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It's fascinating how our shopping habits have transformed over the years. Today's customers don't simply shop online—they seamlessly move between channels and devices, expecting brands to accompany them throughout their journey and facilitate effortless purchases.
Consider this scenario: a customer discovers your product through Google, visits your website to read reviews, switches to your mobile app, and finally completes checkout. This fluid, cross-platform experience represents the essence of unified commerce. And to be clear—we're not just talking about omnichannel retail. There's a crucial distinction worth exploring.
Let's break down what unified commerce really means for your business and how it's reshaping customer expectations in ways that traditional approaches simply can't match.
What’s more? Learn how VTEX and Nagarro can help enterprises realize their unified commerce goals.
Unified commerce vs. omnichannel: what sets them apart?
If you’ve heard people throw around terms like "omnichannel" and "unified commerce" as if they’re the same thing, you’re not alone. But here’s the deal: they’re not.
- Omnichannel retail: Omnichannel retail focuses on ensuring that a customer journey is connected and seamless across channels and mediums. You could start shopping online, pick up in-store, or even return via a mobile app. Omnichannel relies on patching together multiple systems to give that smooth appearance. It works, but it’s not without its hiccups disjointed data, delays, and extra costs being some of the biggest culprits.
- Unified commerce: Now imagine everything running on one single platform. No patches, no silos, just one system syncing everything in real-time. You get a centralized database that ensures inventory, payments, and customer data are always up to date. That’s unified commerce. It doesn’t just feel seamless to the customer; it is also seamless for your operations.
Imagine a customer orders a product online and decides to return it in-store. With omnichannel, that process might feel clunky because systems don’t talk to each other fast enough. Unified commerce? It’s instant, with no double-checking or waiting.
Why unified commerce?
Simplifying operations: Running a retail business involves multiple moving parts with very little room for error. Unified commerce is like calm in chaos. By breaking down silos and unifying systems by integrating all sales channels, inventory, customer data, and operations into a single, centralized platform.
This ensures real-time inventory visibility, seamless order fulfillment, and unified customer insights, eliminating inconsistencies across touchpoints. By consolidating systems like POS, eCommerce, and CRM, businesses improve efficiency, enhance personalization, and streamline payments.
Ultimately, unified commerce enables a frictionless, data-driven shopping experience across all channels it simplifies operations in ways that retailers could only dream of a decade ago.
Home Depot’s unified commerce system allows customers to check stock availability, locate items in-store, and even access their entire purchase history from their app. For the company, it means fewer errors and faster operations. For the customer, it’s pure convenience.
Sustainability: Unified commerce has sustainability built right into its DNA.
- Optimized inventory: Retailers can track demand in real time instead of guessing stock requirements, avoiding overstocking or waste. H&M does this brilliantly, using unified commerce to make smarter production and distribution decisions.
- Sustainable fulfillment: Options like curbside pickup or ship-from-store aren’t just convenient, they cut down on carbon emissions by reducing delivery distances.
- Transparency: Unified systems allow brands like Patagonia to trace their supply chains and share that information with customers, building trust and loyalty
Stronger customer loyalty & retention: Unified commerce plays a huge role in building that loyalty by ensuring consistency across all touchpoints. Whether customers shop in-store, online, or via a mobile app, they get the same experience and level of service and, most importantly, feel valued.
Ulta Beauty, for example leverages a unified commerce system to track customer purchases, preferences, and even browsing history. This allows them to offer hyper-personalized recommendations, exclusive discounts, and seamless cross-channel interactions.
A customer who browses a skincare product online might receive a tailored in-store consultation or a push notification about a relevant promotion—effortless, intuitive, and engaging.
With real-time data integration, retailers can nurture long-term relationships by anticipating customer needs before they even arise. Unified commerce doesn’t just simplify transactions. It builds trust, enhances engagement, and turns first-time buyers into lifelong brand advocates. In today’s hyper-competitive market, that’s the real key to sustained success.
VTEX & Nagarro: building unified commerce solutions
VTEX is advancing unified commerce by integrating various sales channels and operational systems into a cohesive platform. This ensures a seamless and personalized customer experience across all touchpoints.
Let’s look at a few ways VTEX is furthering the unified commerce goals:
- Channel integration: it unifies sales channels such as e-commerce, physical stores, mobile platforms, and marketplaces, allowing customers to maintain consistent purchase histories and preferences across all platforms.
- Technological solutions: it employs advanced technologies, including order management systems, real-time inventory tracking, and data analytics tools, enabling efficient business operations and uninterrupted shopping experiences.
- Composable architecture: its composable and complete commerce platform allows businesses to modernize their tech stack with reduced maintenance costs. It allows businesses to replace old systems with flexible, built-in components, making launching faster and growing efficiently easier.
As a VTEX partner and a digital engineering company, Nagarro is helping leading global brands simplify their operations, break down silos, improve efficiency, and create unparalleled customer experiences. We are enabling unified commerce in the following ways:
- We make unified commerce happen by syncing inventory across channels to design user-friendly apps.
- Integrating sales channels, inventory, and customer data through strategic partnerships and advanced platform expertise.
- Collaborations with Bloomreach, SAP Commerce Cloud, and Adobe Commerce enable seamless digital commerce solutions.
- Offering QuickStart eCommerce packages, unified B2B2C platforms, and AWS-integrated solutions to accelerate transformation, streamline operations, and enhance personalized customer experiences.
The bottom line
Unified commerce isn’t just the future. It’s happening now. It’s about working smarter, not harder, while delivering the experiences customers can’t get enough of. If you’re still running on outdated systems or struggling with omnichannel, now’s the time to make the switch. Your customers and your bottom line will thank you.
