3 Effective Millennials Omnichannel Experiences

Starbucks Rewards™ is the clear winner in the end to end omnichannel marketing. So here are three examples of omnichannel experiences that appeal to sociable millennial audiences that continue to plunge into offline activations.

1. Social

Scores of studies indicate that millennials are prone to browse their smartphones while browsing through stores. This can be for seeking guidance, input, and validation. Taco Bell tapped into the power of Snapchat by engaging in-store shoppers in a game of doodle wars, drawing large crowds to a central location where the battles could be staged. It's important for the social experience to be native to the platform by which the target audience can create content.

2. Mobile

The success of Pokemon Go proves that millennials crave anticipatory inspiration, more reason for retailers to craft experiences that blend mobile to in person. Digital live chats that are built on AI can switch to human to human interaction once the final purchase has been decided, with location tags giving the store clerk pinpoint accuracy of the shoppers' aisle location. When an in-store expert picks up the conversation during the consideration stage, it allows the shopper to own the decision of the category being pushed, rather than feeling like they are being sold to.

3. Moments

Leveraging data points that suggest that millennials want to support businesses with a philanthropic undertone, businesses that respond to window shopping by displaying a message encouraging a donation and in return getting a free trial for the item being browsed. By plugging a product in during a sensory moment of openness to experiment, and rewarding it through a cause, a retailer can boost favourable recall and affinity.

When crafting omnichannel experiences, it's important to think how they would be meaningful for the target audience, not the retailer. Brand affinity established early, matched with the sense of loyalty, places a company in a better position to go for the hook when the millennial purchasing power peaks.