The phrase omnichannel vs multichannel has been thrown out there for two reasons. First, the customer interactions and the customer journey itself are becoming more complex than ever before. And second, businesses are now innovating their approach to meeting customer expectations.
Nowadays, omnichannel is one of the top customer service trends in retail and marketing. However, statistics from Forrester show that an omnichannel strategy implementation is still being researched or planned by 30% of managerial-level and higher American, British, and German decision-makers.
If you’re still doing your research on omnichannel support or are undecided about switching from multichannel to an omnichannel system, then this blog article is for you. Here, we will do the heavy lifting of differentiating and weighing omnichannel vs multichannel, so you can unlock a new way to improve your business’s overall customer experience (CX).
What Is Multichannel and Omnichannel Support?
When diving into the topic of the omnichannel vs multichannel debate, it is crucial to consider how these strategies shape and define the interaction between a business and its customers.
Understanding the distinction between omnichannel vs multichannel support is essential in today's competitive business landscape, as it directly impacts customer experience.
Both approaches have subtle similarities, which makes them confusing. While omnichannel and multichannel support use multiple channels to communicate with customers, they have significant distinctions that allow them to perform different roles. So let’s dive deep into their definitions.
1. Multichannel Support
Multichannel support basically means providing customers multiple touchpoints to contact customer service. Here, customers can choose a specific channel that is most convenient for them at any moment. These individual channels range from voice, text, live chat, email, social media, and more.
Because customers can access multiple channels in separate interactions, multichannel support creates a fragmented customer experience. With a multichannel strategy, customers must stick with a single touchpoint until the issue is resolved — or risk repeating themselves.
2. Omnichannel Support
The focus of an omnichannel strategy is to provide an integrated and consistent experience across different platforms and channels. Here, a consumer cannot only pick the most convenient channel for initiating contact. They can also switch between several channels throughout the same conversation.
For instance, customers may reach out to your customer support staff via social media and have their message escalated to a phone conversation without losing any contextual data. By implementing an omnichannel approach, customer support agents can deliver faster responses and create a seamless, tailored customer experience.
Examples of Multichannel and Omnichannel Support
Navigating the landscape of modern customer service involves understanding key concepts like omnichannel vs multichannel support.
While an omnichannel vs multichannel approach aims to provide multiple ways for customers to interact with a business, they are distinctly different in how they integrate those interactions.
1. Multichannel Support
Brands provide a variety of customer support. They offer inquiry resolution assistance through different channels, including phone support, SMS, email, chat, and community support. However, it has limitations, particularly in keeping the overall customer experience consistent across multiple touchpoints.
If you have a phone call with the voice support team, that person may not be able to access the email you wrote earlier that day. The email support staff may also be unaware of what you discussed with the voice support team.
That said, a multichannel strategy often leads to a fragmented experience since customers must repeat what they told the first agent to the second agent.
On the bright side, some brands like HSBC have successfully executed multichannel support thanks to WhatsApp — a communication platform regularly used by the company’s target customers.
The AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot — created by HSBC — can generate custom quotations from credit simulations run by customers, creating a personalized experience to help them make smarter financial decisions. HSBC’s agents, meanwhile, were trained on using WhatsApp for customer service.
With the addition of WhatsApp, it provides customers with an alternative touchpoint for contacting HSBC.
2. Omnichannel Support
Starbucks is among the brands that have successfully implemented an omnichannel strategy. The coffee chain has let customers order, top up their Starbucks card, and spend their hard-earned points from Starbucks’ physical and digital touchpoints.
Thanks to omnichannel customer service, the US active user count of Starbucks’ loyalty program grew to 34.3 million in the first quarter of 2024 alone.
Important: In a nutshell, omnichannel vs multichannel support are not the same. Although omnichannel entails using many channels, the end result is an entirely different consumer experience.
Comparative Aspects to Consider: Omnichannel vs Multichannel Support
We listed comparative aspects below to help you differentiate omnichannel vs multichannel support. Take note of the following to determine which is better for your customer service.
1. Main Focus
After having a general understanding of the differences between omnichannel vs multichannel support, ask yourself: What should your marketing strategy be focusing on? Is it on the product or your customers?
A multichannel marketing strategy in CX aims to increase the number of communication channels via which a product may be promoted. If your company is product-focused, consider multichannel support. This strategy helps your customers follow your product and get to the purchasing stage.
But if you aim for a customer-centric approach, the best choice is implementing an omnichannel marketing strategy. Why? It allows your customers to move freely across different platforms and channels within the same discussion. With a unified experience, you can’t lose customers.
2. Resolution Time
Weighing between omnichannel vs multichannel, you can reduce more of your resolution time with omnichannel support. For businesses with omnichannel capabilities, Zendesk found that wait times and first-resolution times have been cut down by 39% and 31%, respectively.
An omnichannel approach can also empower mobile optimizations. It means you can embed messaging in your website or mobile app, making it easy to solve issues faster. That said, omnichannel has a lower resolution time compared to multichannel.
In a multichannel strategy, transferring a customer from one channel to another is challenging. The process lengthens the amount of time to solve an issue. As a result, your chances of losing a customer are too high.
3. System Complexity
While effective at providing near-perfect customer support, omnichannel support is no fairytale. In fact, many companies struggle to achieve and understand this approach. Businesses must first build up each channel’s natural sales pathways in omnichannel.
After that, they have to determine where they intersect and establish integrations at each stage. This complexity requires a significant amount of setup work, the appropriate eCommerce technology and infrastructure, and ongoing attention.
Meanwhile, multichannel doesn’t require many significant resources. You don’t need to plan for sales pathways from one channel to another. Hence, if you want to employ omnichannel capabilities in your business, you should consult with a service provider for expert advice. After all, you don’t want to waste your investments with blind faith.
4. Channel Integration
While multichannel support provides customers with various communication channels, it does not necessarily make it simple for them to connect. For example, suppose their preferred channel isn’t working. In that case, they must initiate a new engagement in a different channel, which can be annoying and perplexing. Good thing omnichannel can address these issues.
Omnichannel supports channel integration by delivering coordinated customer experiences across all individual channels. Here, each of your omnichannel marketing channels is still set up with distinct purchase paths.
When customers move from your website to email to social media, they see where they left off rather than repeating themselves. Take note that channel integration reduces transaction costs and improves inventory management. By considering the diverse needs of your customers, you now know where to place your bet.
Why You Should Outsource Omnichannel and Multichannel Support
Now that you understand the differences between omnichannel vs multichannel, you can decide which one will fit your business goals and needs. Ultimately, choosing between omnichannel vs multichannel support is not a matter of which, but a matter of how.
If you don’t understand how to respond to complex customer needs, neither an omnichannel nor a multichannel approach will ever work. So consider working with the best customer service agencies to identify the best customer support for your business
Outsourcing omnichannel or multichannel support offers numerous benefits:
- Cost Savings: The best offshore outsourcing companies have the right technology to deliver omnichannel or multichannel support, cutting software implementation or upgrade costs.
- Custom Outsourcing Solutions: Third-party providers create personalized outsourced customer support solutions and share fresh insights about optimizing your multichannel or omnichannel customer service needs.
- Consistent Branding: Outsourced customer service agents know how to meet customer preferences and stay on-brand across multiple touchpoints, providing a consistent experience and service quality for all customers.
- 24/7 Coverage: Customer service teams from outsourcing companies can cover business and non-business hours in all customer service channels, so customers have access to support day or night.
Outsource Omnichannel or Multisupport Support Services to KDCI Outsourcing
KDCI Outsourcing has more than ten years of experience helping businesses realize the potential of smart customer service outsourcing.
As a leading offshore staffing service provider that caters to best-value customer support globally, we help you enhance customer retention and improve the overall customer experience with your product or service by building a personalized customer support team that excels in omnichannel or multichannel support.
Are you ready to enrich your customer experience with your brand? Talk to us and get a FREE consultation!
