The benefits of an omnichannel-first foundation for retailers and brands

Customers do not think in sales channels. They browse online, check store availability, order through a webshop or app, collect a purchase in-store and may want to return that same order there as well.

For retailers and brands, this means that webshops, physical stores, marketplaces, stock locations and fulfilment processes can no longer operate separately. To deliver a true unified commerce customer experience, all these channels need to work with the same up-to-date information and processes.

An omnichannel-first foundation is designed for exactly that from the start.

From separate channels to one commerce operation

Many commerce environments were originally built around the webshop. When stores, marketplaces, apps or other channels are added later, they are often connected through additional integrations, plugins and systems.

That can work for a long time, but every expansion makes the landscape more complex. Product data is stored in multiple places, inventory runs through different systems and orders need to move between the webshop, ERP, POS and fulfilment solutions.

With an omnichannel-first architecture, the starting point is different. The webshop is not at the centre; the entire commerce operation is.

Products, inventory, orders, content and fulfilment are made available from one central foundation to all sales channels. This means retailers and brands do not have to add omnichannel capabilities to their existing environment afterwards.

1. One up-to-date view of inventory

Inventory is one of the most important building blocks of omnichannel commerce.

Customers do not only want to know whether a product is available online. They also want to know:

whether the product is in stock at a nearby store;

whether it can be collected there;

whether another store still has it available;

how quickly it can be delivered.

To make this possible, inventory across warehouses, stores and other locations needs to be centrally available.

With an omnichannel-first foundation, store inventory can become part of the same stock logic as online inventory. This allows retailers to make better use of their total stock and give customers more options.

For example, a product that is sold out in the central warehouse does not necessarily have to be shown as unavailable online if it is still available in a store.

This does not only improve the customer experience, but also increases the sellability of existing stock.

2. More flexible order and fulfilment processes

Unified commerce does not stop at showing inventory. Once a customer places an order, different channels and locations also need to work together.

An order can, for example:

be shipped from the central warehouse;

be fulfilled from a store through ship-from-store;

be prepared for collection through click & collect;

be split across multiple locations;

be returned through another location.

When order management is designed from the start to support multiple stock and fulfilment locations, the most suitable route can be determined for each order.

This allows retailers to deliver faster, use stock more efficiently and make stores an active part of the fulfilment strategy.

3. A consistent experience across all channels

Customers do not care which systems are running behind a webshop, store or app. They simply expect the information to be correct.

The price shown online should match the store. Inventory should be accurate. Orders should be accessible everywhere. Promotions and loyalty should work across channels.

When every channel has its own data and processes, inconsistencies are more likely to occur.

An omnichannel-first architecture ensures that channels build on the same commerce foundation. This makes it much easier for retailers and brands to deliver one consistent experience.

The customer does not experience a separate webshop, store and app, but one brand.

That is ultimately what unified commerce is about.

4. Stores become part of the digital customer journey

In traditional e-commerce architectures, the physical store often sits outside the online environment.

In omnichannel commerce, that role changes.

A store can function at the same time as a:

sales channel;

stock location;

collection point;

return point;

fulfilment location;

service point.

This allows online and offline to truly reinforce each other.

For example, a customer can see online that a pair of shoes in the right size is available at a nearby store, reserve it or buy it immediately, and collect it later that day.

The other way around, a store employee can order a product that is no longer available locally and have it delivered directly to the customer.

The boundaries between online and offline continue to disappear.

5. Less complexity behind the scenes

A unified customer experience may look simple from the outside. Behind the scenes, however, it requires a lot of coordination.

When every new feature requires another integration, technical complexity quickly grows with the business.

An omnichannel-first foundation does not eliminate the need for integrations. Retailers and brands will still work with ERP, POS, payment, logistics and marketing solutions.

The difference is that not every system needs to communicate directly with every other system.

The central commerce layer coordinates the most important processes and ensures that information is available in the right place.

That means fewer dependencies, less custom development and a landscape that remains easier to manage as the business grows.

6. Add new channels and propositions faster

Retail is constantly changing.

Today, an organisation may sell through a webshop and physical stores. Tomorrow, it may add a marketplace, another webshop, an app, a B2B channel or a new country.

If every new channel requires its own product data, inventory logic, order processing and integrations, expansion becomes increasingly labour-intensive.

Within an omnichannel-first architecture, a new channel builds on the same foundation.

Product information does not need to be reorganised. Inventory is already available. Order processes already exist. The same commerce capabilities can be reused.

This reduces time-to-market and makes it easier to capture new growth opportunities.

7. More control over the total commerce operation

When data and processes are spread across multiple separate systems, it is difficult to get one overall view.

Which inventory sells best? Which store processes the most online orders? How much revenue is generated through click & collect? Which channel influences a purchase that is ultimately completed elsewhere?

With a central omnichannel foundation, there is more alignment between channels, inventory and orders.

This helps retailers and brands not only operationally, but also creates a stronger basis for analysis and optimisation.

Instead of evaluating each channel separately, the organisation can increasingly look at the total customer journey and overall commerce performance.

Omnichannel-first enables unified commerce

Omnichannel and unified commerce are often used interchangeably, but there is an important difference.

Omnichannel means that an organisation sells across multiple channels and connects them.

Unified commerce goes further: the customer truly experiences those channels as one.

That is only possible when the same data and processes are also used behind the scenes.

An omnichannel-first architecture therefore forms the technical and operational foundation for unified commerce.

Customers do not notice that inventory is centrally managed or that orders run through one order management process. They mainly notice that everything works.

That a product shown online is actually available in the store.

That an order can be collected wherever it is most convenient.

That an online purchase can also be returned in-store.

And that the brand delivers the same experience, regardless of the channel.

Building one commerce foundation

For retailers and brands operating across multiple sales channels, choosing a commerce solution therefore goes beyond the question of which webshop features are needed today.

The more important question is how products, inventory, orders, stores and future channels need to work together in the years ahead.

NextChapter developed the multiˣ suite from that perspective. Webshops, physical stores, marketplaces and other sales channels all build on one central commerce foundation.

This enables retailers and brands not only to sell omnichannel, but also to increasingly deliver the unified commerce experience their customers have come to expect.

Not optimising each channel separately, but organising commerce as one connected operation. That is the strength of omnichannel-first.