Are we now in the ubiquitous age of Multi-Channel experience, what is it really?

"Yes, I of course have multi-channel experience within the industry.... oh yes, B2B, B2B2C and of course, DtC.." often the opener in meetings or interviews when the roles have commercial or commercial marketing/growth marketing focus, its also an overused and over-blagged term I am afraid. This is not an evangelical business-temple opening gambit, offering a £100 per person subscription to change your business and deliver the breakthrough you have been questing for, I am not a business guru BUT from small adaptations great beginnings can stir.

As a comparative oldie ('fraid so at 44) I watch & listen this term 'multi-channel' slapped on CVs, JD's and casually thrown around by candidates and hiring managers alike but what ACTUALLY is it?

In a meeting this week working with a founder and CEO on distribution strategy and a 6/12/18month roadmap we looked at the GTM strategy and in particular their channel-strategy. It was clear their brand/commercial cut-through would be best suited to a DtC programme, it would avoid 'value strip-out' in the wholesale process. Fulfilment however would present an early speed-bump; a researched 3rd party storage/fulfilment solution (for their dtc programme) satisfied storage and last 3 feet; Amazon this was not but laid out clearly it was the most effective, longer term market strategy for the conditions. But they could not survive immediate switching, they needed balance also respecting some of the clear market conditions & relationships.

This business is a consumer brand BUT anchored for years in market by third-party distribution and retail solutions; as with most companies, businesses margins have become tighter, competition more fragmented and market share more difficult to maintain (or heavens above, grow). Brand loyalty and equity is sometimes simply not enough in the era of Amazon Prime and Costco who's consumer centricity and retail solutions dominate globally. Both phenomenal businesses for numerous reasons btw.

A multi-stage, multi-channel strategy was the clear opportunity here - to split some of their UK volume and European volume in Yr2:

1. B2B- Traditional wholesale route (after terms renegotiation with two of the largest customers - a choice of currency to purchase in via shipping options, new payment-terms based on volume and split-of-SKU-order by value, also as part of a 'terms renegotiation' - reduce your payment timing and we can improve pricing on a sliding scale, easy to write, fantastically difficult to negotiate and implement) - always have a wishlist here

2. B2B2C - Direct to specific-more traditional-retail route (Costco / Amazon / Major grocery) same as above but often payment timing is non-neogtiable so allocations are discussed, promotional calendars rationalised and possible SKU limited exclusivity on seasonal promotion - not always on price but on availability or value-added opportunity

3. B2B2C 'specialists' Independent Digital/Retail marketplaces - a relative newcomer to the process, worthy of a mention; aggregating sites and digital market places offering lower RRPs a lot of the time and lower overheads but with limited reach compared to Amazon or online grocery, more of a specialist site allowing usually better UX, customer journeys and storytelling. Here is always about value-added, speed of transaction and payment terms.

4. 'The Ace in the hole' - DtC - Direct to Consumer from brand, a mono-brand e-commerce solution cutting through challenges at 3rd party supply chain but incurring some logistical obstacles. Early set up costs but long term gains, largely through insight, data and consumer behaviour analytics and community establishment.

The above is very easy to talk about, easy to eulogise; digital/growth marketing simply does not happen overnight with DtC and renegotiations with existing customer/channels do not (often) go the way you want - I once sat in a well known, large, national retailer's office in Watford being told (with my MD) to 'get out and never come back, you f***ers' after presenting and requesting fairer terms (we got our deal in the end via allocation-flex). Multi-Channel strategies require matrix management, focussed market strategies, courage, coordination and buy-in from the top-down, internal stakeholder articulation is key.

It takes time but well-planned it establishes long-term balanced commercial brand growth - ultimately giving the consumer more opportunities on where & how to purchase your product (next step after this is 'alternative payments' but lets do one thing at a time). You can also 'flex' a multi-channel strategy if your priority is revenue or profit, thats the beauty of a matrix-organised strategy.

DtC is often the last step for many companies to work through properly, however it could be the most important long term, for the wine & spirits industry, even with the Covid situation 'stuffing' many companies (cue increased consolidation in certain markets) many have accepted or reverted to 'normal' - losing a bit of business but keeping a simple, supply chain in place - and forgotten about the opportunity around DtC (much to the 'breathing out' of the traditional wholesalers). Imagine growing your business with organic, more profitable sales working alongside traditional routes with innovative brand-centric strategies, storytelling and complimentary value-driven commercial opportunities....ooh.

Agencies do a lot of the hard-yards for commercial and marketing teams (largely around Lead Gen work, Conversion and Customer Aquisition Costs) but the real proof is in the analytics and strategies required to search & then engage the consumer, so often left in the hands of the retailer, unless you do it (profiling/cohorts of consumer, mapping of retail opportunities, competition & price mapping, value mapping by region and consumer/brand touchpoints) you will not see this impact though - all of this core work will pay dividends for your business longer term, globally and nationally. No matter your businesses size this really is important/essential work, no matter your size.

All of these channels have their place and the beauty of a multi-channel strategy is when one is up, the other can be struggling and one can then be flexed seasonally over the other. It remains a discipline, it is complicated and requires experienced market insight and knowledge; metrics rule the roost - if you are multi-channel senior marketeer (!) or commercial director, your dashboards are your first and last thing you look at daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly - the CFO is one of your most important allies. You can tell some of the best stories, deliver your finest work with focussed analytics.

Next time you ask about multi-channel experience or next time you discuss your multi-channel experience get your measurements/strategy/data clear, froth this isn't.