Boost Your Sales: 5 Omnichannel Secrets Revealed by WHO!

By Charlotte Journo-Baur, Founder of WISHIBAM

Omnichannel: How WHO Optimizes Customer Experience — and What Retail Must Learn From It

Omnichannel isn’t a new concept. But what is new is how certain organizations — including institutions as unexpected as the World Health Organization — have started making it a central strategic lever. WHO, in its work on large-scale public health communication, has formalized multichannel engagement principles that resonate deeply with modern commerce.

• Coordinating consistent messages across heterogeneous channels
• Adapting content to context without losing overall coherence
• Measuring the real impact of each touchpoint

This is precisely what WHO does, and this is what retail must learn to do.

In this article, I’ll share five fundamental lessons drawn from this approach, apply them concretely to commerce, and show you how a well-constructed omnichannel strategy can transform not only your sales, but your entire customer relationship. Let’s define, implement, measure, and optimize omnichannel – with practical examples, recent figures, and tools that truly make a difference.

Understanding Omnichannel and Its Benefits

Defining Omnichannel

Omnichannel is a popular, but often misunderstood, term. It’s commonly confused with multichannel or reduced to “having a website and a store.” Here’s what really matters:

• Multichannel: Multiple channel presence; each channel operates autonomously with its own logic.
• Omnichannel: Full channel integration; all channels are interconnected, coordinated as a unified customer journey.

Our definition at Wishibam: Omnichannel is the ability to offer a consistent, fluid, and personalized customer experience, regardless of channel or phase in the relationship.

What makes omnichannel possible? Shared data. Customers should be able to add an item to an online cart and find it in-store; store advisors should instantly access a customer’s purchase history; social media promotions should be honored at the checkout. This is not a marketing promise, but robust infrastructure.

According to McKinsey, advanced omnichannel companies generate on average 10% additional revenue compared to those with a multichannel approach.

The Benefits of Omnichannel for Commerce

Omnichannel benefits are well-documented, yet still underexploited by much of retail due to implementation complexity. Here’s what it brings:

• Increased average basket: Omnichannel customers spend 30% more than single-channel customers (Harvard Business Review).
• Enhanced loyalty: Using three or more channels boosts retention rate by 90%.
• Better inventory management: Real-time, cross-channel sales data optimizes supply, reduces stockouts.
• Reduced abandonment: A smoother journey means less friction – and less abandoned baskets.
• Enriched customer knowledge: Each interaction enhances a central database, driving further personalization.

There’s an additional, often-overlooked benefit: Omnichannel reconciles teams. When digital and physical collaborate, internal culture transforms. That is truly invaluable.

The Impact on Omnichannel Customer Experience

Omnichannel customer experience is where strategy turns into reality. And it’s where execution often fails.

The opposite? The advisor knows about the online wishlist, offers the relevant product to try, confirms stock, and closes the sale in two minutes. Conversion surges. So does satisfaction. This is what Wishibam’s infrastructure enables: connecting data between digital and physical, ensuring every touchpoint is informed.

According to Salesforce, 76% of consumers expect seamless interactions across departments, but 54% believe this data isn’t shared. The gap is retail’s opportunity.

Omnichannel Strategies and Integration

Developing an Effective Omnichannel Strategy

An effective strategy doesn’t start with technology – but with the customer. The most common error? Investing in tools before understanding customer journeys. The result: new tech that doesn’t solve real problems.

• Step 1: Map journeys. Who are your customers? How do they enter? Where do they drop off? Start here.
• Step 2: Define priorities. Which points of friction are most damaging? Which channel links will make the highest impact? Focus efforts.
• Step 3: Align the organization. Omnichannel isn’t a digital department project. It involves every team: commerce, marketing, logistics, HR. Alignment and training are vital.

The five pillars:

• Unified customer data (single repository)
• Consistent message and offers across all channels
• Smooth transitions between channels (web-to-store, store-to-web, click-and-collect)
• Personalization at every touchpoint
• Continuous measurement and iteration

Agility is key. Strategies must evolve as customer behaviors and technologies change.

Omnichannel Integration: How and Where to Implement

Integration may seem daunting, but a phased, modular approach delivers value at every stage. Where should you start?

• Click-and-collect: An intuitive bridge between digital and physical, increasing store traffic and exposing logistical issues to address.
• Unified inventory management: Real-time stock visibility across locations and channels is a must for credibility.
• Unified CRM: A single, cross-channel customer profile feeds effective omnichannel.
• Seamless returns: Enable online purchases to be returned in-store (and vice versa) without hassle. Customers expect this baseline.
• Personalization: Adapt offers and messages in real-time, based on unified data.

Phases of implementation:

• Audit and mapping
• Data unification
• Connecting priority channels
• Personalization and automation
• Continuous measurement and optimization

Wishibam supports retailers at every phase, centering on field realities – where customers are won or lost.

Omnichannel Solutions to Optimize Omnichannel

Omnichannel Optimization and Efficiency

Measuring Omnichannel Effectiveness

Optimizing omnichannel? You must measure it – yet many retail organizations still overlook this crucial step.

• Cross-channel conversion rate: % of customers who start in one channel and finish in another
• Omnichannel retention rate: Are multi-channel customers more loyal?
• Average basket by channel profile: Does cross-channel usage drive higher spend?
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) by channel: Where is customer satisfaction highest?
• Perceived stockout rate: How often do customers leave because of lack of availability?
• Acquisition cost per channel & journey: Which start points are most profitable?

Omnichannel dashboards should collate this data in real-time, empowering decision-making. At Wishibam, our dashboards are designed for clarity and relevance, keeping field realities front and center.

Identifying the Best Omnichannel Channel

Is there a best omnichannel channel? Universally, no. The best channel is whichever your customer prefers at a given moment – and this varies by time, journey stage, product, and customer profile.

• Mobile dominates product discovery (76% of searches begin on smartphones – Google/Ipsos, 2023).
• Physical stores remain key for high-value and sensory purchases.
• Email delivers the strongest ROI for loyalty ($36 return for each $1 invested – Litmus, 2023).
• Social networks are powerful discovery engines, but have low direct conversion rates.
• Click-and-collect bridges digital and physical, up 28% in Europe between 2021–2023 (Fevad).

The real challenge is channel orchestration — ensuring each one supports the customer at the right stage.

Case Studies and Omnichannel Success Examples

• Decathlon: By integrating physical and digital inventory, customers can check real-time availability in nearby stores. This reduced abandonment and increased in-store visits. The key: organizational discipline, not just technology.
• French Ready-to-Wear Retailer (with Wishibam): By linking CRM, point-of-sale, and e-commerce, in-store advisors could access browsing and purchase history (with customer consent). Result: relevant recommendations up 40%, in-store basket up 22% in six months.
• Sephora: Their ecosystem unifies app, loyalty, website, and in-store experience. Every interaction feeds a rich customer profile. The outcome: high NPS and reinforcement between channels.

These successes weren’t due to miracle tech, but to vision, discipline, and an obsession with the customer journey.

FAQ — Omnichannel and OMS: Questions Retail Professionals Ask