Multichannel selling underpins modern commerce. Customers today expect to interact with businesses across platforms, from browsing an ecommerce website to learning about products through social media videos.
Sellers need to use all avenues to reach shoppers where they are. Multichannel selling can help expand your customer base and reduce the risks of running a business through a single point of contact.
In this post, find out what multichannel selling is, and how you can begin to implement a multichannel approach for your business.
Table of contents
What is multichannel selling?
Multichannel selling means using more than one sales channel to offer goods and services to customers.
A multichannel selling strategy may involve making sales in different physical retail spaces, including brick-and-mortar stores and multivendor spaces like farmers markets or craft fairs. It can also involve selling through digital channels, including online stores and online marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, or Amazon.
Multichannel vs. omnichannel: What’s the difference?
Omnichannel is a type of multichannel sales strategy. An omnichannel experience allows customers to interact with a business across sales channels without needing to restart their shopping journey.
One example of omnichannel marketing is giving customers the ability to order online then pickup items in-store. Another is to let customers add items or coupon codes to their basket via a social media post, then preserve their basket when they visit the online store.
To find out more, read this guide to omnichannel commerce.
What sales channels are involved in multichannel selling?
As you investigate a multichannel selling strategy, it can help to focus on the following physical and online spaces that businesses use to reach target audiences:
Physical spaces
Markets and pop-up stores
Even if your business has no permanent retail location, you can leverage physical sales channels such as pop-up stores, local markets, craft fairs, street festivals, and trade events.
Sell directly to customers in these locations by using a point-of-sale (POS) system that synchronizes physical orders with your online sales so you don’t lose track of inventory.
Many POS systems work on mobile devices or come with wireless hardware that’s easy to use in temporary locations.
💡 Shopify POS includes mobile hardware for selling on the floor. You can also use Shopify POS to accept contactless payments on iPhone.
Owned retail spaces
Some brands have their own brick-and-mortar stores, in which they sell directly to their customers. The maker or manufacturer is also the retailer, in a form of vertical integration.
Multi-brand retail stores
When you sell your products in a multi-brand brick-and-mortar store (like a department store or boutique), you sell directly to that store, or perhaps to a third-party distributor who does business with a franchise.
Start selling in-person with Shopify POS
Shopify POS is the easiest way to start selling in-person. Take your brand on the road and accept payments, manage inventory and payouts, and sell everywhere your customers are—farmers markets, pop-up events and meetups, craft fairs, and anywhere in between.
Discover Shopify POSOnline spaces
Many of today’s retail spaces exist primarily online. Some involve face-to-face interaction when a product is picked up; others deliver products to customers. In all cases, the purchase takes place online.
Your own website
The most fundamental digital sales platform is an ecommerce platform where customers can purchase directly from you. Many small business marketing strategies are centered on driving customers to their online store and making direct sales.
Online marketplaces
This category includes warehousing specialists like Amazon, who will list, warehouse, and ship your products to consumers in return for a share of the profit. It also includes seller platforms like eBay and Etsy, which directly link buyers and sellers.
When selling on marketplace platforms, merchants need to handle order fulfillment, including shipping and inventory storage. Marketplaces may offer fulfillment services or support (e.g., handling disputes).
Many selling sites have terms and conditions that include prohibitions on selling certain items. When selling on a marketplace, merchants may also be limited in terms of adding branding to listings or collecting customer data.
Comparison portals
Some customers start their online shopping journey on a comparison portal like Google Shopping. These platforms collate product listings from multiple retailers and allow customers to click through to a seller’s site to make a purchase.
Many comparison portals also show product information and customer reviews. Price comparison sites like Honey and Rakuten source prices and deals for products around the web and notify customers when they could be saving money.
Mobile marketplaces
Mobile purchases now account for more than 40% of ecommerce sales. This sales channel includes branded apps developed by individual merchants, as well as niche marketplaces like Wish and Swappa.
Social media
Merchants use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to promote products, amplify their brands, and sell in-app with social selling tools.
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have native shopping features, which allow users to browse and check out without leaving the app. There is also a booming industry of social media influencers, who partner with businesses to promote brands and products to their audience.
💡 Take a look at the best multichannel sales apps on the Shopify App Store.
3 benefits of multichannel selling
Small business owners embrace multichannel selling to reach more customers, deepen existing customer relationships, and increase sales. Here are three notable benefits of multichannel selling.
1. Reach customers where they feel comfortable
Customer preferences vary depending upon age, location, and shopping motivations. As a seller, you can build customer trust by meeting people in their favorite sales channel.
A brand that doesn’t have a mobile-friendly online store, for example, could miss out on reaching a customer base that predominantly shops on their phones.
2. Embrace the modern customer journey
Most customers need multiple touchpoints with products and brands before making a purchase. A customer’s journey may begin when they see a product ad on their social feed—but they’ll likely perform other tasks, such as research with a search engine or watching reviews on YouTube, before making a purchase.
By having a presence on multiple channels, you can increase customer touchpoints and provide more checkout opportunities.
3. Leverage existing third-party marketing
When you sell a product on Etsy, Amazon, or eBay, those companies take a commission. However, they also provide a built-in, global customer base.
The same goes for selling products in retail stores. While a chunk of the customer’s purchase price may never make it back to you, retailers will showcase your products to an engaged audience.
3 challenges of multichannel selling
For all its benefits, a multichannel selling strategy also comes with certain challenges.
1. Account management
Selling on multiple platforms means maintaining a business relationship with several companies. The paperwork and compliance standards (listing protocols, tax reporting, shifting terms of service) can be time-consuming.
2. Inventory management
By keeping a presence in multiple marketplaces, you make a pledge to deliver products whenever they are ordered. This can make inventory management a challenge.
For example, if you’re running low on a specific product and a customer purchases your remaining stock in-store, then another customer purchases the product online, you may face issues about which order to fulfill. Your reputation could be hurt if you don’t deliver the products someone has paid for.
3. Managing the customer experience
When you sell your products across an array of retail stores and online marketplaces, you lose a degree of control over the customer experience.
Bad customer service from a third party can, fairly or not, reflect poorly on your brand. What’s more, each of those channels requires attention from your customer service team. With so many platforms to manage, you may find yourself spending extra time supporting your customers.
💡 Many of the challenges of multichannel selling can be solved by using a single back office to manage orders.
Tips for multichannel selling
As you dive into multichannel selling, slow and consistent expansion is the key to success. Consider these three tips for multichannel selling.
Focus on your own platform, then expand
You have the most control over your sales process and customer experience when you sell through your own store. Once you are successfully fulfilling orders on your own website, try expanding to third-party marketplaces.
To drive traffic to your website, you may need to participate in social media advertising and other forms of digital marketing. Creating marketing content on potential sales channels can be an easy way to learn more about those platforms before launching a full sales strategy.
Strive for consistency
Having a consistent brand presence across multiple marketplaces means customers can expect the same prices, quality of product, and customer service, no matter where they make their purchase.
While you may not be able to control the look and feel of your presence on third-party channels, focus on customizable features such as product descriptions, pricing, and images. These should be consistent across your channels.
Only bite off what you can chew
A business can fall behind on order fulfillment and customer service if it expands to more marketplaces than it can reasonably manage. It may be tempting to list your products on as many marketplaces as possible, but it’s wise to start with a limited scope and only expand once you’re confident you have the capacity to do so.
Major brands like Amazon and Walmart have a massive customer base but very strict standards for order fulfillment that some small businesses cannot meet. Expand to these platforms after you hone your order fulfillment processes on your own website.
Meet you customers where they are
Multichannel selling lets you meet the needs of contemporary shoppers. You never know what will make someone finally click the Buy button—it could be a web search, an endorsement from a social media influencer, or physically holding a product in a retail store.
When you embrace multichannel selling, you open yourself to sales opportunities in all of these spaces. For this reason, many small business owners consider multichannel selling to be well worth the effort.
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Multichannel selling FAQ
What is an example of multichannel retailing?
An example of multichannel retailing is a retailer that sells their products both online and in physical stores. By having both online and physical retail channels, they can reach more customers, provide more convenience to customers, and offer more options for customers to purchase products.
What does multichannel mean in business?
In business, multichannel refers to the use of multiple channels to reach customers. This may include both digital and physical channels such as email, web, mobile, phone, print, television, radio, and direct mail. It allows businesses to provide customers with a more comprehensive and integrated shopping experience.
Why is multichannel selling important?
Multichannel selling is important because it allows businesses to reach more customers and increase sales. By selling through multiple channels, businesses can increase their visibility and reach a wider audience. Additionally, multichannel selling allows customers to purchase products in the way that is most convenient to them. Finally, multichannel selling can help businesses analyze customer data and develop effective marketing strategies.
What is an example of multichannel marketing?
Multichannel marketing is the practice of using multiple channels or mediums to reach a potential customer or audience. It involves utilizing multiple outlets, such as email, social media, websites, search engines, and print, to create a united, cohesive message and experience that customers can interact with. An example of multichannel marketing would be a company that uses email, social media, print advertising, and a website to promote their products and services.