In the fast-paced digital world that we live in today, businesses need to quickly adapt to the changes and trends. One of these trends is that consumers value convenience far more than ever before. Furthermore, the attention span of online customers has shrunk significantly in recent years. Thus, businesses need to offer consistency in order to retain clients and make them loyal customers. The main advantage of unified commerce is that it can greatly help with these tasks. From retailers to fast food chains, this approach is suitable for various niche markets. In this post, we’ll share more about the main pros of integrating unified commerce to combine your brick-and-mortar and online business. Make sure to also check our articles on improving the omnichannel customer experience and the benefits of social commerce for businesses.
Key takeaway: The main advantages of unified commerce are related to improved business efficiency and shopping experience for customers. A major disadvantage is the high implementation cost of a unified commerce system.
Definition of Unified Commerce
Before we can showcase the main advantages of unified commerce, we must first understand what this strategy is all about. Unified commerce combines all sales channels into a centralized system. This allows companies to efficiently gather customer data from their omnichannel marketing efforts and allows for a real-time view of business operations. Unified commerce also means that customers get a flawless shopping experience across all platforms. This usually leads to improved customer satisfaction and better client retention. Unified commerce synchronizes data from physical locations, eCommerce, social media, eCommerce marketplaces, and other sales channels. Understandably, this strategy is primarily used by large businesses and chains. It allows them to have more efficiency in various aspects of their operations. Medium and small businesses can also benefit from the advantages of unified commerce. However, the large initial implementation cost and the recurring maintenance costs are among the reasons why it’s not so popular among small and medium companies.
Advantages of Unified Commerce
There are various reasons why companies invest in a unified commerce platform. Let’s examine the main advantages of unified commerce.
- Real-time data. Unified commerce solutions update data in real-time. Therefore, the risk of stockouts and overstocking is much lower. Furthermore, integrating the unified commerce approach allows management to analyze sales, customer behavior, and inventory in real-time. Thus, the decision-making process is data-driven and more accurate.
- Efficient operations. Unified commerce platforms allow businesses to automate various processes. The fact that sales, marketing, orders, and customer data are all managed by a single system also means better operational efficiency.
- Increase in revenue. Customers are likely to spend more if they get more personalized offers and marketing content based on their browsing or purchase history. Furthermore, the convenience of ordering online and picking items in a physical store can also lead to increased sales. Many customers benefit from the omnichannel eCommerce experience.
- Scalability. A company that already has well-established unified commerce processes and operations can easily add new sales channels. Opening new locations and integrating them into the system is also easier. One of the main advantages of unified commerce is that it helps businesses grow more efficiently and add new locations.
- Improved shopping experience. Thanks to unified commerce, seamless customer experience is much easier to achieve. Business owners who wish to make the ordering process easier for their customers should consider investing in this strategy. It’s suitable for businesses that specialize in both B2C and B2B sales.
Disadvantages of Unified Commerce
Besides the multiple advantages of unified commerce, there are also cons to integrating this strategy into a business. Let’s briefly summarize the main ones.
- Unified commerce has a high implementation cost. It also requires additional maintenance and technology investments in order to guarantee that the system is up-to-date and constantly operational.
- In recent years, cyberattacks have become a more frequent event. That’s why businesses that use the unified commerce approach need to invest in proper cybersecurity solutions.
- A company that already has multiple locations, a well-established eCommerce store, and a presence across third-party B2C or B2B eCommerce platforms can have difficulties integrating a unified commerce platform. These solutions are very complex and require extensive training for both managers and employees.
What Businesses Use Unified Commerce
Various types of companies can benefit from the advantages of unified commerce. However, this approach is not optimal for all sectors. Here are some types of businesses that should consider using a unified commerce platform.
- Retailers. Unified commerce is used by specialized retailers that focus on a specific category like Sephora or Ulta Beauty. Large retail stores that sell various products can also improve their operations significantly by integrating this system.
- Supermarkets. Grocery stores and supermarkets that have strong online and offline presence should consider implementing unified commerce to offer a better and more convenient shopping experience.
- Food service businesses. Unified commerce is rarely suitable for small cafes and restaurants. However, it can help restaurant or coffee shop chains improve the customer experience.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Advantage of Unified Commerce
Do you wish to read more about doing an eCommerce competitor analysis or how to increase your wholesale sales? BlueCart has multiple resources on a variety of topics. Below we’ve answered some common questions regarding the advantages of unified commerce.
Is Unified Commerce the Future?
Yes. A growing number of businesses strive to integrate this approach. That’s because of the main advantage of unified commerce – it allows companies to collect, systematize, and analyze data in a single system. Another reason why unified commerce has become an even bigger trend in recent years is that it helps businesses offer a seamless shopping experience. This has the potential to increase customer loyalty and sales. Thanks to the latest developments in AI, this strategy will be easier to integrate into companies and there will be even more advantages to benefit from unified commerce.
What Are Omnichannel and Multichannel eCommerce?
Omnichannel commerce is often considered the first step in benefiting from the advantages of unified commerce. The two strategies are similar but have many differences. For example, omnichannel commerce uses multiple systems that work together. On the other hand, unified commerce uses a single platform where all data is stored and flows to different channels. Multichannel commerce uses multiple systems for different channels that are not integrated with each other. This can lead to discrepancies and data loss. Most businesses that use multichannel or omnichannel commerce sooner or later realize that it’s better to benefit fully from the advantage of unified commerce.
How to Integrate Unified Commerce?
Most businesses that follow the unified commerce strategy use SaaS unified commerce solutions. Examples of such include Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce, and BigCommerce. Alternatively, a company can build its own unified commerce platform from scratch. This is suitable for very few companies as it requires a lot of technical and IT resources. There are also open-source platforms. They come at no cost for the software itself, but businesses will have future costs related to the integration and maintenance of the system. Using SaaS solutions is the optimal choice for the majority of companies that wish to benefit from the advantages of unified commerce.
BlueCart: An Integral Part of Unified Commerce for Distributors
If you operate a wholesale distribution company and wish to use software that has the latest eCommerce trends, make sure to schedule a demo for BlueCart. Our wholesale ordering software helps suppliers make the shopping experience of their customers seamless. Furthermore, thanks to BlueCart, wholesalers can easily create catalogs, change prices, and manage orders. Whether you’re a local supplier or a nationwide broadline distributor, BlueCart is the all-in-one solution for your wholesale business!