The Changing Face of Retail: Unified Commerce, Omnichannel and Hybrid Shopping
While the world of retail likes nothing more than a catchy buzzword, it’s sometimes the case that these new buzzwords are open to confusion and misinterpretation. Omnichannel and unified commerce are a case in point. While both share the goal of delivering a cohesive customer journey, they can significantly differ in their scope and implementation.
Whatever you choose to call it, how customers buy things has irrevocably changed. Today, as many as 85% of shoppers will begin a purchase on one device and finish it on another.(1) Over 50% choose to switch shopping platform whilst on their buying journey.(2)
But is this a description of an omnichannel shopping experience, or a unified commerce one?
Unified commerce vs. omnichannel: What’s the difference?
While omnichannel shopping is purported to be a seamless experience between on-and-offline shopping, behind the scenes there is often no single, simple experience. Instead, omnichannel is often a series of hastily put-together tools, workarounds and code hacks to enable disparate systems to somehow work together in a way that’s imperceptible to the customer. But it still has plenty of shortcomings and limitations.
Unified commerce, on the other hand, (also called ‘hybrid shopping’), is a centralised point of data, a platform allowing a single view of the customer and all journey interactions. From a business angle, it perfectly links this insight data, products, payment and management systems.so there is a one source of truth therein. While it certainly encompasses all the same requirements as omnichannel, the goal is to increase cohesiveness throughout the backend and better management of how data is stored and processed, to make the experience smoother for customers and retailers alike.
Theoretically, unified commerce gives retailers the missing piece of the puzzle; the one single platform that makes everything really work together as one.
How do we define omnichannel shopping?
Omnichannel shopping should be thought of as something approaching a seamless and consistent shopping experience wherever consumers are shopping. That includes bricks and mortar stores, websites, social media, the metaverse and customer call centres. In some instances, it may even extend to third-party marketplaces.
However, there is one proviso: Everyone’s idea of what ‘omnichannel’ is, largely depends on who you’re speaking to, where they are at on the journey and what technological barriers exist because of their location, budget or existing infrastructure.
What are the shared characteristics of omnichannel and unified commerce?
Interconnected channels: Customers can switch between channels on their shopping journey (e.g., click and collect, or ‘we’ve kept your shopping basket items.’)
In-store technology: Collect your order/self-serve kiosks, targeted offers on mobiles or digital advertising whilst instore.
Stability and consistency: The customer experience is the same across all media and retail platforms. Delivery experiences are also similarly cohesive. The brand is presented consistently in a way that reflects the company’s values and messaging.
What sets unified commerce apart?
Where unified commerce steps up from omnichannel is that more is possible, because of how data is managed and processed. A great example is that at present, many in-store retailers are unable to accept online returns (or offer a return to a different store, or via a click-and-collect facility).
The logistics between on and offline simply aren’t engineered to handle it. In some instances, the on and offline businesses are different business entities, and so the stock and customer data are not the same or use different tools, processing and solutions. With unified commerce, customer data is managed in a way that all channels can access it, to save the customer from having to set up new accounts or register to checkout if they are on a new platform. Customer returns and logistics can also share this data.
And it’s something customers want. Research from Ayden(3) found:
● 53% of customers say they would be more loyal to a retailer that lets them buy things online and return them in-store.
● 39% of customers say they would be more loyal to a retailer that enabled them to shop in-store and finish shopping online, or vice versa.
● 60% of customers say they would be more loyal to retailers if they would let them purchase an out-of-stock item in-store and have it delivered to their home.
Unified commerce delivers:
A single view of inventory: By synchronising stock levels across all channels, customers can confidently make purchasing decisions, knowing that the product availability information is reliable. This means that theoretically, they can click and collect certain items and perform a retail shop at the same time, in full confidence that everything that they want to buy is readily available.
Unified shopping carts and checkout: While some omnichannel experiences would include this, a smooth shopping journey and a shared shopping cart are not easy to achieve, especially as online marketplaces and the metaverse come into play. Giving customers the opportunity to add items to their cart on one platform and seamlessly proceed with the checkout process on another gives them a convenient and flexible experience.
Integrated customer data: Centralising customer data could be argued to be the primary foundational differentiator of unified commerce. By aggregating customer information from different channels, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences, leading to more personalised and targeted marketing.
A truly connected retail shopping experience
Both unified commerce and omnichannel shopping are essential strategies for modern retailers aiming to meet the ever-increasing expectations of customers. For unified commerce to be truly inclusive, ecommerce platforms, mobile shopping apps, marketplaces, social media, the metaverse, retail stores and pop-up shops, logistics, payments, ERP, CRM, POS, CMS, logistics, procurement, marketing automation, stock and inventory tools, analytics, personalisation and order management tools all need to be working together seamlessly.(4)
It's a big ask, but for those with big budgets, there are the tools out there than can make multichannel buying a truly connected customer experience.
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