At the most basic level, OmniChannel is how businesses deliver a consistent and cohesive customer experience across multiple platforms and touchpoints, such as desktop and mobile web, social media, email, native apps for phones, tablets, TVs, and even in-store kiosks.
How does OmniChannel work?
A prerequisite for any OmniChannel strategy is to accurately identify and track authenticated users. The best way to do that today is through user validation and logging in. The user ID cookie that is set when logging in defines the omnichannel experience for that user. When that user logs in on a new device, they will be assigned to their omnichannel experience and will remain in that group on subsequent visits, regardless of whether they log in again, providing a consistent experience across devices and visits. But without a mechanism for accurate user identification, your OmniChannel testing plan cannot ensure continuity in the user experience across all channels.
SiteSpect's OmniChannel feature allows you to provide just such a consistent experience across multiple devices. To do this, SiteSpect assigns the user to a variation group determined by their user ID cookie and places the visitor in that same Variation Group on all devices the visitor uses to access your site. This ensures that the visitor has the same experience on a phone, laptop, or tablet. In addition, it means that your reporting is consistent: you know who is using your website and from what devices.
How to use OmniChannel in SiteSpect
You first need to identify a cookie on your app that contains a unique user identifier. This cookie can also include other information, such as customer status, but the user ID portion must be in a consistent format and location in the cookie value. If this cookie is not persistent across visits, you can configure a persistent cookie in SiteSpect that includes a hashed version of the user ID. Enabling the persistent cookie allows you to identify returning users before they log in so you can provide a custom experience from the start of a visit. Learn more
Once you have identified your cookie, you need to activate the OmniChannel feature for your site and enable it for your campaign. SiteSpect has a handful of configuration options that let you adjust the OmniChannel behaviors to fit your needs. See the section below for some common examples and the recommended settings.
Finally, you can report on it by adding OmniChannel as a Segment on Reports.
Useful OmniChannel settings and options
Persistent Tagging Cookie
The persistent tagging cookie is a site setting that, when enabled, adds a new cookie containing a hashed version of your primary OmniChannel cookie value. This cookie is persistent across visits, allowing SiteSpect to identify and remember users who have logged in on previous visits and place them in their consistent OmniChannel experience without requiring a login during that session.
The name of this new cookie is configurable, with a default value of __ss_octc.
Assignment Override
The OmniChannel Assignment Override is a site setting that determines when a new OmniChannel assignment kicks in after the user is identified. When the Assignment Override is off, users will not change groups during their current session but will be placed in their OmniChannel assignment when they next visit. When Assignment Override is on, users will be reassigned within the current session on their next page view. For SPA or PWA sites we recommend keeping this off unless your login process results in a full page reload.
When combined with the Persistent Tagging Cookie, returning users will be recognized and assigned to their OmniChannel assignment at the start of their visit and will not trigger the override, even if they log in manually later in the visit.
Delay assignment until the OmniChannel cookie is present
For most use cases, we recommend delaying assignment until the OmniChannel cookie is present. This is configurable per campaign and is not required for OmniChannel to work. Since the user ID determines someone’s variation group assignment, if you decide not to include this delay, a user may be reassigned to a new variation group after they log in. It’s common for websites to have a different look or functionality for logged-in and unidentified users, so this variation group change is not inherently problematic, though depending on the campaign, it may or may not be desirable. Learn how to set up the assignment delay.
Additionally, keep in mind that SiteSpect natively maintains continuity for a user on any given device without any extra settings. As long as your campaign is active, assigned users will be included in the same experience on every visit. If you don’t have a way to identify the majority of your users across devices, the standard SiteSpect functionality is the best option for most experiments. In this case, reserve OmniChannel only for post-login testing.
Testing tip!
Target your email and social media posts using our email/ad testing feature. Learn more
Suggested configurations by industry
E-commerce, Travel, Hospitality
Typical profile:
- Many visits are from new or unidentified users. But those who do log in often access your site from multiple devices.
- Experiments are generally appropriate for both identified and unidentified users, but some may be restricted to only users with accounts.
- You want to identify users as soon as possible and remember them between login sessions.
Suggested settings:
- Tagging cookie site setting: ON
This cookie is persistent across visits, allowing SiteSpect to identify a user from a previous visit before they log in. - Assignment override site setting: ON
Turn this on if you are comfortable with users switching to their OmniChannel experience mid-visit after they log in. Keep this OFF if you want to wait until the next visit to reassign the user.- For SPA or PWA sites we recommend keeping this OFF unless your login process results in a full page reload.
- Optional:
- For the majority of campaigns where you want to include both identified and unidentified users, you only need to enable OmniChannel. Users will be assigned to the campaign regardless of whether they have logged in previously on this device.
- For campaigns that should apply only to users with an account, add a cookie audience to delay assignment until the tagging cookie is present. Returning users who have logged in during prior visits will be eligible for the campaign right away; unidentified users will only be assigned to the campaign after they log in.
Streaming/Media Services, Banking, Finance, Health Care, Subscription Services
Typical profile:
- Very high log-in rates. While some users may visit anonymously, use of the actual product or services requires the user to be logged in to an active account.
- Experiments are for identified users, but not exclusively post-login.
- Your main goal is ensure a consistent experience for known users across multiple devices.
Suggested settings:
- Tagging cookie site setting: ON
This cookie is persistent across visits, allowing SiteSpect to identify a user from a previous visit before they log in. The value is hashed so no user identification is exposed. - Delay assignment to campaigns: ON
This is configurable per campaign. Set up your campaigns to delay assignment until the tagging cookie is present. Returning users who have logged in during prior visits will be eligible for the campaign right away; unidentified users will only be assigned to the campaign after they log in. - Optional:
- If your users often log in to more than one account on a device, consider turning ON the assignment override site setting so that each time a new user logs in, they will be reassigned to their own OmniChannel experience. For SPA or PWA sites we recommend keeping this OFF unless your login process results in a full page reload.