Unified commerce: an essential strategy for the future of the retail sector and customer experience

The retail industry is rapidly advancing, fueled by technological innovations that enhance the shopping experience to be more seamless and tailored. To adapt to these new challenges, brands must embrace an agile approach. 

Unified commerce stands as a pivotal element for the future of retail, offering ongoing and personalized shopping experiences. It merges all sales channels and harnesses data to boost operational effectiveness.

The importance of unified commerce in modern retail

What is unified commerce and what are its challenges?

Unified commerce seeks to blend all sales channels cohesively to deliver a consistent and customized shopping experience. This represents the cutting-edge progression in commerce, aligning with consumers who demand smooth shopping encounters. 

Unified commerce ensures centralized management for retailers, covering inventory, products, and customer data, thereby reducing friction in the shopping journey. Additionally, it’s a powerful tool for enhancing performance. By consolidating all data in real-time, it optimizes flow management and increases responsiveness to demand. French retailers should capitalize on this growth opportunity to address evolving consumer expectations.

The evolution of consumer buying behaviors

In 2022, 82% of buyers checked products online before finalizing the purchase in-store. Shopping journeys are increasingly hybrid, blending online with physical store interactions. Furthermore, e-commerce sales have seen consistent growth over the past years. In Europe, they’re projected to hit €565 billion by 2029. Concurrently, France’s second-hand market reached €6 billion in 2024, marking a 12% increase from the previous year. 

In reaction to these trends, physical stores are evolving into key connection hubs, incorporating digital technologies to enhance the retail customer experience. Explore the future of retail with Openbravo POS, transforming each store into a connection point. Decathlon leverages this solution to boost checkout efficiency and minimize staff training time.

The benefits of unified commerce for the retail sector

Improving customer experience through integrated channels

Today’s consumers expect a smooth shopping experience. Unified commerce, utilizing a unified database, centralizes customer details, purchase histories, and preferences across all touchpoints. 

This seamless channel integration streamlines the customer journey. For example, a shopper can reserve a product online and collect it in-store via click and collect, or easily return an online purchase in-store. By leveraging integrated data, retailers also offer highly personalized experiences, such as real-time recommendations based on the customer’s location.

Optimizing inventory management and reducing stockouts

A study by Zebra Technologies found that stockouts are the main reason consumers leave stores empty-handed. With a centralized real-time perspective, inventory is no longer compartmentalized. Retailers can thus allocate products across different sales channels as necessary.

Orisha Commerce solutions provide centralized stock management. Openbravo SSMS is a tool for managing inventory across multiple stores, enabling retailers to handle stock movements efficiently within their store network. Openbravo WMS is a warehouse management system combining cloud advantages with WMS capabilities. Additionally, Core-suite is a commercial ecosystem offering robust e-commerce platforms, effective sales applications, and logistical solutions for retail businesses.

Challenges to overcome for successful implementation

Technological and organizational obstacles

Embracing an integrated approach necessitates a deep transformation of systems. One primary challenge for retail businesses is tool interoperability. Thus, establishing an infrastructure that can synchronize all information in real-time is crucial. Shifting to an integrated model also entails revamping internal processes and training in-store teams to use new tools and adopt a digital mindset.

SaaS platforms and technological impact

SaaS platforms facilitate swift deployment without substantial hardware investments. Retail businesses enjoy real-time data updates and tool interoperability. These platforms additionally incorporate advanced features such as artificial intelligence for trend analysis.

The impact of digitalization on business practices

A McKinsey study reveals that companies using personalization generate 40% more revenue than those that don’t. Using analytical tools, brands can examine consumer behavior and present customized offers. Explore Openbravo Commerce Central, a back-office solution for retail businesses that provides a command center for real-time operational management.

Employing mobile tools in stores can simplify the shopping journey and minimize wait times. The Openbravo Mobile POS solution aids sales associates in identifying customers and completing sales throughout the store. Furthermore, advancements in artificial intelligence enable heightened personalization by analyzing preferences and shopping behaviors real-time to suggest suitable products. Tweakwise leverages these technologies to provide a highly tailored shopping experience.

Toward a unified omnichannel future: trends to watch

Technological innovations serving unified commerce

Consumers are placing greater emphasis on environmental concerns. By centralizing data, retailers can enhance inventory management and align production and distribution with actual demand. The circular economy, encompassing the sale of refurbished products or recycling, benefits from a platform adept at managing all distribution channels efficiently.

Marketplaces have emerged as vital components in recent years. Unified commerce enables retailers to assimilate these platforms into their ecosystem while preserving a coherent customer experience.

Contrary to popular belief, physical stores are not dwindling; they are evolving into phygital experience spaces. This approach harnesses the advantages of both realms, facilitated by real-time data integration. Additionally, through advanced data analysis, retail brands can provide accurate recommendations.

The Orisha Commerce SaaS platform is scalable, allowing our clients to progressively integrate new features according to their growth and market trends.

The evolution of consumer expectations and the market

Future consumers will be increasingly demanding, expecting a seamless shopping journey. Immersive technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality are already transforming the customer journey, providing more engaging interactive experiences. Furthermore, rising environmental awareness among consumers is driving retail businesses to reimagine their models and implement more transparent practices.

The Openbravo platform enables retail businesses to connect all their sales channels. Featuring a modular architecture, Openbravo helps retailers adapt to evolving consumer expectations. To elevate personalization levels, Tweakwise provides advanced hyper-personalization, utilizing AI for dynamic recommendations.

Unified commerce is now crucial for retail brands seeking to deliver a seamless and personalized customer experience. By merging all sales channels and centralizing data, retailers boost performance and meet new consumer expectations. With a data-driven strategy and appropriate tools, retailers can improve customer experience and maximize competitiveness.