Omnichannel Strategy and Unified Commerce: The Future of Connected Retail

Technological innovation, shifting consumer expectations, intensifying competition, and mounting logistical and environmental pressures are reshaping the landscape. Driven by these powerful transformative forces, the retail sector must adapt to meet several critical challenges:

• Ultra-connected and demanding customers who compare prices and seek unique experiences.

• Increasingly hybrid purchasing journeys, combining online interactions and physical point-of-sale visits.

• New consumption habits, illustrated by the growing success of the second-hand market.

This is merely a snapshot of the hurdles retail companies face. To navigate these shifts, stores are digitizing their operations, transforming physical locations into connected hubs designed to enrich the overall customer experience.

While streamlining the customer journey by integrating sales channels is critical today, the concept is not new. Retailers have gradually evolved their strategies, moving first to a multichannel approach and subsequently to an omnichannel one.

• Multichannel involves selling via different channels such as physical points of sale, e-commerce sites, or mobile apps. However, these channels generally operate independently, without synergy.
• Omnichannel goes further by interconnecting all channels. It aims to harmonize the different touchpoints with the brand to offer a personalized customer experience and improve satisfaction. Theoretically, this approach allows the consumer to buy the product of their choice, wherever and whenever they want, limiting friction as much as possible.

In practice, however, omnichannel often falls short of delivering a truly fluid and consistent experience throughout the entire buying journey. Gaps frequently remain between touchpoints, whether the customer is engaging via a physical store, an online shop, or a virtual assistant.

Meeting modern consumer expectations with a complete, personalized, and consistent experience across all channels is a significant challenge. However, with unified commerce, it is entirely achievable.

Unlike a standard omnichannel approach, which focuses on consistency between sales channels, unified commerce aims to interconnect every component of the enterprise. From browsing and purchasing to fulfillment and delivery, every step is integrated into a seamless, fluid customer journey.

Other advantages of unified commerce:

• This interconnection provides a holistic view of activity, customers, and inventory.
• It facilitates management, improves performance, and enables simple, consistent purchasing journeys adapted to each customer.

Result: Higher satisfaction, increased loyalty, and sustainable revenue growth.

But while unified commerce offers undeniable assets, the question remains: how do you deploy it concretely to exploit its full potential? That is what we invite you to discover in this complete guide.

Unified commerce involves integrating all sales channels into a single ecosystem to provide a continuous, personalized, and consistent shopping experience.

Born from the growing consumer demand for simplicity and fluidity, it represents the most advanced stage of retail evolution. Unified commerce pushes the boundaries of omnichannel for several reasons:

1. It truly places the customer at the center. From search to order, from payment to delivery and after-sales service, every step is connected and designed to eliminate any disruption.
2. It relies on a single, centralized, real-time platform capable of converging all operations from click & collect and store-to-home delivery to loyalty programs and inventory management.
3. It breaks down organizational silos and harmonizes both sales channels and the retailer’s internal processes.

In summary, unified commerce creates a homogeneous, fluid, and personalized customer experience, while strengthening the company’s operational performance.

Retail is evolving rapidly, driven by customers who switch effortlessly between channels. To remain competitive, retailers must demonstrate agility the ability to quickly adapt offers, purchasing journeys, and operations to meet shifting expectations.

This agility relies on three major levers:

• Technological: Adopting flexible unified commerce platforms capable of integrating new channels or services (mobile payment, self-checkout, marketplaces, etc.).
• Organizational: De-siloing teams and establishing a culture of continuous improvement, oriented towards customer experience.
• Operational: Adjusting inventory management, logistics, and pricing in real-time to respond to market changes.

Agility is not just a question of speed. It is the ability to anticipate emerging trends, test new practices, and quickly deploy solutions that strengthen customer satisfaction and economic performance.

Before pivoting toward unified commerce, the first step is to audit your current infrastructure to identify both strengths and areas for improvement.

Implementing a unified commerce strategy requires deep transformation, particularly regarding tool interoperability, which is often cited as one of the primary challenges in retail today. Indeed, your system must be able to synchronize all information in real-time to ensure journey fluidity.

During this preparatory phase, analyzing the customer journey is essential. This process helps identify strategic touchpoints and guides the necessary improvements. Collecting and analyzing consumer data thus offers valuable insights to personalize the experience.

Finally, the success of the transition relies on close collaboration between different teams (marketing, logistics, inventory management, etc.). Internal processes must be rethought, and employees (especially in-store) must be trained on new tools to adopt a resolutely digital approach.

A successful transition requires defining clear, measurable objectives. Start by clarifying your value proposition: what you offer, why your company is unique, and exactly who your target audience is.

Next, set precise goals, whether they concern revenue growth, customer satisfaction, time savings, or operational efficiency. These objectives must be quantified, dated, and aligned with the company’s global mission.

It is then preferable to articulate your roadmap around two time horizons:

• Short term (3 to 24 months) for immediate actions and initial expected results.
• Long term (12 to 36 months) for consolidation and large-scale deployment.

Success in unified commerce relies on solid expertise in data, logistics, and digitization. It also implies high-performance inventory management and real-time tracking, two dimensions often difficult to master internally.

Unified commerce provides a 360-degree customer view by consolidating every interaction with your company into a single, unified profile.

This approach presents three major benefits:

1. Better customer knowledge thanks to tracking purchasing behavior, preferences, and individual client value.
2. Personalized experience, with recommendations, offers, and rewards adapted in real-time to each client profile.
3. Increased operational efficiency, translating into reduced costs for communication and marketing campaigns thanks to perfectly targeted actions.

By strengthening customer loyalty and engagement, this unified view becomes a true strategic lever for growth.

Stockouts are a major issue for retailers. Beyond the immediate loss of a sale, they can permanently damage brand image and customer loyalty. Consequently, centralized stock management is indispensable for securing sales and optimizing satisfaction.

Unifying customer, stock, and product data guarantees consistent information across all sales channels and improves operational performance, with several key benefits:

• Knowledge of available stock in real-time, allowing anticipation of restocking and avoidance of shortages.
• Optimization of stock transfers between different points of sale or warehouses, preventing overstocking or shortages.
• Consistent information for salespeople and customers, based on the same data. This avoids frustrations like a product being marked unavailable online when it is physically in stock in-store.

In a retail universe saturated with messages, personalization has become an essential lever to capture attention and create value. Customers no longer expect generic communications; they want offers, recommendations, and experiences that match their real needs.

Unified commerce plays a central role here. By consolidating data from all channels (e-commerce site, store, CRM, email campaigns, social networks), it constructs a 360° view of the customer. This insight fuels highly targeted marketing actions, such as:

• Personalized promotions based on purchase history.
• Real-time product recommendations.
• Journeys adapted according to the preferred channel.

Well-integrated with marketing tools, personalization generates a virtuous circle:

• More interactions between the customer and the brand.
• More data collected.
• More relevant experiences.
• More loyalty.

Ultimately, personalization (and hyper-personalization) improves conversion rates, reduces friction throughout the purchasing journey, and creates a strong emotional bond with the brand. In the long term, a satisfied customer can become a true ambassador.

In the era of unified commerce, a loyalty program is no longer just about points or discounts; it must offer a consistent experience across every channel. Customers expect to be recognized, rewarded, and engaged not just treated as a transaction.

Thanks to customer data analysis, it is possible to propose offers, content, and recommendations perfectly adapted to the preferences and behaviors of each individual.

With advanced personalization, brands can go far beyond simple recommendations: they create interactions that truly resonate with customer expectations.

These approaches not only reduce attrition but also increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), strengthen brand attachment, and generate positive word-of-mouth.

In summary, marketing personalization is no longer a “bonus” it is a strategic lever for conversion, engagement, and loyalty. In the context of unified commerce, clienteling (personalized in-store service) fits perfectly into this dynamic. By capitalizing on browsing data, purchase history, and online interactions, the brand can offer a truly individualized experience, often making the difference between an occasional customer and an ambassador.

By meeting this need, you strengthen engagement and loyalty at every stage of the journey:

• Discovery phase: Product and content recommendations capture attention based on browsing data.

• Evaluation phase: Intelligent suggestions and ultra-targeted offers facilitate the purchase decision.

• Purchase moment: A personalized approach reinforces the feeling of being recognized, favoring conversion.
• Post-purchase: Personalized interactions transform every exchange into a loyalty opportunity.

Unified commerce offers complete, real-time visibility of your inventory. This allows you to:

• Anticipate demand.
• Optimize procurement.
• Reduce costs associated with both stockouts and overstocking.

Moreover, centralized inventory management ensures better product distribution between your different sales channels and contributes directly to a successful customer experience.

Thanks to unified commerce, orders are managed in a centralized and consistent manner.

You can provide various delivery and collection methods such as click & collect, ship-from-store, e-reservation, and home delivery thereby tailoring the experience to meet customer expectations.

In a constantly evolving retail landscape, flexibility is indispensable. Fluid order management notably allows you to:

• Reduce logistics costs by routing orders to the most efficient preparation locations based on business objectives.
• Increase order fulfillment rates thanks to end-to-end automation (from order taking to delivery).
• Optimize preparation by taking into account all available stock in-store or in the warehouse.
• Limit cancellations by guaranteeing rapid and precise order execution.

Automated replenishment is another essential lever for high-performance inventory management, driving efficiency gains and guaranteeing consistent product availability.

This intelligent replenishment system relies on data collected in real-time to:

• Precisely track stock evolution and identify shortage risks.

• Automatically trigger replenishment orders when critical thresholds are reached.

• Adjust quantities based on demand.

By combining historical data, consumption trends, and predictive algorithms, this system calculates the exact quantities to order and optimizes delivery times. Ultimately, this leads to controlled costs, better anticipation, and reinforced customer satisfaction.

The success of a unified commerce strategy hinges on technological tools capable of centralizing, connecting, and streamlining your operations. While several solutions exist, each offers specific advantages.

An integrated management system covering all company : processes (finance, purchasing, logistics, inventory, HR). It centralizes all data in a single base, favoring traceability and automating business processes.

Centered on customer relations, this tool gathers all client-related info to better understand their needs, track sales, manage opportunities, and offer better support. It is the reference tool for personalization and loyalty.

To combine the best of ERP and CRM, it is also possible to opt for a platform entirely dedicated to unified commerce. This type of solution centralizes all commercial activities (physical stores, e-commerce, apps, marketplaces) in a single environment and synchronizes key data (stock, transactions, profiles) in real-time.

The success of unified commerce relies on effective communication between different systems. This highlights the value of APIs and connectors, which serve as gateways between distinct applications.

Their advantages are numerous:

• Automatic data exchange in a standardized format (no manual re-entry).
• Integration between software not initially designed to communicate (e.g., e-commerce site connected to logistics/accounting).
• Secure data integration with access control mechanisms.
• Limiting risks of manual entry errors or data duplication.
• Easy addition of new applications to an existing system.

Thus, retail companies can benefit from real-time data management. From stocks to payments to sales, every update is transmitted instantly to all relevant systems. The result is better reactivity, improved anticipation of shortages, and total continuity of operations.

For these reasons, it is preferable to choose a platform with an open and flexible architecture, allowing you to exploit the full potential of connectors and APIs.

Many companies today favor SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions, which are particularly well-suited to unified commerce. Hosted in the cloud, they offer unmatched flexibility and scalability.

They distinguish themselves by:

• Scalability: Evolving easily with the company’s growth.

• Flexibility: Rapid adaptation to market changes.

• Automatic updates: Permanent access to the latest features and security.
• Reduced infrastructure costs: No need for heavy internal server investment.

To evaluate the effectiveness of your unified commerce strategy, defining the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is essential.

Measures the proportion of visitors who actually make a purchase (in-store or online).

While it primarily reflects the act of purchasing, it can also apply to other actions taken by a customer or prospect: signing up for a loyalty program, downloading content or an application, etc.

The conversion rate is closely linked to the in-store customer experience:

• Optimized inventory management ensures the availability of requested products.

• An efficient sales floor layout (in the case of a physical store) encourages the act of purchase.

• Finally, training teams at the point of sale is essential to develop their expertise and build a trusted relationship with the clientele.

Measures the likelihood of a customer recommending a brand.

An NPS greater than 0 can be considered good, as it means there are more promoters than detractors. However, the interpretation of the score can vary from one industry to another: in retail, for example, the average NPS is 41.

Profitability corresponds to the difference between revenue generated and costs incurred.

The break-even point indicates the minimum revenue to be achieved to incur neither loss nor profit.

The variable cost margin, meanwhile, is obtained by subtracting variable expenses from revenue.

Real-time monitoring enables immediate reaction to events. Thanks to personalized dashboards and configurable alerts, you stay informed of your key indicators and can adjust your strategy with confidence.

With a unified commerce platform, you can:

• Access a wide range of reports.

• Automate data extraction via standardized ETL processes.

• Visualize and master your KPIs via intuitive dashboards.

Unified commerce is built on a foundation of continuous improvement. Regularly analyzing results, identifying areas for enhancement, and deploying corrective actions are essential steps in delivering an increasingly seamless customer experience.

In a landscape where customer interactions are multiplying across various channels, precisely measuring the effectiveness of your strategy is indispensable. A centralized platform consolidates data from all channels, making it easier to identify trends, anomalies, and opportunities for optimization.

Consequently, regular performance analysis drives strategic adjustments. For instance, if a specific channel shows a lower-than-expected conversion rate, it is crucial to investigate the root causes—such as UX, product availability, or customer support—and implement relevant corrective actions.

This iterative approach requires true organizational agility, as it involves rapidly testing new hypotheses and measuring their impact in real time.

An example is worth a thousand words: to succeed in your unified commerce transformation project, draw inspiration from the winning strategies implemented by retail leaders.

Retail is in a constant state of evolution. Already today, emerging technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are transforming the customer experience, making it more interactive and engaging.

Simultaneously, rising environmental concerns are driving retailers to adopt more transparent and responsible models. Data centralization becomes a crucial lever to:

• Optimize inventory management.

• Adjust production and distribution based on real demand.

• Facilitate the implementation of circular economy practices, such as selling refurbished products or recycling.

Contrary to popular belief, the physical point of sale is not disappearing. On the contrary, it is reinventing itself as a Phygital space, combining online and in-store experiences. The integration of real-time data and advanced analytics enables retailers to deliver increasingly relevant experiences.

To remain competitive in the long term, it is essential to build a flexible and scalable strategy capable of adapting to market transformations and shifting consumer expectations. In this context, relying on agile and modular solutions constitutes a genuine competitive advantage.

The Orisha Commerce Retail SaaS platform is built on this very premise: highly scalable, it allows retailers to progressively integrate new functionalities in line with their growth and market trends.

The success of a unified commerce project relies on three key steps:

• Analysis of the existing situation.

• Creation of a roadmap (short and long term).

• Choice of reliable technological partners.

Choosing a platform specifically designed for unified commerce is indispensable, but it is only the beginning. Indeed, team buy-in for the new solution is a non-negotiable prerequisite for the project’s success. It is sometimes difficult to take the leap, hence the interest in being well-accompanied.

With Orisha Commerce, choose much more than just software:

• Leverage deep functional and technical product knowledge.

• Benefit from true retail expertise.
• Benefit from our know-how for implementation.