The Perfect Solution: Multichannel Commerce with Unified Management

We are in an economic context where all resources must be profitable on their own and, especially, as a whole. We have an eCommerce, a retail store, we sell on marketplaces and social media... but behind all this, there is a single brand, and as such, it is important to have an  integrated management.

This is what we are going to talk about next, but also about user experience, personalization, and automation.

Exactly what we just mentioned in the introduction: commerce that uses different platforms and channels to make sales, but using a tool that allows managing all the parameters by providing a panoramic view of them.

Am I referring to managing orders and inventory? Obviously, but we are talking about management with a capital "M" and at a higher level. That is the basic part, but things can get much more sophisticated, as we will see throughout this article.

The truth is that we are in an economic context that, while not a crisis like others, is quite unfavorable.

Various circumstances, such as the war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, have caused inflation to rise, reducing consumers' purchasing power while increasing costs in the production and distribution chains.

In summary, there is less spending capacity in the market, and businesses have to bear more cost.

Additionally, customers have evolved since the pandemic. They have become even more demanding when it comes to making a purchase. We need to offer them a good price, but also a satisfactory shopping experience.

Let's see this with data, specifically from the report titled "Retail Report 2023" by Adyen. The report examines over 12,000 retailers from 24 countries, and most importantly, it cross-references the data with 36,000 consumers.

Most sellers (52%) acknowledge that they have had to adapt to the situation with promotions and year-round offers. It is a way to break the seasonality in which consumers have settled, as they wait for sale periods like Black Friday to concentrate their purchases (31%) and spend more time searching for great deals than before (78%).

Therefore, we have a moment of reflectiveness that we try to make more impulsive in the purchase. This is an important point for unified management because an offer should always be linked to inventory, regardless of the channel in which it is sold.

But this leads us to another interesting point from the report. It turns out that users acknowledge that, in 67% of cases, they seek a rewarding experience and, more specifically, personalized offers based on their profile and consumption.

Obviously, implementing this strategy requires knowing our customers very well, for which we need to cross-reference their data and understand what they buy and through which channel. Understanding their Customer Journey globally across all channels.

It is a complex task, but the reward is worth it, as we would be satisfying 77% of users who, according to this report, would like to find personalized discounts in their regular stores.

Let's emphasize the "regular" part because another major challenge for commerce when it comes to unifying channels is customer loyalty. When acquiring new customers becomes more difficult, the best option is to retain existing ones.

The problem is that it is not being done entirely well in the eyes of customers. 69% of respondents confess that, in their opinion, retailers need to improve how they reward their customers for choosing them over the competition.

What is the best way to manage that loyalty across channels? 

Probably a mobile application, as it allows to apply loyalty in both physical and online purchases. In fact, 71% of Spanish buyers claim they would download an app from a retailer if, in return, they received bonuses and rewards for their loyalty.

But the reality is that 34% of national businesses still do not have efficient loyalty programs or systems. Moreover, 28% of them lack sufficient data to do so.

Our recommendation is that if you are not yet using these tools, you should introduce them to your business. You will have greater control and many more strategic possibilities.