Omnichannel - the customer is the channel

Fulfilling customer wishes

March 1909 – Harry Gordon Selfridge opens a department store on Oxford Street and revolutionises retail. He turns shopping into an experience, displays goods openly on tables, and compares the visit to a sightseeing tour. His then visionary ideas are more relevant than ever today: customer loyalty is created through positive shopping experiences and fulfilled wishes. The customer decides what, when, how, and where to buy—companies must be where their customers are. In a study, 73% of participants used multiple channels on their shopping journey. The key lies in connecting these channels—this is exactly where omnichannel marketing comes into play.

Multichannel vs. Omnichannel

Multichannel is the predecessor of omnichannel: retailers sell through multiple channels, which, however, operate independently. Each channel follows its own strategy—differences in assortment or pricing are possible. With omnichannel, the name says it all: "Omni" means "everything." All channels used are consistently connected and perceived as one brand—for a seamless shopping experience. Because the focus is on the consumer rather than individual channels, the store and webshop are not competitors. At the same time, key metrics such as conversion rate, sales, or returns can be analysed across channels.

Titolo - Passion for sneakers

Titolo is a global sneaker and streetwear retailer based in Switzerland, known worldwide. Their range extends from trendy sneakers to timeless classics. Their credo: “Our passion for sneakers and streetwear drives us, and we are committed to always offering you the most sought-after releases on the market.” Simon Kopp, Managing Director of Titolo, tells us why Titolo relies on omnichannel marketing and the role Arcavis plays.

What makes Titolo stand out?

Titolo is not just a CH streetwear retailer, but has a special status with the brands Adidas, Vans, Asics and Nike (Jordan) in particular, which gives us access to extremely limited products. Accounts with these brands can be counted on one hand in German-speaking countries. In addition to the sometimes extremely limited products from these brands, Titolo is characterized by a finely curated range of selected streetwear brands that is otherwise rarely found in a boutique in Switzerland. This and the investment in our social media channels, on which we play original content, gives us an extremely loyal customer base.

You work with the Arcavis POS system. What was the deciding factor in choosing it?

When we were evaluating a new warehouse management and POS system, it was already clear to us that we wanted to integrate it very closely with our eCommerce system. One of the challenges we wanted to address with the system relaunch was duplicate sales in B&M and online retail, which were primarily due to a lack of system integration. Accordingly, the API was a central factor in the evaluation of the new warehouse management and POS system. An in-depth analysis showed that almost all Arcavis functions can also be controlled via the REST API, making Arcavis suitable for omnichannel businesses of our size.

Of course, we also appreciate the fact that Arcavis is developed in Switzerland. As the crow flies, the distance between the Titolo store in Bern and the Arcavis office is just 100 meters.

You rely on omnichannel marketing—what motivated you to do so?

Titolo can be described as an early adopter in this field. More than 10 years ago, the founding family decided to supplement stationary retail with eCommerce. Today, pure B&M would no longer be conceivable for Titolo - not least because one of our core target groups are digital natives who naturally operate in the digital space.

In addition, we naturally want to give the whole of Switzerland access to our rare products. The limited editions are also in demand outside of Zurich and Bern. We can satisfy this need excellently via online retail.

From the Instagram feed directly into the living room? No problem!

Since we also run one of the largest Instagram accounts in Swiss retail, it would be unthinkable for us to sell only in-store. Social media traffic simply converts best through online sales.

How does Arcavis support you in this?

First and foremost, we use Arcavis as an inventory management system. Arcavis is our inventory management system and we book every transaction, whether B&M or e-commerce, in Arcavis. This means that Arcavis is also our single source of truth when it comes to sales data, etc. This is only possible thanks to the natively outstanding integration of the POS application with warehouse management and the REST API that Arcavis provides. I see another clear advantage of Arcavis in the ability to implement EDI interfaces with suppliers relatively easily, which can massively simplify warehouse management.

With Arcavis you inspire your customers across all channels

There was a time when it was enough to switch on the light in the morning, open the front door and customers eager to buy would flood into the store. Retailers stayed where they were - hence the term "stationary retail". Today, consumers use several channels to access their products or services. They now perceive retailers as an overall brand, regardless of whether they contact them offline or online. A central warehouse management system is a prerequisite for cross-channel retail. Arcavis is a POS system and warehouse management system in one. Basic information such as product availability, order history, product details and promotions are always available in real time, at the POS or in the back office. The voucher and marketing module additionally strengthens customer loyalty.