How can the retail industry meet new customer demands? In a decade of digital transformation, customer behavior has changed dramatically. Ever more sales are taking place through non-conventional channels. Retailers who fail to offer a hassle free, multi-channel experience – whether in store, online or mobile – are missing out.

For retailers who want to be competitive, being truly omnichannel is now a necessity and no longer a luxury.

Omnichannel fitness means providing a consistent, yet unique and contextual brand experience. In practice, off course, this is a real challenge as it means providing all of this across multiple customer touchpoints, including brick and mortar, marketplaces, web, mobile and social. Mobile, marketing, merchandising, fulfillment, marketplaces – all of these channels need to be taken into consideration if you want to be a serious omnichannel retailer.

How much progress has been made by retail companies with their strategies? Is the omnichannel reality still a long way off, or - at least in parts - already reality? We asked people in the industry: 100 decision-makers from retail companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The result: 80% of retailers do not have an omnichannel strategy worthy of the name. From their own perspective, seven out of ten retailers rate their omnichannel strategy as insufficient. And nearly eight out of ten don't offer a customer journey combining offline and online channels.

Discover your omnichannel fitness level. Our 8-checklist approach, derived from over 100 omnichannel projects, will help you become a true omnichannel champion.