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The Retail Omnichannel Compass: From Digital Inspiration to Physical Purchase
7 out of 10 Belgian retailers do not have an Omnichannel compass
As a retailer, when it comes to your marketing strategy, you are more than ever in a constant balancing act.
You reach your target audience most efficiently through digital means, such as Google campaigns, targeted ads on social media, online video, or digital radio.
But your revenue is largely generated offline – through sales in your physical stores.
Fortunately, our retailers (and their performance agencies) are no owls when it comes to digital marketing. They utilize diversified channels and campaigns to generate brand awareness, brand preference, conversions, and ultimately, sales. And many of the questions that arise can be answered perfectly. “What is my cost per click and per impression?” “Which campaign has generated the most views?” “On which channel have I had the most interactions with my target audience?” “What is the return of my digital campaigns on my online sales?” Based on these and many other analyses, retailers refine their marketing mix in search of even better results.
However, there is one question that 7 out of 10 Belgian retailers cannot answer. Yet, that question is crucial to truly optimize your marketing strategy. Here it is:
Which campaign, channel, or even specific ad has demonstrably led to in-store cash sales?
An audit by digital marketing specialist Hybrid Agency among over 200 retailers in Belgium shows that a strategy focused on answering this question would be a huge “quick win” for no less than 71% of the involved companies. Yet, the technology is available today to reach target audiences more effectively and efficiently, and to meet the pressure of achieving better campaign results with measurable conversions on the store floor.
The Hybrid Action Plan for the Belgian Retail Sector:
In 3 Steps to a Measurably Higher ROAS (Return On Ad Spend)
Based on the insights from their marketing audit of the Belgian retail sector, Hybrid Agency developed an action plan. In 3 very concrete steps, they guide retail companies toward working with an omnichannel compass. Think of it as a GPS for the omnichannel marketing strategy, mapping clear routes from online campaign channels to measurable in-store sales.
From our audit and in practice, it appears that for many of our retail clients, we can achieve a return increase of 10% or more within just one quarter. These are results that we naturally want to achieve for many more retailers. Our approach is also relevant for brands that do not have their own retail locations but sell their products through retail channels.
Step 1: Reach Target Audiences More Precisely, Efficiently, and Flexibly
As the digital landscape becomes more complex and fragmented, it becomes increasingly difficult to allocate budgets in the best possible way and focus on the right channels at the right time. This is why Hybrid provides its retail clients with highly targeted strategies and tools to manage this more effectively.
Through programmatic buying, for example, we automatically purchase online advertising space based on data such as browsing behavior, demographic information, and interests. This allows us to target our ads very precisely at the right person. We combine this with real-time bidding, a specific form of programmatic buying where the ad space is auctioned at the moment a user loads a webpage. This ensures that our targeted campaigns appear exactly when our audience is active.

How Programmatic Advertising and RTB (Real-Time Bidding) Work. Source Moloco
This approach offers several benefits for retailers:
- Precision: By using extensive data, ads can be deployed with great targeting, increasing relevance and impact. The phasing out of third-party cookies certainly has an impact, but alternatives are available.
- Efficiency: The automated process saves time and resources, allowing campaigns to be rolled out and adjusted more quickly.
- Flexibility: Real-time adjustments are possible based on current performance and changing market conditions.
Step 2: Contextual Data Enrichment and Integration of Location Data
You may have heard it before: “Data is the new oil.” And indeed, just as oil was the engine of the industrial revolution, data plays a crucial role in today’s digital economy. But like oil, data must be extracted, refined, and analyzed to provide value. Even in light of increased awareness and regulation regarding the use of data, there are still plenty of opportunities in data-driven marketing that can be of great value to Belgian retail marketers.
Contextual data enrichment, for example, adds additional data to your existing data, making your marketing strategy even more tailored to the needs and behavior of your target audience. In addition to optimizing the route your advertising campaigns follow, this data enables you to track the performance of your digital ads all the way to the physical store floor. This provides insight into which digital ads generate the best Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and actually lead to conversions in your physical stores.

Examples of Data Enrichment
An important application of this is the integration of location data. By integrating GPS location data from mobile phones, for example, your data platform can track when a consumer who previously interacted with a digital ad actually visits a physical store.
Combine this data with information from store traffic counters, visit-to-sale ratios, and average shopping spend, and you get a clear view of the impact of your campaigns. All of this, of course, is 100% privacy-proof.

Using movement data, retailers can gain full visibility into the customer journey: from the first interaction with an ad to the final purchase in the store. You can not only track which ads customers have seen or heard, but also analyze which touchpoints were most effective.
For example, you can map the impact of ads by looking at the last click (Last Click Attribution) or even the ads viewed (Post View Attribution).
This way, you get a complete picture of the digital touchpoints that influenced the consumer on their way to the purchase.

Insight into the complete customer journey through Post View Contribution

Being able to link in-store sales to interactions with our online campaigns was a real eye-opener. It allows us to allocate our budgets much more precisely to the channels that measurably generate the best impact.
Omnichannel Marketing Manager
“Home & Deco”
Step 3: Real-Time Analysis and ROAS Optimization
By analyzing all this data in real time, retailers can immediately see which campaigns are performing best and which need adjustment (so-called ‘set & forget’ campaigns, which are not optimized during their run, are truly a thing of the past). This ensures that your advertising budget is allocated where it has the most effect, leading to a higher ROAS.
By strategically leveraging these technologies, retailers can elevate their digital campaigns to the next level and gain better insight into the true impact of their digital ads on in-store sales.

Example of an Omnichannel Compass
Conclusion
In the complex landscape of digital marketing, smart strategies and tools are the only way to efficiently reach your target audience. By combining these technologies with contextual data enrichment, you not only get an advanced GPS system for your marketing strategy but also a true “omnichannel compass” that provides deep insights into which of your ads contribute to online sales and conversions in-store. In other words, measurable and high-performance omnichannel marketing!
With the right data, technology, and context, retailers can not only reach the right audience but also optimize their marketing budget by focusing on the campaigns that deliver the highest return. This results in higher conversion rates, an improved customer experience, and ultimately, stronger brand loyalty. Leverage the power of contextual data to keep your marketing campaigns on track and achieve maximum success.

About Hybrid
Hybrid Agency is a leading performance marketing agency that helps retailers and other ambitious companies maximize their digital impact. What truly sets Hybrid apart is their unique Team-as-a-Service (TaaS) approach, where they act as an extension of your own marketing team. This flexible and scalable solution enables Belgian retail companies to quickly adapt to changing market conditions and optimize their marketing efforts without the need to recruit and train new internal talent.
Hybrid offers a wide range of services, including SEA, SEO, social and programmatic advertising, marketing automation, and conversion optimization, specifically focused on omnichannel marketing. By continuously optimizing based on real-time data, they ensure that your marketing budget always delivers maximum returns. Hybrid collaborates with numerous ambitious companies such as X²O, Impermo, Ava, Aveve, Lola Liza, and others to achieve sustainable growth through an integrated omnichannel approach that improves both online and offline results.
Want to know more?
Contact Bart De Ceulaer:
+32 (0)493/25.73.10
bart@hybridagency.be
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