Chief Commercial Officer, PMC
Retail has always been defined by change but right now, change feels relentless. Whether it's consumer expectations, supply chain volatility, or digital disruption, there’s a sense that we’ve entered the most challenging era the industry has ever seen. But speak to any veteran retailer, and they’ll tell you: it’s always been like this.
That’s the paradox of retail it never stops moving, and it never feels easy. What’s different now is that the margin for error is shrinking. The safety nets of predictability and long-range planning are gone. Uncertainty is the new constant. So how do today’s retailers not just survive, but thrive?
The answer lies in building businesses and technology that are designed for adaptability, clarity, and connectedness.
Omnichannel is no longer a differentiator it’s become a buzzword, often overused and undervalued. What began as a step forward in customer engagement has plateaued into a fragmented standard. Unified commerce is the next evolution—a more mature, integrated model that connects every channel into one seamless operation.
While omnichannel focused on being present across multiple platforms, unified commerce is about truly unifying them. It brings together physical and digital experiences through shared inventory, data, and systems, enabling a consistent, brand-led experience.
Today’s customers don’t think in channels they think in moments. Whether they’re browsing in-store, ordering via app, or buying through Amazon, they expect instant access, seamless service, and personalised experiences. If retailers can’t deliver on that promise, someone else will.
The uncertainty retailers face isn’t just external it challenges internal leadership too. Even the best technology is meaningless in the wrong hands, and transformation only delivers impact when it’s paired with cultural alignment and meaningful change management. It’s people who drive retail forward. Leaders must prioritise hiring the right talent, fostering a resilient culture, and giving teams the tools and confidence to adapt and lead.
Because the hard truth is longevity means nothing without relevance. The retail graveyard is full of household names that stopped evolving. Survival now demands constant re-evaluation of everything: your model, your customer value, your tech stack.
Too often, retailers accept mediocrity. They tolerate systems going down, missed project deadlines, and underperforming service as if these are inevitable costs of doing business. But they’re not and customers certainly don’t accept it.
Shoppers expect reliability, speed, and personalisation at every touchpoint. If you can’t deliver, they won’t wait around they’ll switch.
It’s time to stop settling for the status quo. That means making smarter investments, holding partners to higher standards, and designing operations for adaptability, not just stability. The retailers who thrive will be the ones willing to confront hard truths and make bold moves.
At the core of unified commerce is operational clarity. That starts with a single pool of inventory enabling retailers to move stock between channels, reduce overstock, and fulfil demand more flexibly.
But it’s not just about efficiency. It’s about experience differentiation. Why should someone buy direct from you, rather than through a third party? Unified systems allow you to maintain brand consistency, while offering tailored value whether that's exclusive products, loyalty benefits, or richer service.
Retailers need to filter, not segregate, inventory across channels. Provide third parties with a curated view, while retaining control over the full picture and how it's sold.
The role of technology in retail isn’t to impress it’s to solve real, painful problems. And those differ for every customer, colleague, and channel.
Technology should reduce friction, not introduce more of it. It should serve the customer’s mission whether that’s speed, discovery, or entertainment and be deployed thoughtfully, based on data and insight.
Take self-service kiosks in quick service restaurants (QSR). Originally designed to cut costs, they unintentionally encouraged higher spend by removing the guilt of face-to-face ordering. Smart innovation doesn’t always come from grand strategies it comes from understanding human behaviour and using tech to enhance it.
Retailers sit on powerful assets: people, systems, stores, and data. But too often, they’re not fully leveraged.
To succeed in a unified commerce model, retailers must:Optimising your backend is as critical as dazzling your front end. Inventory, order management, customer service platforms they’re the invisible foundations of every great brand experience.
There’s no silver bullet in unified commerce. No perfect system, no single roadmap. But the brands succeeding today are those who:
Ultimately, retail’s future isn’t about going digital. It’s about being customer-led, channel-fluid, and experience-obsessed.
You don’t need to chase every trend. But you do need to show up where it matters and make it count.
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