Want to measure the success of your omnichannel strategy? Start with these 5 key metrics.

Omnichannel strategies can boost customer retention by 91% and customer lifetime value by 30%. But without tracking the right metrics, you risk wasting time and money. Here’s a quick overview of the metrics every SMB should focus on:

• Channel-to-Channel Conversion Tracking: Understand how customers move between platforms and touchpoints.
• Customer Return Rate: Measure repeat purchases to gauge loyalty.
• Total Customer Value Over Time (TCVOT): Track the long-term revenue each customer generates.
• Customer Recommendation Score (NPS): Evaluate customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Customer Task Completion Score (CTCS): Assess how easily customers complete tasks across channels.

These metrics help SMBs make smarter, data-driven decisions to improve customer experience and drive growth.

How to measure omnichannel customer experience?

1. Channel-to-Channel Conversion Tracking

Channel-to-channel conversion tracking helps you understand how customers move between different platforms and touchpoints before making a purchase. It’s a key metric for evaluating your cross-channel strategy and deciding where to focus your resources.

Why It Matters: Studies show that businesses engaging customers through three or more channels see engagement rates of 18.96%, compared to just 5.4% for single-channel methods ^[2]. That’s a massive difference, proving the value of tracking how customers interact across multiple channels.

Key Metrics to Track:

Real-World Example:

A small fashion retailer found that 60% of customers engaging with Instagram content made a purchase within seven days. However, 80% of these shoppers preferred completing their transactions in-store. To bridge the gap, they introduced a ‘reserve online, pick up in-store’ option. The result? A 40% boost in conversions and a 25% increase in order values within six months ^[1][2].

Tips for Getting Started:

• Use unique tracking codes like UTM parameters for each channel, and enable cross-device tracking through customer accounts.
• Integrate your systems by connecting your point-of-sale software with online analytics tools.

For small businesses worried about complexity, start simple with tools like Google Analytics. Over time, you can adopt more advanced solutions. The goal is to track consistently across all customer touchpoints while staying compliant with privacy laws.

2. Customer Return Rate

Customer Return Rate shows the percentage of customers who come back to make repeat purchases across your sales channels. After analyzing customer movement (from Metric 1), the next step is to focus on strategies that keep them returning.

Breaking Down the Numbers

How to Calculate: Take the number of returning customers, divide it by the total number of customers for a specific period, and multiply by 100.

A Real-World Example

"Our omnichannel loyalty program drove 53% of U.S. store sales in Q4 2022." – Starbucks Fiscal 2022 Q4 Results

Main Factors Influencing Return Rate

• Consistent Customer Experience: Ensure the same service quality and branding across all platforms. Customers should feel the same level of care, whether online or in-store.
• Personalization Through Data: Leverage customer data to create tailored experiences. Personalized marketing and offers can boost loyalty and keep customers coming back.
• Unified Customer Recognition: Implement a single customer ID system across all channels to make interactions seamless and cohesive.

Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore

Pay attention to these indicators:

• A drop in engagement on specific platforms
• Returning customers spending less per order
• Fewer visits or repeat purchases over time

3. Total Customer Value Over Time

Total Customer Value Over Time (TCVOT) tracks the total revenue a customer generates across all channels during their entire relationship with your business. While the previous metric focuses on retention trends, TCVOT dives into the long-term revenue contributions from each customer across multiple channels.

How to Calculate TCVOT

Let’s break it down: If a customer spends $100 monthly across various channels for three years, their total value adds up to $3,600.

Why TCVOT Matters for Business

Did you know that improving retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by as much as 95%? TCVOT is a key metric for assessing the return on investment (ROI) of your omnichannel strategy ^[3].

Ways to Improve TCVOT

If you want to boost this metric, focus on these three areas:

• Omnichannel Journey Mapping: Use CRM tools to monitor how customers interact with your business across different touchpoints.
• Targeted Engagement: Identify customers with the highest potential and create retention programs tailored to specific channels.
• Personalized Experiences: Leverage cross-channel purchase data to craft experiences that feel tailored to each customer, building on insights from Metric 1.

Tools You’ll Need

To track and improve TCVOT, consider using:

• CRM platforms
• E-commerce analytics software
• Unified customer profiles
• Integrated point-of-sale systems

sbb-itb-fd64e4e

4. Customer Recommendation Score

Customer Recommendation Score (commonly known as NPS) is a loyalty metric that evaluates how satisfied customers are with your business across all channels. Unlike TCVOT, which focuses on revenue, NPS gives direct insights into how customers feel about their experiences, helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) pinpoint areas for improvement.

How to Calculate Your Score

NPS is based on customer responses to a simple question: "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?" Customers are grouped into three categories:

To calculate your NPS, subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. For instance, if 50% of your customers are Promoters and 20% are Detractors, your NPS would be 30.

SMB Sector Benchmarks

Here’s how NPS typically looks across different industries:

A great example of NPS in action is Warby Parker. By monitoring scores across both digital and in-store channels, they boosted their NPS from 83 to 88. This improvement led to a 12% increase in cross-channel purchases – a clear sign of how NPS can drive business growth.

Collecting Data Effectively

To gather meaningful feedback, consider these methods:

• Surveys sent via email, SMS, or in-app prompts
• QR codes placed in physical locations
• Social media tools that encourage quick responses

Turning Data Into Action

Here are some ways to make the most of your NPS data:

• Pinpoint weak spots by analyzing scores for specific channels or touchpoints.
• Address concerns quickly by following up with Detractors within 24 hours.
• Use feedback to train staff, ensuring they address recurring issues.
• Track trends consistently – monthly for high-traffic businesses or quarterly for others.

NPS works hand-in-hand with Metric 3 by showing how customer advocacy contributes to long-term success. Affordable tools like Survicate or Delighted can simplify cross-channel feedback collection. Additionally, services like Robust Branding (robustbranding.com) offer cost-efficient survey integrations to help SMBs improve their omnichannel experience. Even a small improvement – like raising your NPS by 7 points – can lead to noticeable growth through increased referrals.

5. Customer Task Completion Score

The Customer Task Completion Score (CTCS) helps measure how easily customers can complete essential tasks across various channels. It’s a direct way to spot areas where users face challenges and assess how well your omnichannel strategy works. While other metrics focus on financial results or customer loyalty, CTCS zeroes in on operational efficiency.

How to Calculate It

CTCS uses a formula similar to NPS but focuses on actions instead of opinions:
(Number of successfully completed tasks / Total number of attempted tasks) x 100

You can track completion rates for different tasks, such as:

Real-World Example

This metric isn’t limited to big businesses. For instance, a local credit union adopted this approach to cut account setup time by 40%. Bank of America also improved its CTCS from 76% to 92% in just six months by simplifying account openings across mobile, web, and in-branch channels. These changes led to a 15% rise in new accounts and a 23% drop in support calls about account setup^[2].

Strategies to Improve CTCS

Here are three effective ways to increase task completion rates:

• Analyze Channel Performance
  Compare success rates across platforms. For example, your website might be great for product research but struggle with resolving support issues. Use this insight to focus on the areas that need improvement.
• Map the Customer Journey
  Look for points where customers switch between channels. If many users move from mobile to desktop during checkout, it might signal you need better mobile optimization.
• Incorporate Feedback
  Pair CTCS data with short surveys. Questions like "How easy was it to complete this task?" or "What challenges did you face?" can provide actionable insights.

Avoid These Common Mistakes

• Inconsistent Tracking: Ensure tracking methods are standardized across all platforms.
• Overlooking Mobile Issues: Pay attention to mobile-specific challenges.
• Complicated Interfaces: Keep designs simple and user-friendly.
• Delayed Responses: Investigate any drop in scores within 48 hours.

Tools That Can Help

Metric Impact vs. Tracking Difficulty

Understanding what to measure is just the first step. Prioritizing metrics means weighing their importance against the effort needed to track them.

Impact vs. Difficulty Matrix

The goal? Focus on metrics that offer a strong balance between their importance (Column 2) and how challenging they are to implement (Column 3).

Strategic Implementation Approach

Since Customer Return Rate (Metric 1) is simpler to track, it’s a smart starting point. Once you’ve mastered that, you can move on to more complex metrics like Total Customer Value Over Time (Metric 5). This step-by-step approach helps organizations build skills gradually while still delivering actionable results.

Resource Optimization Tips

To make the most of your resources, consider these strategies:

• Leverage Integrated Tools: Use platforms like CRMs with built-in analytics to simplify tracking.
• Focus Staff Training: Train employees on one metric per quarter to enhance understanding and efficiency.

For example, integrated platforms, like those highlighted in Metric 5, can significantly cut down on tracking challenges.

Technology Investment

• Start with scalable, cloud-based tools for tracking.
• Choose platforms that can monitor multiple metrics simultaneously.
• If needed, outsource complex tracking tasks to specialized agencies.

Skill Development

• Provide training on basic data analysis techniques.
• Build expertise by focusing on one metric at a time.

Common Implementation Challenges

Metrics like Total Customer Value Over Time (Metric 5) and Customer Task Completion Score (Metric 4) often require more advanced systems. They offer long-term value but come with hurdles such as limited budgets (affecting 58% of SMBs ^[2]), system integration issues, and inconsistent data quality.

Solution Approach: Start small. Begin by analyzing basic customer return patterns. Once you’ve established a foundation, tackle more advanced metrics like cross-channel conversions. This gradual approach ensures steady progress without overwhelming your team or resources.

Next Steps for SMBs

To put your metric prioritization framework into action, follow these practical steps:

Start with Data Unification

Unified customer data is the backbone of effective omnichannel tracking. Use a customer data platform (CDP) to bring together information from all your channels.

Technology Implementation Roadmap

Budget-Friendly Options

For SMBs working with limited budgets, affordable tools like Google Analytics can handle essential cross-channel tracking. Additionally, services like Robust Branding offer low-cost solutions for tracking omnichannel metrics.

Real-World Example

Bonobos achieved a 12% increase in order values and improved retention by 27% by leveraging unified commerce data.

Privacy and Compliance

Stay GDPR-compliant by creating clear data policies, securing stored information, and conducting regular audits ^[3].

Staff Development

Help your team make sense of the data by scheduling monthly metric reviews and in-depth quarterly analyses.

Scaling Your Strategy

As your tracking capabilities improve, expand your focus gradually. For example, start with metrics like Customer Return Rate and add others like TCVOT (#3) and CTCS (#5) over time. This step-by-step approach ensures steady growth while maintaining accuracy and efficiency.

FAQs

How do you measure success of omnichannel?

Tracking the success of an omnichannel strategy involves monitoring key metrics across all customer interactions. Here’s a breakdown of the main areas to focus on:

Pro Tip: Unified data collection is the backbone of effective measurement. For example, a fashion retailer improved Channel Conversion (Metric 1) by streamlining their online and in-store experiences. Similarly, Warby Parker enhanced Recommendation Score (Metric 4) through personalized customer interactions. Sephora‘s 2022 omnichannel strategy, which combined augmented reality with physical retail, resulted in a 30% boost in conversion rates and a 25% drop in product returns within six months. These outcomes highlight the importance of metrics like Channel Conversion and Task Completion.

To get started, use tools like Google Analytics for tracking basic metrics and CRM platforms for more detailed insights. Tailor these metrics to align with your business goals for the best results.

Related Blog Posts

• How to Map Customer Touchpoints for SMBs
• 5 Post-Purchase Strategies for SMBs
• Top 5 Free ROI Tools for SMBs in 2025
• How to Choose Social Media Platforms for SMBs