At our recent customer advisory board, the same question kept coming up: “How can we move beyond omnichannel and why should we do it now?” The answer is simple—because it’s no longer about just selling through multiple channels; it’s about connecting every part of the retail operation into a single, seamless whole.
New research from EY confirms this, revealing that while omnichannel unifies front-end customer experiences, back-end infrastructure and operations often remain fragmented. Over time, tech debt can erode efficiency and innovation. As the retail industry continues to evolve, an omnichannel strategy is no longer enough—retailers must instead embrace unified commerce.
Moving beyond omnichannel
In its report, EY introduces the Retail Maturity Model to show the difference between omnichannel and unified commerce. Indeed, EY sees omnichannel and unified commerce as two distinct phases in a retailer’s growth.
Omnichannel—where customers can shop across multiple channels seamlessly—is just the starting point. But here’s the problem: while this might work together on the surface, the back-end processes are often tangled, requiring patchy middleware and APIs to sync information.
Imagine an airport where every flight’s scheduling, luggage handling, and boarding process relied on separate, disconnected systems. Sure, it could work, but inefficiencies would multiply, delays would pile up, and the experience for travelers would suffer. This is because real-time data flows aren’t possible if the whole system hinges on bridging integration gaps.
Unified commerce, on the other hand, is when sales channels, operations, and back-end processes provide a single, consistent customer experience across all touch points — regardless of channel. And this level of integration is only possible through one centralized platform.
How unified commerce pays off (and why retailers can’t afford to wait)
It’s easy to conflate omnichannel with unified commerce, and many retail tech providers do. They claim to offer unified commerce solutions, but often deliver separate POS and ecommerce solutions that require middleware or custom development to connect.
This model might help retailers deliver an omnichannel experience, but as customer touchpoints increase so does the complexity of managing this tech stack. Data sync issues, communication delays, and system maintenance become recurring headaches. The promise of an agile system falls flat when retailers realize they’re spending precious time and money just keeping the lights on.
When retailers adopt true unified commerce, the benefits extend far beyond operational efficiency and performance; they fundamentally enhance every facet of the business. As product, order, and customer data flow from a single source of truth, retailers are able to use real-time data for a more accurate and responsive business.
In turn, this connectivity translates to better experiences for customers across all touchpoints. True personalization becomes possible.
Today’s customers expect a journey that’s not defined by the boundaries of physical stores or an ecommerce site. It’s up to retailers to meet them there.
Shopify is purpose-built for unified commerce
If your business is still chasing an omnichannel strategy, you’re already behind. EY’s Retail Maturity Model makes this clear. The linchpin to successfully implementing a unified commerce strategy is choosing the right technology partner.
EY found that Shopify is uniquely positioned to help retailers achieve unified commerce out-of-the-box. It offers a centralized data model, channel-agnostic architecture, and extensive modularity. No middleware needed, no integrations to maintain—just one system that scales as your business grows. That’s because Shopify is the only Commerce Operating System (COS) on the market today that has natively unified ecommerce and POS solutions.
What’s a COS, you ask? A COS is an integrated suite of software that supports a commerce organization’s basic functions. It’s the technological backbone of any retailer’s unified commerce strategy.
Take Pepper Palace, for example. The 100+ store retailer saw significant efficiencies since migrating to Shopify. A new unified approach saw a substantial decrease in the time and resources spent on technical maintenance, eliminating the need for middleware by up to 60%, which equalled savings of $20,000 per year.
The numbers speak for themselves. Retailers using Shopify POS benefit from a unified commerce strategy that boosts sales growth by 8.9% annually on average, while reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) by up to 7% on upfront and up to 16% on ongoing costs. These savings allow retailers to reinvest resources into what matters most: creating exceptional customer experiences.
Where does your business stand on the EY Retail Maturity Model?
To keep up with the retail landscape, you need a partner that’s designed for where commerce is heading. Shopify isn’t just another ecommerce platform or POS provider; it’s built with unified commerce at its core, backed by a global team dedicated to relentless innovation. And unified commerce isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the foundation of successful, future-proof retail.
