Retailers recognize the need for a holistic customer experience that transcends channels, but most attempts to deliver a seamless cross-channel experience are falling short. Many retailers have taken the “just get something done” approach and cobbled technology and processes together – with little to no integration – just to try and keep up with customer expectations. The unfortunate result of this quick fix approach is a “faux” omni-channel model that doesn’t execute as promised and risks disappointing customers.

Unified commerce goes beyond omni-channel, putting the customer experience first, breaking down the walls between internal channel silos and leveraging a single commerce platform. A common, centralized, real-time platform for all customer engagement points is a key tenet of unified commerce. A unified commerce platform is not simply the future in-store or web platform, but combines in-store POS, mobile, web, order management, call center and clienteling into one integrated platform.