Evolving Beyond Omnichannel to Unified Commerce

Embracing the New "It-girl" of Ecommerce

“Omnichannel” has long dominated the top buzzwords of ecommerce, but let’s face it, she’s tired and no longer the “it girl” of ecommerce trends. The concept of providing consistency for customers across various channels (desktop, mobile, Instagram, point of sale etc.) and ensuring your brand is cohesive to the customer is not new. Many brands have already embraced and have now outgrown “omnichannel”. It’s time we say goodbye to omnichannel and hello to her evolved better self: Unified Commerce.

Unified Commerce goes beyond surface-level experiences by integrating backend systems, consolidating data into a single, centralized platform like Shopify. This shift towards Unified Commerce is largely driven by the increase in mobile shopping as up to 85% of customers start a purchase on one device and finish it on another (1). Online shoppers have evolved to expect a unified shopping experience across all channels.

At VAAN we’re excited to be a part of the evolution many of our merchants are experiencing- Omnichannel to Unified Commerce. Supporting our merchants through the transition from single channel (ecommerce) to multichannel (ecommerce with B2B) to Omnichannel (ecommerce + B2B + POS) to now unified commerce allows for real-time inventory visibility, centralized customer data, and synchronized operations solving tensions merchants have experienced for years.

How our Merchants Benefit

Here’s how our merchants stand to benefit from Unified Commerce:

• Centralized Inventory- Real-time tracking ensures order accuracy and improves the overall customer experience.

• Unified Customers- Instant access to a single customer record across all channels empowers hyper-personalization at every step, tailoring experiences to drive engagement and conversion. Benefits of unified customers also include improved marketing initiatives, Innovative campaigns to convert in-store shoppers to online (and vice versa!), expansion of loyalty programs and improved analytics offerings.

• Endless Aisle- Merchants can offer a broader product selection beyond what’s available on a single sales channel or physical location.

• Customized Order Routing- automatically routes orders to fulfillment locations based on a set of routing rules such as location priority, minimizing split fulfillments, shipping from closest location etc makes it easier than ever before to save on high shipping costs. The VAAN team is excited to begin investigating and testing the ability to build out custom order routing rules leveraging Shopify functions which is set to be released in the coming months.

An Ongoing Journey

As we say goodbye to omnichannel and embrace the new era of Unified Commerce we mark a significant leap in the evolution of ecommerce. The VAAN team is proud to work with our merchants on making this progression towards unification a reality. We recognize that Unified Commerce is an ongoing journey, and we’re committed to guiding our merchants, alongside Shopify, toward a future filled with innovation, synchronization, and exceptional customer experiences across every surface.