data is still king”
Matas' vision is always focused on the customer perspective, he said, and they have been growing from a physical retailer to a true omnichannel company during the past five years.
Stefan mentioned one failure they had done where the company could have saved cost and time by saying yes from the beginning to start focusing on building an app. “Apps are the future," he stated.
3 takeaways from his session:
Juleah Love, YSL Beauty – Why Causes Should be Omnichannel
Juleah underlined how omnichannel strategies and business growth goes hand in hand. Her speech was about the social responsibility that she thinks companies should have, the impact led brands, and how YSL Beauty have invested in their campaign “abuse is not love”. The campaign is something that they promote across all channels, a purpose led omnichannel approach, she called it.
YSL Beauty promotes the campaign in all channels possible. Their goal is to work with actors of change, hosting in-store training around the subject, and that their community managers can respond to questions that might help others.
Her core message: We should all dare to do better!
Nothing in Retail Comes Easy – Jörgen Bitzekis, Kronans Apotek
Jörgen told us about how Kronans Apotek, the leading pharmacy chain in Sweden, has focused on an omnichannel approach by “buying for 1, selling for 1,50”, and that for them it’s about revenue versus cost, which is key to stay profitable.
Kronans Apotek’s customers expect a seamless interaction when entering their website, and the customer wants to go through the channels in different scenarios and channels.
They want the basics to work first, he said, and then hold on hard to what's working. “Otherwise we will not be able to deliver a good experience while being profitable”.
Panel Discussion ending – Xenia Dobonyi, Digital Experience Director at Givenchy, and Hanna Broman, Country Customer Fulfillment Manager at IKEA Sweden
Xenia, Digital Experience Director at Givenchy, told us about the journey the company had when it comes to being a top performing retail store business, to needing to put more focus on eCommerce and their online store as well. Their online store is revenue wise their biggest store now, she said. “We need to invest more–and when I first joined the company, we had a lot of catching up to do”.
When it comes to customers using apps or websites, Xenia said that she that in the luxury brands world, the customer experience is much smoother in an app. However, getting the customers and users to actually use the app is the harder part. You need to know how to get the users there, she said.
Hanna Broman, working at IKEA Sweden, said that IKEA has been focusing a lot more on its eCommerce just the past five years. On the app versus web page topic, she thinks that webpages are stronger when it comes to inspiration.
IMPACT Commerce shared the Omnichannel Index winner on stage and the winners of 2024 was: IKEA Sweden!
This one-day event is a must-attend for retailers and brands seeking to elevate their omnichannel presence and drive business growth.