What is O2O? Introducing the meaning, benefits, and success stories
What is O2O? Explaining the basic meaning
In the first place, what is O2O? For those involved in online businesses such as EC, O2O can be a hint for expanding sales channels, so if you understand the meaning properly, you will be able to make use of it in your own business. We also summarized specific examples of measures and differences from omni-channel, which is often confused.
Abbreviation for Online to Offline
O2O stands for "Online to Offline". It is a measure that induces customers who have contact online to take offline actions such as visiting a physical store or making a purchase, and it is also a form of omni-channel marketing.
In recent years, the trend of "Offline to Online" has also emerged. It is a measure to guide customers from offline to online by making it possible to check the inventory status of the EC site at the physical store, and to get cash back when registering the app at the physical store. O2O is currently changing into a measure that complements online and offline.
Examples of specific measures for O2O
Examples of specific measures for O2O include the distribution of coupons that can be used at physical stores and confirmation of store inventory. If you send coupons that can be used at physical stores online, it will be easier for users who feel the benefits to visit the physical store.
If you can check the store inventory with the app, you can save the trouble of searching for products at the physical store, so you can meet the needs of users who want to save time.
In addition, there is also an example of measures to provide experiences through EC sites that cannot be done at physical stores. Other examples of O2O are methods such as allowing users to accumulate points that can be used at stores by playing games and lotteries, and making it easier to visit physical stores by using location information to search for physical stores.
In recent years, it has become possible to adopt the method of completing everything from ordering to payment online, and simply picking up the product at a physical store. We have grasped the needs of consumers in terms of shortening the waiting time at physical stores and saving shipping costs.
How is it different from omnichannel?
Omni-channel is a mechanism that connects multiple sales channels and allows them to be used without distinction between online and offline. Customer satisfaction will increase as customers will be able to use certain services both online and offline. It is aimed at so-called "enclosure" and specializes in acquiring repeat customers.
On the other hand, the purpose of O2O is to guide customers. It can be said that it is different from omnichannel in that it specializes in acquiring new customers.
Why is O2O attracting attention?
Some people say that O2O is outdated, but as long as Internet searches continue to be the mainstream, it can be said that it will be an important measure.
In fact, the range of measures is expanding not only from online inflows but also from offline inflows. I would like to introduce two reasons why O2O has attracted attention in the first place in the past few years.
The spread of smartphones
The first is the spread of smartphones. With the spread of smartphones, more and more people are spending more time online.
Not only is it used as a search tool when there is something you want to know, but it is also used to browse and purchase e-commerce shops, social games that can be played on smartphones, etc. , it is becoming easier to take advantage of O2O measures.
Generalization of easy-to-use technologies
Second, technologies that can be used for O2O measures, such as QR codes, have become commonplace. Cashless payments using QR codes have become popular around the world in recent years. The technology of apps has also improved, and many stores offer dedicated apps.
In addition, the active use of SNS can be said to be one of the factors supporting O2O measures. Many consumers have come to make purchase decisions based not only on store and company information, but also on user reviews, and product information and other information is now being posted on SNS.
Four Benefits of O2O Marketing
The benefits of incorporating O2O marketing are divided into four and introduced. Even if you understand the meaning of O2O and specific examples of measures, the important thing is whether it can actually be used for your own business.
O2O marketing has attracted attention and has the merit of being introduced to many companies, so please consider whether it is a suitable measure for your business.
1. New inflow can be expected
O2O marketing is a method that specializes in acquiring new customers, as described in the difference from omni-channel.
When you are offline, there are restrictions such as location and business hours, but when you are online, you can approach customers from all over the world, and you can basically access them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so your range of customers expands. For customers who did not know the store only offline, it will be an opportunity to visit the store. In addition, since online advertising costs can be reduced compared to offline outdoor advertising, etc., one of the major attractions is that it is possible to induce offline advertisements at lower advertising costs than regular offline advertising.
2. You can see the effect quickly
O2O marketing is also a point that you can quickly see the effect of the measures. Especially for measures such as coupon distribution, the effect of the measure can be understood simply by counting the number of coupons used within the period.
If you find that it is effective, you will continue, and if you find that it is not very effective, you will be able to quickly change the direction of the policy, and you will be able to get the results you want more quickly.
3. Easy to measure effects
In the case of O2O marketing, it is easy to measure the effects of measures. It will be easy to "visualize" the effect of measures, such as counting how many coupons distributed online are used in physical stores, or counting the number of reactions to posts on SNS accounts.
If you can easily measure the effect, you can also increase the speed of improvement.
4. Easy to meet customer needs
O2O marketing is also a measure that makes it easy to approach each customer individually. Online marketing is also called digital marketing, and it is characterized by the fact that it is easy to digitize the traces of customer access and areas of interest.
Because O2O measures can be developed based on that data, there is the advantage of being able to implement measures that meet the needs of customers rather than offline advertising to an unspecified number of people.
Four success stories of O2O
Here are four examples of successful implementation of O2O measures. There are a wide range of methods for O2O measures, such as the "coupon type" that distributes coupons that can be used at physical stores, the "offline assistance type" that allows you to purchase products you have seen at physical stores online, and the actual use of products that you have ordered online in advance. There are types such as "mobile order" that you can receive at the store, so please look for the type that suits you.
UNIQLO (Coupon-type O2O)
UNIQLO, a major fast fashion brand, has adopted coupon-type O2O measures. In addition to the standard method of distributing coupons that can be used at brick-and-mortar stores through an app, mobile members can purchase products at member prices by showing a smartphone app at a store, or distribute digital flyers within the app, thereby shifting from online to offline. flow is created.
Google (location information type)
In recent years, more and more people are using Google Maps to search for stores. On Google Maps, in addition to the business hours and reviews of actual stores, you can see how crowded the stores are, but this is actually an O2O measure that uses location information.
In 2015, Google implemented the "Popular Times" function on its search page. Anonymous data such as waiting time and stay time of users who have enabled Google location history are aggregated, and congestion time etc. are calculated based on that data.
Nitori (offline assisted O2O)
Nitori, a furniture and interior retailer, has adopted the "Offline to Online" O2O policy.
"Showrooming" is the process of purchasing products that you have seen in a physical store online instead of buying them on the spot. This leads to lost opportunities for companies.
However, Nitori took advantage of showrooming. By making it possible to read the barcodes of in-store products with a dedicated app, we made it possible to easily purchase products that caught our attention online. As a result, there is no need to line up at the cash register at physical stores, and purchasing hurdles have been lowered online after seeing the actual product.
STARBUCKS (mobile ordering)
Mobile ordering is an O2O measure that is being introduced mainly at restaurants. It is a method that allows you to receive what you have purchased online in advance at a physical store, and with the generalization of cashless payments, it has become possible to complete everything from purchase to payment online.
Consumers only receive the ordered products, so if the order is completed on the way to the store, there is no need to wait at the store. STARBACKS was one of the first to adopt mobile ordering, and mobile ordering accounted for 10% of sales in 2017.
As of 2021, fast food restaurants such as McDonald's have also adopted this method, and it can be said that it is a method that meets the needs of customers who want to shorten the preparation time for eating and drinking.
Let's increase sales with O2O marketing
Introduced the meaning of O2O and success stories. O2O marketing can "visualize" the effect of measures, and is a method that enables an approach that meets the needs of customers whose use of smartphones has increased.
Originally, it meant creating a lead from online to offline, but depending on the ingenuity, it is possible to flow from offline to online, and sales can be expected to increase due to inflow from both offline and online.