Preparing your retail enterprise for Unified Commerce

The market has irreversibly changed. To adapt, differentiate and succeed in retail now — and in the future — you must embrace Unified Commerce: the evolution of omnichannel where technology, operations and channels all work together to elevate the entire retail experience.

Sounds daunting? We agree. That’s why we created Preparing your retail enterprise for Unified Commerce: The definitive guide to organizational readiness, adoption and implementation. To make the transition to the future of retail easier and more effective.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

And much more.

Successfully implementing your Unified Commerce transformation takes coordinated effort across the organization. We’ve broken down the key things each department needs to know and do. So you can make a mark in your role. Click your most relevant tile below to get started.

Unified Commerce by department

With more and more sales channels entering the fold, it’s become harder for retailers to determine where to place their effort — and how those channels interrelate. The store is the linchpin to Unified Commerce, serving a large role in supporting every other channel, lifting the customer experience and expanding what’s possible. A new associate strategy can help bring your store vision to life.

90% of retailers

71% of retailers

believe flexible store space is important to their store strategies.

have additional brick-and-mortar stores in their future growth plans.

CHAPTER ONE

Exactly which steps each area of the enterprise must take to capitalize on the gap between 71% interest in Unified Commerce implementation and 4% execution.

The key benefits each department can only gain by embracing Unified Commerce, including increased efficiency, proprietary insights and improved differentiation.

How to align your retail organization and expand its potential by unifying your technology, processes and sales channels around a single point of inventory data.

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Listen to Chapter 1

Store Operations

Inventory Strategy & Management

Marketing

Omnichannel Operations

Information Technology (IT)

Innovation

Store Operations

CHAPTER TWO

Inventory Strategy & Management

13% of retailers

indicate that their current OMS-POS integration is working well.

More than 90% of customers

expect two-to-three day deliveries as the baseline.

Every channel and department is another inventory silo. How can the enterprise overcome silos for a market that demands real-time access to inventory no matter where or when they shop? Modern Point of Sale (POS) is to inventory as the store is to omnichannel. It collects data in real time, shares it across the organization and helps stakeholders manage inventory in real time. And with an integrated Order Management System (OMS), you can exceed expectations.

CHAPTER THREE

Marketing

100% of retailers

believe omnichannel personalization is a top priority.

35% of retailers

consider how decisions about stores impact omnichannel journeys.

Marketing programs face a dramatically escalating challenge: differentiation is more difficult to achieve in a market with more competition, more demand for personalization and less attention. Unified Commerce gives the marketing department the resources it needs to create and deliver their unique value proposition that appeals to customers on a universal and personal level, while collecting data for the benefit of the whole organization.

CHAPTER FOUR

Omnichannel Operations

60% of retailers

indicate that their current OMS-POS integration is working well.

35% of retailers

expect two-to-three day deliveries as the baseline.

In the hopes of making it easier to connect customers and products, omnichannel often left brand experiences more disconnected and retail operations less efficient. Treating omnichannel as a network of aesthetically aligned but separate, siloed channels will overwhelm your customers. Cross-channel transactions must be aligned, too, if you expect to survive. Retailers can deliver unified enterprise experiences through shared microservices.

CHAPTER FIVE

Information Technology (IT)

2x EBIT margin potential

within the store by 2030 created by technology.

4% of retailers

have evolved to Unified Commerce, despite 54% adoption of omnichannel technology.

The majority of retailers are struggling to adapt. Why? Legacy technology, complex tech stacks and SaaS sprawl are all out of step with the demands of the modern retail market. The CIO holds the power to transform the retail organization and place it at the forefront of the market. Technology is the tool that brings together an organization’s infrastructure, brand and omnichannel — and makes innovation and market growth simple.

CHAPTER SIX

Innovation

More than 70 retailers

declared bankruptcy since the COVID-19 Pandemic.

80% of retailers

are prioritizing enhanced customer experiences and capabilities.

Innovation is essential to stay competitive. To do so, retailers must be agile, resilient and differentiated. But conventional retail technology forces retailers to choose between the three. At the heart of Unified Commerce is the ability to adapt and differentiate. Meaning innovation is integral to the approach. With real-time data and agile technology, retailers have the tools to innovate in a low-risk, data-rich and future-proof environment.

Preparing your tech infrastructure for Unified Commerce

As a CIO, you’re instrumental in helping your organization realize the benefits of Unified Commerce and guide the transformation journey. We’ve created a guide to help you prepare your team, evaluate the required technology and identify the vendor must-haves to be on the lookout for.

References:

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“2022 Buyers' Guide: Unified Commerce for Stores Industry Report.” Aptos Burns, Tiffany, and Tyler Harris. “Forecasting the future of stores.” McKinsey “Retail speaks: Seven imperatives for the industry.” McKinsey “The Next Normal – The future of shopping: Technology everywhere | The Next Normal.” McKinsey “Retail bankruptcies in the U.S. 2010-2022.” Statista

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