Two words that often get used interchangeably in ecommerce are unified commerce and omnichannel.
While both strategies aim to enhance the customer experience and increase engagement across multiple touchpoints, they differ significantly in how they integrate technology, data, and operations.
In this blog, we’ll explore what each approach entails, highlight the differences, and help you understand which one may be better for your business.
What is Unified Commerce?
Unified commerce focuses on creating a consistent experience across platforms. It’s a strategy where all online and offline customer interactions and transactions are processed through a single, integrated platform. This means that every aspect of the business—inventory management, POS systems, CRMs, and order fulfilment—is unified into one system. Think of it as a holistic approach to retail.
A unified commerce strategy allows businesses to provide a seamless and consistent experience across all channels. It ensures that customer data and purchase history are continuously updated and accessible in real-time, regardless of where the interaction happens. Unified commerce also simplifies backend processes, making it easier for businesses to operate efficiently while meeting customer expectations.
What is Omnichannel Commerce?
Omnichannel commerce focuses on creating consistent customer experiences across multiple channels. It allows shoppers to move smoothly between various touchpoints, such as social media, online stores, email marketing, and physical locations. However, these experiences are typically connected through separate systems that share customer data via integrations, resulting in a more fragmented underlying structure.
What’s the Difference Between Unified Commerce and Omnichannel Commerce?
Unified and omnichannel commerce are similar. Both aim to enhance the customer experience, drive brand loyalty, and increase revenue. However, the primary difference between unified commerce and omnichannel commerce lies in how they manage data and technology.
In omnichannel commerce, channels operate in silos, and while the customer may have a seamless front-end experience, the backend systems are often not fully connected. This can result in operational inefficiencies, data discrepancies, and potential errors when delivering a unified customer journey.
On the other hand, unified commerce eliminates these silos by integrating all channels into a single platform. Data is shared across the entire ecosystem in real-time, giving businesses a complete view of their operations and the customer experience.
So, while omnichannel focuses on the customer-facing side, unified commerce aims to align both the front-end and back-end for true operational cohesion. It can be considered a source of truth for ecommerce retailers.
Emma Clarke, Senior Director of Product Management at Metapack, spoke about the differences between unified commerce and omnichannel in a recent webinar:
“Omni channel has been a buzzword right for the last few years, and that’s all about creating a seamless experience across those multiple channels. Omni channel primarily drives short-term conversion by creating consistent experiences across those silo channels; unified commerce actually aims to increase lifetime value by consolidating the systems and the data into a single platform.”
What Are The Benefits of A Unified Commerce Strategy?
There are several benefits of implementing a unified commerce strategy.
More Accurate Data
With all systems operating on a single platform, retailers can access real-time data to make more informed decisions, respond quickly to customer needs, and optimise inventory levels. No need to jump from platform to platform to try and get the correct data. Unified commerce centralises data so retailers can quickly analyse information and pivot strategies as needed.
Improved Customer Experience
The customer experience thrives within a unified commerce model. A decade ago, shoppers almost exclusively shopped online, but times are changing. Today, 75% of shoppers use a combination of digital and physical touchpoints in their customer journey, making unified commerce more critical than ever in ecommerce.
Unified commerce ensures that all customer information, including purchase history and preferences, is consistently updated across all touchpoints, allowing for a more personalised experience, which is essential to today’s consumer. A recent study found that 81% of customers prefer companies that offer a personalised experience, and 70% say a personalised experience in which the brand knows the customer’s history with the company, such as buying patterns or support calls, is important.
Better Inventory Management
Real-time inventory tracking across channels reduces the chances of overstocking or understocking products, enabling businesses to fulfil customer orders more accurately and efficiently. By synchronising the supply chain with the front-end of business operations, retailers can meet customer needs without sacrificing operational efficiency.
Improved Operational Efficiency
Unified commerce integrates front-end and back-end systems, allowing businesses to reduce redundant processes, streamline operations, and cut down on manual data entry errors.
Increased Customer Loyalty
Providing a consistent and convenient shopping experience across all platforms strengthens customer loyalty and increases repeat purchases. Unified commerce allows retailers to easily personalise the customer experience via the website, email marketing, social media, and post-purchase communications and make improvements where needed to encourage customer loyalty and repeat purchases.
Stronger Competitive Advantage
Ecommerce is more competitive than ever, and to stay ahead, retailers need to adopt the most advanced solutions. Unified commerce allows retailers to adapt quickly to changing customer needs, market trends, and more to remain competitive in an ever-changing marketplace.
Unified Commerce Versus Omnichannel: Which One is Better?
Both unified commerce and omnichannel offer numerous advantages, but which strategy is right for your business? The answer is quite clear.
While omnichannel commerce represented a significant step forward in ecommerce a few years ago, unified commerce is the superior approach for ecommerce retailers looking to grow and scale their business.
Ultimately, unified commerce is the more advanced approach, providing a single source of truth for both the customer and the business. It future-proofs operations and allows for greater scalability as your business grows. Unified commerce doesn’t just ensure consistency across channels—it uses customer data to personalise shopping experiences, making the journey more tailored to individual needs.
How to Transition From An Omnichannel Strategy to Unified Commerce
If your retail brand is ready to make the transition from an omnichannel strategy to a unified one, here are a few steps you can take to get started:
- Evaluate Your Current Technology Stack: Start by assessing the systems you already have in place. Identify the gaps between your channels, backend systems, POS, CRM, and data flow to determine what needs to be integrated.
- Choose a Unified Platform: Look for an all-in-one solution that can handle your business’s front-end and back-end needs, including inventory management, CRM, and order fulfilment.
- Plan the Transition: Create a roadmap for transitioning to unified commerce. This may involve phasing out old systems and gradually integrating new technologies to avoid disrupting current operations.
- Train Your Team: Ensure your staff is fully trained to work within a unified platform, from inventory management to customer service. It may take some time to get the hang of things, but eliminating manual efforts will save time and money in the long run.
- Monitor and Optimise: As with any new software, continually monitor the unified system’s performance and customer satisfaction to identify areas for improvement and optimisation.
Make Unified Commerce A Reality With Metapack
To remain agile and competitive, retailers must deliver a unified and personalised customer experience from pre-purchase to post-purchase. With Metapack, retailers can build customer loyalty and improve operational efficiency with branded order tracking, powerful 3PL Solutions, comprehensive ecommerce delivery analytics, and more.
Want to learn more about how Metapack can help your company implement a unified commerce experience for 2025? Click here to learn more and schedule a demo today.