Unified commerce is a strategy that centralizes the data you've collected about customers and products on a single platform. These platforms can interconnect systems of e-Commerce, mobile commerce, customer relationship management, order management systems, Omni-channel order fulfilment, analytics and more to help provide insights into how to improve the customer experience.

The key difference between unified commerce solutions and Omni-channel retail solutions is that unified commerce unifies, orchestrates, and provides seamless experiences across channels. Whereas the main goal of Omni-channel retail is to give customers an overall experience that gives them an accurate view of all products across all platforms.

Any retailer who is active online, offline, and on social media can benefit from and create value by simplifying their IT landscape. The organization must have a natural willingness to modify its structure and processes. When you sell through marketplaces, you might want to be able to serve customers coming directly to your stores in return. By having all the customer data in one place you can start thinking about offering unified commerce services.

Retailers will need to be ready for a unified commerce world. The first step should include a strategy to prepare your retail business for a world where Omni-channel, supply chain integration, and customer service optimization are expected. A high-quality shopping experience is no longer enough—consumers want an engaging experience that offers them value, both in terms of pricing as well as functionality. Once they've gotten used to those benefits from other companies, they expect those same things from you.

Success in unified commerce isn’t about adding more features—it’s about creating a seamless, customer-first strategy. The most effective approaches share six essentials: deep customer insight, visibility into sales and journeys, ownership of the path to purchase, smart tech adoption, and thoughtful execution.