No, Your Goal Should Not Be “Omni-channel” (And What You Should Focus on Instead)

I had the pleasure of joining ShipStation’s Innovation Delivered virtual summit, discussing commerce strategy alongside some brilliant minds in the industry. One thing I said that seemed to resonate (and maybe ruffle a few feathers) was this: I recommend against omni-channel thinking.

Now, before you write me off completely, let me explain.

The Problem With “Omni-channel” Thinking

The word “omni-channel” emphasizes the wrong thing—the channel. It gets us thinking in silos: “Here’s my cohort of web shoppers, here’s my cohort of store shoppers, and here’s how I move them from one to the other.”

What we should be focusing on instead is delivering the experience the customer wants, wherever she wants it. It’s about understanding the organic, cohesive customer journey and all her needs—not trying to dictate or keep score by particular channels.

Owned vs. Earned: Know the Difference

Here’s a fundamental that many seem to have forgotten: Some channels we own, others we have to earn.

When you launch a Shopify site, you own it. You get to make all the decisions about the experience, the messaging, the entire customer journey.

But Amazon? TikTok Shop? ChatGPT? Those are earned channels. You’re one of billions competing for attention, and the platform decides what your product detail page looks like, not you.

The job to be done on each is fundamentally different:

• On Amazon (or other marketplaces): Win search among tons of other products
• On your own site: Build brand affinity and become loved, not just discovered

The Power of Letting Others Do the Talking

In today’s fragmented attention economy—where there are a trillion shows on Netflix alone (my estimate)—traditional marketing approaches are struggling. One of the most effective strategies I’m seeing? Let customers talk about you instead of talking about yourself.

I’m not talking about hiring celebrities (though Gwyneth Paltrow did have a moment last month). I mean authentic micro influencer marketing: getting consumers who are like your target customer to organically share their experiences with your brand.

This works because:

• It’s earned content that performs better.
• The algorithms favor authentic user-generated content.
• It helps you rank better in AI-powered search tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT.

AI Shopping: Promising, But Keep Perspective

Speaking of AI search—yes, it’s important. Millions of people are using AI for shopping decisions. (I literally just had AI help me choose a dishwasher.) But let’s keep perspective.

While the growth is astronomical, all answer engines combined are still 300 times smaller than Google search alone. We’re growing rapidly from a very small base.

My advice? It would be foolish to assume it’s going to fail. At the very least, be thinking about how to be a fast follower, and I’d certainly encourage you to be testing and learning right now.

Back to Basics: The Fundamentals Win

Here’s what really matters: fundamentals over shiny objects.

We’re still awful at basic digital retail. I see marketers spending millions on AI and advanced personalization while they can’t even set up proper exclusion lists to stop retargeting customers who already made a purchase.

Focus on getting the basics right:

• Proper customer analytics that measure value across all touchpoints
• Understanding what your most valuable customers actually want
• Delivering consistent brand experience (not necessarily identical, but consistent in “scent”—that core brand essence that makes you recognizable)

The Real Question: Who Are Your Best Customers?

Of the seven billion people on this planet, there’s a small handful who could be incredibly valuable to you. Instead of trying to serve everyone, figure out who those thousand customers are and what they want.

If they all want the same thing, deliver that brilliantly. If they want different things, personalize accordingly. But keep it simple and don’t get distracted by every new shiny tool.

Remember: My favorite retailer of all time is London’s Lock & Co. Hatters—almost 200 years old. They built their reputation by knowing their customers personally. When London got too big for that approach, they had to adapt, but the principle remained: serve your best customers exceptionally well.

Get more ecommerce insights from all of ShipStation’s on-demand Innovation Delivered sessions here.

Check out Jason “Retailgeek” Goldberg’s LinkedIn.

Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg

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