In the rapidly evolving world of retail, staying ahead of the competition requires delivering exceptional customer experiences across multiple channels. Two terms that often come up in this context are "omnichannel" and "unified commerce."

But what exactly do these terms mean, and why do they matter? In this blog post, we'll explore the nuances between omnichannel and unified commerce, highlighting their differences and emphasizing why choosing the right approach is crucial for success in today's retail landscape.

Omnichannel commerce refers to a strategy where businesses aim to provide a seamless customer experience across multiple channels, both online and offline. The focus is on integrating various customer-facing channels, such as brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce platforms, social media, and mobile apps to create a consistent and cohesive journey for the customer.

While the concept of omnichannel commerce sounds promising, implementing and managing it effectively can be challenging. The main obstacle lies in the integration of disparate systems and ensuring a consistent flow of customer data across all touchpoints. Achieving a truly seamless cross-channel experience requires a deep understanding of customer behaviors, preferences, and purchase history.

Omnichannel offers a number of important benefits for retailers and customers, such as:

1. Improved Customer Experience

Omnichannel strategies enable businesses to personalize their interactions, providing tailored recommendations and offers based on customer behavior and preferences, improving the customer experience. And since customers receive a consistent brand experience across all channels, this also enhances customer trust and brand loyalty.

2. Increased Sales and Revenue

Omnichannel commerce allows retailers to reach a broader audience by leveraging multiple channels, potentially leading to higher sales opportunities. Businesses can cross-sell and upsell products or services more effectively by analyzing customer data and behavior across channels.

3. Inventory Optimization

With real-time inventory visibility across channels, businesses can optimize their inventory levels, reducing overstock and stockouts. Omnichannel experiences also allow customers to choose from various fulfillment options, such as in-store pickup, same-day delivery, or traditional shipping, increasing their satisfaction.

4. Meet Modern Customer Expectations

As digital channels have emerged and evolved over the last several years, so has consumer behavior. Today's customers expect a seamless digital shopping experience, where their information follows them across channels.

Omnichannel commerce not only allows businesses to adapt to these new shopping habits and preferences (including catering to the growing number of mobile shoppers) but has become the new expectation and the bare minimum retailers must do to earn sales and create loyal customers.

Unified commerce takes the concept of omnichannel commerce a step further by consolidating all customer interactions and backend systems into a single, centralized platform. Unlike omnichannel, which focuses on integrating disparate systems, unified commerce seeks to create a totally integrated ecosystem that provides a holistic view of the customer journey.

The key differentiating factor between omnichannel and unified commerce lies in the level of integration and consolidation. While omnichannel commerce aims to present a consistent experience across various sales channels and customer touchpoints, unified commerce goes beyond that by centralizing critical data, payment systems, inventory management, and backend systems. It aims to eliminate silos and provide a customer-centric approach with consolidated data insights. The ultimate goal is to have a "single source of truth" for the entire customer journey where all data resides. While an omnichannel strategy may connect channels, the connection is options and multiple channels in the omnichannel journey may actually be siloed.

1. A Truly Seamless Customer Experience

Unified commerce ensures that customers enjoy a consistent experience, regardless of the channel they choose to engage with. Whether it's making a purchase online, in-store, or through a mobile app, the customer purchase journey remains seamless and interconnected.

2. Enhanced Customer Data

By consolidating customer data from multiple sources into a single platform, the unified approach provides retailers with a comprehensive view of their customers. Enriched and consolidated data can then be used to personalize marketing efforts, anticipate customer needs, and drive meaningful engagement.

3. Streamlined Operations

Unified commerce platforms help retailers simplify their backend systems and management processes. A centralized platform enables efficient inventory management, order fulfillment, and real-time data synchronization, leading to improved operational efficiency.

4. Flexibility And Scalability

Unified commerce solutions offer the flexibility to adapt and scale as business needs evolve. Adding new sales channels or expanding into new markets becomes more manageable when all systems are integrated into a single, cohesive framework.

To adopt a unified commerce strategy, retailers need to invest in a unified commerce platform that seamlessly integrates all customer-facing channels, backend systems, and critical data. This platform should provide a centralized hub for managing sales, inventory, customer interactions, and analytics. This will empower businesses to break down silos, bridge the gap between online and offline channels, and leverage consolidated data to make informed decisions.

However, while the eCommerce industry is largely agreed that unified commerce is the future of retail, individual retailers still face some challenges when implementing a unified strategy.

High Installation Costs

Transitioning to a unified commerce platform can be an expensive endeavor, with high installation costs. When you factor in time to market and implementation time, the initial price tag can be a deterrent for many companies.

Existing Technology Infrastructure

Implementing a unified commerce solution requires significant investment in technology infrastructure -- especially for enterprise-size retailers who have not yet moved away from monolithic tech stacks. Retailers who have already adopted a composable commerce approach are much more likely to have an easier time integrating a unified commerce platform into their tech stack.

Data Security and Privacy

Unified commerce creates a seamless experience by using and storing lots of customer data. As data security restrictions and privacy laws tighten, eCommerce retailers will need to ensure their unified commerce experiences properly store and handle their customer data for legal compliance.

Unified commerce and omnichannel commerce may seem very similar -- and they are. Unified is often referred to as an evolution of omnichannel, and that is why the differences between the two approaches matter.

As the ecommerce industry has grown and changed, so too has customer buying behavior. Where an omnichannel approach used to be cutting edge, today's modern consumers have come to expect omnichannel experiences as the standard. Furthermore, as more and more brands move to a composable commerce approach for its greater flexibility and scalability, the technological shortcomings of omnichannel become more apparent.

While implementing a unified platform is not without its own difficulties, for retailers to continue to stand out, they must look to unified commerce to create the frictionless buying experience customers now demand to see.

As technology continues to advance and consumer expectations evolve, the concept of unified commerce is poised to become even more critical for retail businesses. Here are a few ways we foresee unified commerce being integrated in eCommerce experiences in the future.

Individualized Personalization

Personalization has progressed beyond segmentation into the realm of hyper-personalization, or individualized personalization. Unified commerce, with its centralization of customer data, is the perfect start for individualized personalization. AI-first search and product discovery platforms, which are powered by next-generation search engines, are already delivering individually personalized search results. When paired with a unified commerce platform, their results will only improve.

Online and Offline Will Continue to Blur

The rise of mobile devices and the increasing popularity of social media have blurred the lines between online and offline channels. Unified commerce enables retailers to deliver seamless cross-channel experiences, allowing customers to transition effortlessly between different touchpoints, such as browsing online and making a purchase in-store.

Integration Of Emerging Technologies

As technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) gain traction, unified commerce platforms can integrate these tools to enhance the customer experience. For example, AR can be used to visualize products in a real-world setting, while AI-powered chatbots can provide instant assistance and support.

New Sales Channels And Market Expansion

Unified commerce solutions are designed to be flexible and scalable, making it easier for businesses to expand into new sales channels and enter new markets. Whether it's launching an AI chatbot, partnering with third-party marketplaces, or experimenting with pop-up stores, a unified commerce approach facilitates the seamless integration of new channels into the existing ecosystem.

In the ever-evolving retail landscape, providing a seamless cross-channel experience is paramount to staying competitive. While omnichannel commerce focuses on integrating various sales channels, unified commerce takes integration a step further, creating a consolidated and customer-centric ecosystem. By investing in a unified commerce platform and embracing a unified commerce strategy, retailers can unlock the full potential of their business, delight customers with consistent experiences, and thrive in the digital age.

To read more of our predictions about the role unified and omnichannel commerce will play in the eCommerce landscape, check out our eBook: 9 eCommerce Trends That Represent The Future of Retail