What is Omnichannel?

How it works in practice

A mobile accessories dealer in Biratnagar sells from a counter, through an online store and by phone to regular retailers. With the channels connected, a charger sold online reduces the same stock the counter bills from. A phone order becomes a sales order the stockroom picks from. A shopper who ordered online and pays at pickup is billed against the order already placed, not as a fresh sale. At day end the sales figures cover every channel, with nothing added up in a spreadsheet.

Multichannel is the weaker version. You sell in several places, but each has its own stock count and its own records, and someone matches them up by hand later.

What to check before you choose

• Whether every channel reads the same stock figure, and how quickly a sale on one side shows on the other. That link is e-commerce sync.
• Whether prices are set once or maintained separately per channel.
• Whether online orders arrive in your books as documents or as messages to retype.
• Whether you can still tell channels apart in reports, so you know where the margin comes from.

When it is not worth it