Head of Marketing, PMC
The UK retail sector is undergoing a fundamental reset. Faced with ongoing cost pressures, shifting consumer behaviours, and a more complex operational landscape, retailers are re-evaluating the systems, processes, and partnerships that underpin their ability to compete.
While digital transformation has long been a stated priority, its current iteration—unified commerce—marks a more integrated and operationally intensive phase. It is not about adding more channels. Rather, it involves designing a coherent, scalable, and data-driven model that supports consistent experiences across them.
For over a decade, omnichannel has dominated strategic roadmaps. In practice, however, many of these strategies were layered on legacy infrastructure, reliant on fragmented data and complex workarounds. The result is a familiar set of symptoms: duplicated effort, slower decision-making, and customer experiences that fall short of expectations.
Findings from The Race to Unified Commerce, our latest report with Retail Economics, show that fewer than half of omnichannel retailers have adapted their technology stack to meet current demands. In contrast, mid-sized and direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses, less encumbered by technical debt, are moving more decisively, supported by integrated systems and shorter time to value.
This shift highlights a broader truth. The challenge is no longer whether to transform, but how to execute in a way that is sustainable, flexible, and aligned with commercial realities.
Retail transformation has often centred on what to add: more features, more platforms, more personalisation. Increasingly, however, leading organisations are reframing the conversation around what to re-architect.
At PMC, we help retailers answer these questions by structuring the foundations that make unified commerce executable not just aspirational.
A growing number of retail leaders are asking:
These are not abstract considerations. They are pragmatic reflections shaped by tightening margins, growing consumer expectations, and the increasing cost of inefficiency.
Unified commerce is best understood not as a single platform or endpoint, but as a strategic framework. It connects systems, streamlines operations, and creates a shared foundation for innovation across the customer journey.
When implemented with intention, it can deliver:
The commercial value lies not in any one feature, but in the operational coherence and agility that a unified approach enables. In an environment where customer expectations evolve faster than most platforms, this alignment is increasingly essential.
A recurring theme at Shoptalk Europe was the recognition that technology, while critical, is only one part of the shift. Unified commerce requires rethinking how decisions are made, how functions collaborate, and how data flows across the organisation.
As Jordi Bosch, Global Head of Sales & Customers at Nestlé, noted: “Data is like oil. It needs to be refined before it can power transformation.” This insight reflects a broader industry reality. Many retailers are data-rich but insight-poor. Activating existing data assets responsibly and efficiently is a prerequisite for sustainable advantage.
One example of this approach in action is Purina, which has developed a connected ecosystem across physical and digital channels. From pet discovery via Petfinder, to tailored advice and product recommendations on Purina.com, and continued engagement through in-store experiences with retail partners, the customer journey is continuous and contextual.
Rather than treating physical and digital touchpoints as distinct, Purina has aligned its operations and data model to support a seamless experience. This coherence enhances relevance, builds trust, and proves the commercial value of unified commerce as an operational model rather than just a marketing aspiration.
While the case for unified commerce is increasingly well understood, the path to achieving it remains complex. It is not a question of deploying more tools or introducing incremental improvements. It requires deliberate architectural choices, cultural alignment, and operational resilience.
At PMC, we see this shift first-hand through our work with retailers navigating both short-term pressures and longer-term transformation agendas. The ability to deliver unified experiences depends not only on modern platforms, but also on the consistency, scalability, and adaptability of the underlying technology environment.
This is where execution becomes critical. Many organisations face internal capability gaps, legacy integration challenges, and rising pressure to deliver rapid, measurable returns. Unified commerce ambitions often stall not due to lack of vision, but due to fragmented infrastructure and the absence of a reliable operational foundation.
Drawing on our experience across consulting, engineering, and managed services, we support retail businesses in building that foundation. Our role is to connect front-end ambition with back-end reliability. This includes:
In essence, we help bridge the gap between strategy and execution. Our aim is to ensure that unified commerce is not just an aspiration, but a measurable, scalable reality.
As the retail landscape continues to evolve, the organisations that succeed will be those that build for adaptability, design with intention, and partner for long-term resilience.
Want to see how over 100 UK retailers are navigating these shifts? Our full report, The Race to Unified Commerce, launches soon, packed with insights you can act on.
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