Multichannel retail is subject to the butterfly effect, where whatever happens on one channel can affect your efforts in others. Small changes in channel strategy quickly spiral into struggles to maintain inventory, marketing efforts, customer service, and consumer feedback.
Knowing how to address challenges for your multichannel retail business will ensure you run a tight ship. Create strategies for each moving part, engage with your industry’s community online, and gather support and feedback where needed to help your business run more seamlessly and generate more revenue.
1. Overstocking and understocking inventory without a game plan
Customers will move on rather than wait if a product isn’t in stock or “will arrive in 3 weeks.” A solid inventory strategy can build credibility for your brand.
For example, let’s say you have a collection of candles on your multichannel retail shop, Amazon, and Etsy. Your most popular scent, in particular, sells out but only marks as out-of-stock on your boutique site — neglecting the third parties. Now you’ll have to reach out to the buyers who purchased the missing candles. Let them know that the item is unavailable or will take an extended time to restock. Either option doesn’t look good for your brand or business.
A situation like this is avoidable with the right planning and strategy. And as a result, you’ll build your reputation and lower the cost of inventory mismanagement.
Inventory solution: Follow a 4-step process that steers clear of overstocking and understocking
Use a system for inventory management: As a multichannel retailer with a solid system in place, you’ll have a more accurate view of products moving through the supply chain. An inventory system aims to verify items match with barcodes and product tags to avoid discounts. The codes and tags offer accuracy — ensuring your stock level in the warehouse matches what you have in your digital system.
Gather accurate data: Precision is crucial when it comes to collecting information for your inventory count to avoid running into untimely restocking. When looking at what’s physically in the warehouse, on paper, and in the inventory system, ensure the numbers are the same across all three areas.
Dig into customer needs: From looking into trending topics (like what’s hot for the holidays), get clarity and dig into what’s intriguing to your audience. What are your competitors selling that you can add your own flair to in order to make it better? Stay ahead of the game to ensure you are the first business your target audience turns to. Knowing what is popular in the market will let you know what to buy more of to avoid understocking, as well as what to buy less of to avoid overstocking.
Outsource a logistics supplier: While you have the option to invest in individuals and systems to get the perfect amount of stock, choose to outsource a logistics supplier instead. They already have the assets, knowledge, and experience to ensure your stock levels are tight.
2. Delivering consistent marketing and messaging across multiple social platforms
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For high engagement, brand messaging for your business needs to be the same across all social media platforms as a multichannel retailer and marketplaces. Your target audience will have a crystal-clear understanding of who they’re engaging with.
But many brands overextend themselves. Only 9% of marketers consistently engage with customers across multiple channels. Rather than remaining consistent on a few channels, they open themselves to more avenues and then struggle to maintain conversations with their audiences on each.
But whichever marketplaces your products are on, make sure your most active social media platforms are visible and accessible. Customers and potential buyers should have quick and easy access to your social channels to see what you, your brand, and your products are all about.
As a starting point to increasing customer engagement and connecting with customers, focus on one or two channels where customers engage most. Whoever follows you on those likely has an interest in your products or has already made purchases and is ready for more.
Marketing solution: Create space on social media through 3 customer-engaging tactics
Get creative: Create polls on Instagram that provide knowledge about your brand, product history, plus different channels you sell on. What you share will be mini teaching moments for your followers to connect in a more meaningful way.
Be interactive: Ask product-related questions in Facebook groups, on Instagram stories, or whenever you receive the most engagement. You’ll gather different perspectives from your audience to later apply to the type of products you sell.
Use customer feedback: Social proof is everything. And with 92.4% of customers relying on online reviews to determine their future purchases, you’ll want to showcase the positive customer reviews to make your business shine. The firsthand, genuine remarks are what will attract future buyers to hop on the train to buy from you too.
3. Focusing too closely on your product instead of customer service
You can quickly lose a potential customer before they “walk through the door” if you’re giving too much attention to your products and not enough to them.
According to Bain & Company, a customer is four times more likely to do business with a competing brand if a problem they incur with your brand is service-related rather than price-related.
With the perfect team and the help of automation in place, you’ll have high satisfaction results from customers.
Customer service solution: Scale your team and use automation
Scale your team by having a point person handle customer inquiries. While the person in this position should have a strong background in customer service, allow them to lean on automation when traffic increases. The mechanization will heighten the chance of solid interactions and experiences.
Your customer support representatives should carve out time daily to cater to the needs of consumers. So, hire people who are big on genuinely interacting with customers.
For customers to immediately reach out, ensure your contact details are accessible. All information should be the same on each platform to ensure all customer questions and inquiries go to the same email address, phone number, or social media channel for direct messages.
Automation can come into play by implementing automated responses. A simple — “Thank you so much for reaching out! You will receive a response from a team member within the next 12 hours” — goes a long way, rather than leaving customers in the dark.
4. Evaluating your market without listening to customers
Only one out of every 26 customers is likely to give feedback about their complaints. The rest of them take their business elsewhere. But you can increase the pool of customer feedback by letting customers know that you’re here to listen and make a difference.
Evaluating your market by tuning into customer feedback will help you guide your marketing efforts and increase customer satisfaction — which will determine if you meet their expectations.
Listening solution: Offer surveys to get clarity on customer needs
Because people now have shorter attention spans than goldfish, you need to offer quick and simple survey questions that get to the point and draw their attention, so you get the feedback you need. The more feedback you get from your target audience, the better you can cater to their needs.
For instance, let say you run a multichannel retail business that sells protein vitamins and supplements. Your newest protein powder claims to boost energy and metabolism faster than competing brands.
Rather than relying solely on market and sales data as a determining factor of success, personally reach out to customers for feedback.
Send out a blast email or text message, asking a few questions to buyers of the new supplement. Ask them about the pros and cons, as well as ways you may be able to improve the product. Overall, the goal is to show customers that you hear them — considering their recommendations and applying them to future products.
Optimize your multichannel retail business for consistency
Optimizing for consistency across each channel minimizes the chances of small changes turning into big problems. In turn, optimizing maximizes the chances of multichannel retail success. Focusing on enhancements is especially crucial if your business is booming and you’re working on expanding to new channels.
Bring your channels closer together by using a marketing dashboard for optimization. You’ll keep a closer eye on all moving parts of your operations, ensuring everything flows as perfectly as possible. And, of course, having a proper system running will help you stay competitive with cost and customer retention.
The facts are clear: Startups are finding funding increasingly difficult to secure, and even unicorns appear cornered, with many lacking both capital and a clear exit.
But equity rounds aren’t the only way for a company to raise money — alternative and other non-dilutive financing options are often overlooked. Taking on debt might be the right solution when you’re focused on growth and can see clear ROI from the capital you deploy.
Not all capital providers are equal, so seeking financing isn’t just about securing capital. It’s a matter of finding the right source of funding that matches both your business and your roadmap.
Here are four things you should consider:
Does this match my needs?
It’s easy to take for granted, but securing financing begins with a business plan. Don’t seek funding until you have a clear plan for how you’ll use it. For example, do you need capital to fund growth or for your day-to-day operations? The answer should influence not only the amount of capital you seek, but the type of funding partner you look for as well.
Start with a concrete plan and make sure it aligns with the structure of your financing:
Match repayment terms to your expected use of the debt.
Balance working capital needs with growth capital needs.
It’s understandable to hope for a one-and-done financing process that sets the next round far down the line, but that may be costlier than you realize in the long run.
Your term of repayment must be long enough so you can deploy the capital and see the returns. If it’s not, you may end up making loan payments with the principal.
Say, for example, you secure funding to enter a new market. You plan to expand your sales team to support the move and develop the cash flow necessary to pay back the loan. The problem here is, the new hire will take months to ramp up.
If there’s not enough delta between when you start ramping up and when you begin repayments, you’ll be paying back the loan before your new salesperson can bring in revenue to allow you to see ROI on the amount you borrowed.
Another issue to keep in mind: If you’re financing operations instead of growth, working capital requirements may reduce the amount you can deploy.
Let’s say you finance your ad spending and plan to deploy $200,000 over the next four months. But payments on the MCA loan you secured to fund that spending will eat into your revenue, and the loan will be further limited by a minimum cash covenant of $100,000. The result? You secured $200,000 in financing but can only deploy half of it.
With $100,000 of your financing kept in a cash account, only half the loan will be used to drive operations, which means you’re not likely to meet your growth target. What’s worse, as you’re only able to deploy half of the loan, your cost of capital is effectively double what you’d planned for.
Is this the right amount for me at this time?
The second consideration is balancing how much capital you need to act on your near-term goals against what you can reasonably expect to secure. If the funding amount you can get is not enough to move the needle, it might not be worth the effort required.
Elon Musk said Sunday he “somewhat agonized” over the font designs for his companies Tesla and SpaceX.
The billionaire businessman added he “loves fonts” and has tweaked the logos over the years.
He revealed the SpaceX logo also holds a hidden meaning, representing a rocket’s arc to orbit.
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In a series of Sunday tweets, Elon Musk said he “somewhat agonized” over his choice of fonts for his businesses and revealed a hidden meaning behind the SpaceX logo.
Responding to a tweet about serif and sans-serif fonts, the billionaire businessman took a break from posting cryptic memes and discussing politics to say he loves fonts and put significant consideration into how his companies are presented to consumers.
“I somewhat agonized over the Tesla & SpaceX font design (love fonts tbh),” Musk tweeted. “There are some similarities, particularly use of negative space. We’ve made many little tweaks over the years.”
The Tesla logo — a T-shaped design with a custom, sans-serif font spelling out the brand name — is meant to resemble a cross-section of an electric motor. The SpaceX logo, written in a similar font with an extended X, references the reusable rockets made by the company.
“The swoop of the X is meant to represent the rocket’s arc to orbit,” Musk tweeted.
Other business logos have also held hidden messages: Baskin Robbins, a chain that sells 31 flavors of ice cream, has a secret ’31’ hidden in the letters of its logo. Likewise, Amazon’s arrow logo is meant to represent a smile, while the circular ‘B’ logo for Beats by Dre represents a person wearing the popular headphones.
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The internet has revolutionized the business world and changed how we conduct business. Any business that aims to increase its visibility and boost profit needs to pay much attention to top ranking factors, including local SEO — which introduces the topic of the local search algorithm.
Local SEO is one of the top practices that help boost a business’s visibility and generates more sales.
However, achieving better local SEO rankings is not a walk in the park, especially due to increased competition. To appear higher on local results, businesses and marketers need to understand how the local search algorithm works.
Knowing this helps guide the steps for improving rankings in the local pack.
The competition gets stiffer as more businesses open and optimize for local searching. Besides, Google is updating its algorithm consistently, meaning only businesses that can keep up with these updates can appear at the top of local search results.
Luckily, you have come to this post as this article looks at everything you need to know about Google’s local search algorithm and what you can do to get that top spot in the local pack.
Understanding the local search algorithm
Google aims to provide the best results that match a specific local search query. It constantly updates the local search algorithm to determine which business to rank on top of local search results.
Ideally, Google wants to provide local content that is relevant and valuable to users. As with search engine optimization, keyword stuffing cannot give you that top spot in local search results.
SEO specialists and marketers should consider Google’s local search algorithm updates and make the necessary changes to rank higher. Failure to consider these updates means losing your local search presence, resulting in fewer leads and conversions.
Local algorithms check the Google My Business (GMB) listings to determine where to rank a business in local search rankings.
Ideally, Google’s local algorithm ranks businesses with information that matches a searcher’s query. And the higher a business ranks in local search results, the more chances a potential customer will click on it.
This post looks at the three major pillars that determine local search results to better understand the local search algorithm: proximity, prominence and relevance.
Of course, other factors make up Google’s local search algorithm, but since we cannot identify all of them, we’ll focus on the most crucial ones in this post.
By understanding these pillars, marketers can better position themselves for local search success.
1. Proximity
Proximity is one of the major ranking factors when it comes to local search. That means the distance between a business and a searcher is a ranking factor in local search.
When a searcher searches for something, Google considers how far the searcher is from the location of the term they use in the search. When a searcher doesn’t specify the location, Google calculates the distance based on the information they have regarding their location.
Ideally, Google aims to provide the most relevant results to a search query. For instance, why would Google provide a list of coffee shops in Los Angeles if the searcher is searching from Colombia?
That would be irrelevant local search results that won’t benefit the searcher.
Unfortunately, while proximity is a major local search pillar, it’s one of the factors that businesses have little control over. After all, you cannot change where your business is located, right?
You can only ensure your business location is as clear as possible, so that it appears for related nearby queries. Here are steps you can take to achieve this:
Claim and verify the Google My Business listing
Ensure local listings are accurate and optimized for local products or services
Get the Google Maps API Key and optimize for your location and routes
Set up your profile correctly (for Service Area Businesses) to avoid violating Google’s guidelines
Users can perform several types of local searches, including:
Geo-modified searches
Users will perform geo-modified searches when they are planning to visit somewhere. For instance, a searcher in Los Angeles planning to visit Toronto, Canada, may search for a “coffee shop in Oakville.” The results will differ from if they searched for “coffee” while physically in Oakville.
To be specific, geo-modified searches are mainly based on relevance and prominence as opposed to proximity when a user searches for something when outside the city included in the search.
Non-geo searches
Searchers perform this type of search when looking for something around them. For instance, a user in Los Angeles performing a local search for “coffee.”
Ideally, the user only needs to search for something and is shown results based on proximity. They will get the results that are closest to them.
“Near me” searches
“Near me” searches have been so popular in recent years. Although their popularity has significantly declined, users still perform this type of search when looking for something locally.
For instance, some users could add “near me” when searching for a coffee shop, hoping to get the most relevant results near them. As we’ve stated, this trend has lost popularity because when you perform a local search, you are searching for something near you.
It is not necessary to add “near me” to what you’re searching.
2. Prominence
Prominence refers to how important Google thinks your business is, which gets factored into the local search algorithm.
In other words, it refers to how well a business stands from the rest in various aspects, including directories, links, reviews, mentions, among other things.
If search engines view your business as trustworthy and credible, they will likely show it on top of related search query results.
The local search algorithm views businesses/brands with a stronger online prominence as credible and trustworthy. Some of the factors that determine prominence include:
Citations
A local citation is the mention of a business’s information online. The mention can include the partial or complete name, address, and phone number (NAP) of a local business.
Citations are an excellent way for people to learn about local businesses and impact local search results.
A business with high-quality citations can rank better in local search results, although businesses must continually manage citations to ensure data accuracy.
Inbound links
Backlinks play a crucial role in local business prominence. Gaining relevant backlinks from high-quality sites is an excellent way to build a business’ online reputation.
If you’re trying to outrank your competitors without much success, your backlink profile could be the reason.
In that case, you should check your competitor’s backlinks and compare them with yours. When doing this, pay attention to the number and quality of their backlinks.
As a rule of thumb, aim to have high-quality local backlinks pointing to your site to improve your page’s authority.
Reviews
Next, you need to pay much attention to reviews to improve local prominence. Many customers look at a business’s online reviews before deciding whether to engage more with the business or not. Besides, many positive online reviews can increase a business’ ranking factors.
Consider this scenario. A potential customer is looking for a pub around Oakville. When they perform a search, they are presented with two results: one with over 100 reviews and another with less than 10 reviews.
Which business do you think the searcher would trust? The one with 100 reviews, obviously.
As with search engines, customers need to trust a business before they decide to do business with it. Similarly, search engines can view online reviews and analyze them to determine a business’s online prominence.
That said, here are strategies you can use to boost your online review signals:
Have a strategy
You won’t have a strong online prominence if your products or services are not of a high standard. So, the first step to having many great reviews is to develop great products and services.
After that, develop a strategy to encourage your happy customers to leave honest but valuable reviews of their experience doing business with you to help boost your online reputation.
Monitor and manage the reviews
Having many reviews is one thing; you need to develop a plan to engage with your customers for better results. Responding to reviews shows people that you care and are genuine about your products and services.
People will avoid businesses that don’t respond to customer reviews (whether positive or negative).
Search engines, too, can tell whether you engage with customer reviews or not and will use the information to determine where to rank on local search results.
When responding to online reviews, pay special attention to negative reviews and how you respond to them. While no business likes getting negative reviews, how you respond to them can positively impact your business — respond positively to turn the negative reviews around.
3. Relevance
As earlier stated, Google wants to provide the most relevant results to a local search query. This key ranking factor will determine a business’s position in local search results — how well does a local business match a search query?
Even if your business ticks the above pillars (prominence and proximity), if the content on your page isn’t well structured and doesn’t cover the topics that a searcher is looking for, you won’t appear on top of local search results.
Here are factors that businesses should consider to create a relevant listing:
Local page signals
Local listing categories and attributes
Social posts and responses to online reviews
Local listing signals and categories
A business GMB listing and category can impact its relevance score for local searches. As such, complete your business profile carefully and continually add quality content to the web page to ensure it is relevant for proximity searches.
More specifically, ensure that all information on all listing pages, including Yelp, Bing, and Google, is complete and accurate. Aside from these factors, here are two crucial features you should pay attention to:
Category selection
Selecting the right categories for your local business listing is among the crucial factors for ranking locally. With over 4000 GMB categories, you want to choose categories that best describe your business — ensure they are relevant and specific.
Here are guidelines to follow when selecting a category:
Describe your business as opposed to your services
Be specific to minimize competition
Reduce the number of GMB categories to describe your business better
Business description
Without a proper description, users won’t know what your business is about. This section is about adding an introduction to your business so that customers and search engines can know more about your business.
However, don’t use this section for marketing your business. Just give users and search engines descriptive info that can help determine whether your business matches their needs.
Local page signals
Another way a business can improve its standing in the local search algorithm is by optimizing web pages for specific keywords. For multi-location businesses, it’s essential to have separate, localized pages for each location, with relevant information and contact details for customers to reach you.
Performing competitor research is advisable to determine what terms or keywords to use for a specific query. Here are top on-page signals to consider when trying to gain relevance for a given topic:
Keyword research — Before creating local content, you need to find keywords that matter to your business. Perform keyword research to determine highly relevant keywords with high intent. When finding relevant terms to use in your content, base your research on the customer perspective; think about what they search for and the type of content they are looking for.
Create local content — After finding the right keywords, it’s time to create your content. Google values the quality of content more than the length of the content, so keep this in mind when creating content. Another crucial thing to pay attention to is localizing the content. For example, you can create content on local news and events or use your city’s name within your content.
The goal is to create a connection between what’s happening in your local area and your business. Also, use pictures with your specific geolocation to increase your content relevance.
Creating quality and relevant content is only the start. You need to optimize your content for on-page signals so local search algorithms can discover and rank them better. Here’s how you can optimize your local content for on-page signals:
Meta descriptions — Include keywords in your meta descriptions to encourage searchers to click through and increase visibility
Title tags — Title tags are some of the factors that search engines use to determine where to rank content. Incorporating keywords naturally in your title tags can help boost local rankings
Image tags — Another way to improve local rankings is by including relevant keywords in your image tags. Including geotags also comes with an added advantage
Headings — Users and Google value pages with clear structures. Consider creating headings within your content to capture readers’ attention and encourage them to read on. However, ensure your heading tags describe the content that comes after them well. Also, include keywords in your heading tags to help search engines understand them and their importance.
Off-page local signals
Gaining high-quality backlinks is a great way to boost credibility and trust. Backlinks refer to external links from another website to your site. Aim to have more high-quality backlinks to boost your website authority.
Ideally, having many quality backlinks shows search engines that your website or page is credible and trustworthy, which boosts the chances of ranking it higher in search engine results.
Guest posting is one of the best examples of link-building strategies you can use. Finding great guest posting opportunities provides an excellent opportunity to share your content to a new but relevant audience, which helps boost your website authority.
Another strategy you can use is to create longer and better content than what is already available on the web. When your content is high quality and relevant, it will be easier to get high-quality backlinks.
Review and social signals
Online reviews can also help boost relevance for your local business. Aim to get as many positive reviews from your happy customers as possible.
Remember, when customers perform a local search, they get not only the relevant businesses but also reviews related to the search. The more positive reviews a business has, the higher chances a potential customer will do business with them.
Closing thoughts on the local search algorithm
Ranking on top of local search results can seem daunting, but it shouldn’t when you know the vital things to focus on. As you have seen above, the local algorithm is based on three pillars: relevance, proximity, and prominence.
Of course, other factors determine local search rankings depending on your industry and competition.
