Unified commerce basics

What is unified commerce?

Step into the future of commerce, where a $3.3 trillion global opportunity awaits your business. Unified commerce is the next iteration of omnichannel, delivering a seamless online and offline consumer experience.

A unified commerce approach connects backend systems with customer-facing channels via a single platform, allowing businesses to better serve customers through a panoramic view of shopper interactions, products and management systems. The result is a seamlessly connected organization where valuable customer data passes between systems in near real-time, allowing you to improve operational efficiencies, make better-informed decisions and deliver a frictionless customer experience.

What’s the difference between unified commerce and omnichannel commerce?

Unified and omnichannel commerce both aim to elevate the customer experience, but several key differences exist. While omnichannel commerce provides multiple customer-facing channels to interact with your business and make purchases (i.e., website, social media, SMS, mobile app, in-store experience, etc.), these channels may still need to be fully integrated.

Unified commerce takes it a step beyond, optimizing the customer-facing experience by ensuring backend processes and systems powering those front-end experiences are working in lockstep (i.e., sales channels, inventory management, order fulfillment, marketing and other activities). This connectivity offers unparalleled visibility into customer behavior, preferences, sales trends and real-time inventory across all platforms, consolidating crucial data within a single, powerful database.

Unified commerce example: Sarah’s shopping experience

Let’s look at unified commerce through the eyes of a fictional consumer, Sarah, who wants to buy a new pair of running shoes.

1. Discovery phase

Sarah starts by researching online and visiting the website of her favorite athleisure brand. The brand’s website is fully integrated with its inventory system, so that she can see real-time availability of various products at nearby stores.

2. Personalized recommendations

Based on Sarah's browsing history and previous purchases, which she opted into sharing when she created an account with the brand, the website offers personalized recommendations for running shoes that fit her preferences. The recommendations are powered by data from the brand’s CRM system, which tracks her interactions and engagement.

3. Seamless purchase options

Sarah decides to purchase a pair of shoes. She notices that the website offers options for home delivery or in-store pickup. She chooses in-store pickup to collect her order at her convenience. The payment process is smooth and integrated, securely using her saved payment information.

4. Real-time updates

After completing her purchase, Sarah receives a confirmation email and a notification via the brand’s mobile app. The notification includes a pickup code and details about when the shoes will be ready for pick up. The app provides real-time updates on her order status.

5. In-store experience

When Sarah arrives at the store to pick up her order, the associate checks her pickup code using a tablet connected to the brand’s unified commerce system. The system shows Sarah’s order details, including any additional notes or special requests she made.

6. Post-purchase engagement

After collecting her shoes, Sarah receives a follow-up email and app notification asking for feedback on her shopping experience. She can easily leave a review, which is integrated into the brand’s customer feedback system. This feedback helps the brand personalize future interactions with Sarah.

7. Loyalty and recommendations

A few weeks later, Sarah receives a personalized offer for complementary products based on her purchase history, such as running socks or fitness gear. The offer is delivered through the brand’s app and email, which are linked to her loyalty program account, allowing her to redeem rewards and track her points.

Why should companies have a unified commerce strategy?

With a single view of inventory, orders and shopper data, your business can better understand consumer needs and preferences, delivering an exceptional experience.

Benefits of unified commerce

Consumers today expect efficiency and convenience at every stage of the shopping journey. Touchless and self-service point-of-sale systems, curbside pickup, flexible delivery options and a unified management system will quickly evolve from the future-forward to the fundamental. 

Unified commerce strategies will be the cornerstone of success for businesses that seek to gain a competitive edge in the modern retail landscape. Moreover, these strategies will enable leaders across sectors to meet their goals concerning revenue growth, organizational agility, cost management and process efficiency. Key benefits include:

1. Streamlined operational efficiency

You can significantly reduce duplicative efforts, errors and discrepancies by consolidating systems for managing sales, inventory, pricing, promotions and other commerce activities. Changes can be implemented centrally, with updates automatically reflected across channels. This approach enables faster order fulfillment, minimizes stockouts and overstocking and improves sell-through rates.

2. Enhanced customer experience

Unified commerce eliminates friction and enhances personalization across every channel. For instance, returning customers can easily resume shopping where they left off online, receive timely discounts when near or in a physical store and staff can make tailored recommendations based on their purchases and browsing history. Leveraging customer analytics allows your business to deliver targeted communications and offers, leading to higher conversion rates, increased sales, greater customer lifetime value and stronger brand loyalty.

3. Actionable business insights

Centralized visibility into inventory levels, sales data, and customer behavior empowers leaders to make data-driven decisions. These insights inform better inventory management strategies, optimized marketing efforts and business operations, driving increased profitability and sustained growth.

How do you create a unified commerce strategy?

Step 1: Assess your current state

Conduct a comprehensive assessment of current sales channels, systems and processes in place, reconciling your current backend architecture against the customer journey. This analysis identifies opportunities for personalization, uncovers pain points and data silos and highlights areas needing integration, updates or replacement.

Learn more about how to conduct a current state assessment here.

Step 2: Choose a payments infrastructure approach

Install a payments infrastructure system that consolidates all purchase orders, processes and data into a unified system. Options include developing an in-house solution or adopting a third-party platform that integrates online and in-person payments through a single processor and set of APIs.

Step 3: Integrate systems

By far the most complicated step, it’s time to select an appropriate platform and migrate existing systems onto it. You could be integrating POS, inventory management, CRM and loyalty systems, ensuring seamless operation across all facets of your business.

Step 4: Empower employees with the proper training

Effective implementation of unified commerce hinges on dedicated employee training. After all, employees interact with customers, handle operations and serve as brand ambassadors. 

Your company must provide employees with access to the tools they need to do their jobs effectively, including point-of-sale systems that integrate online and offline transactions, CRM systems that provide consumer behavior insights and collaboration tools to streamline messaging and outreach. In addition, training resources are necessary to ensure your employees have the customer service skills, sales techniques and customer understanding to succeed.

Step 5: Leverage cross-channel capabilities

Post-integration, capitalize on cross-channel functionalities such as:

• Buy online and pick up or return in store, connecting the online and retail experience 
• Real-time inventory data broadcasting that shows online shoppers nearby inventory and in-store shoppers’ shippable inventory
• Clienteling capabilities that allow in-store staff to make data-driven recommendations based on purchase and browsing history

Step 6: Personalize the shopping experience

Utilize unified data analytics to track consumer behavior and preferences across channels, enabling tailored product recommendations, targeted marketing and personalized customer service.  

Learn more about how effective personalization can increase loyalty, drive sales, and elevate your brand in a competitive market here. 

Step 7: Measure success and adapt as needed

Establish KPIs to gauge the effectiveness of your unified commerce approach over time. Relevant metrics might include:

• Customer satisfaction, measured through surveys, reviews and ratings
• Sales metrics, measured by sales by channel, average order volume and conversion rates
• Customer retention, measured by customer lifetime value, repeat purchase rate and churn rate

Luxury retailers leading the way in unified commerce

Neiman Marcus, renowned for luxury fashion and home goods, has made adapting their upscale in-store experience for online customers a strategic priority over the past few years. Central to their strategy is leveraging unified data to personalize each shopper's experience, seamlessly recalling sizes and preferences. At the same time, geo-location technology drives foot traffic by displaying local store inventory and upcoming in-store events. 

As a final touch, Neiman Marcus introduced "Memory Mirrors," enabling customers to capture and save 360-degree views of outfits directly within their app, facilitating effortless future purchases. This integration of cutting-edge technology with unified customer data exemplifies their commitment to elevating the luxury shopping experience across channels.

Conclusion

The last decade has witnessed a retail renaissance – characterized by an unprecedented acceleration in technology adoption. As consumer expectations evolve and market conditions shift, adopting a unified commerce framework ensures that companies are agile, responsive and well-positioned to meet future challenges and opportunities. Ultimately, the seamless integration offered by unified commerce is key to sustaining growth, building customer loyalty and engaging your customers wherever they are and whenever they are ready to buy.