Unified Commerce Is Not A Thing
Emily Pfeiffer researches B2C commerce solutions, commerce/site search, and order management systems. Lauren Cevallos researches point-of-service solutions, retail planning systems, and other store technology.
We hear software vendors across our research areas saying that they offer — or are — or support — “unified commerce.” And when we ask them what they mean by that, we get a variety of answers. And if you walk around the expo floor at industry events, you’ll see booth after booth that says “unified commerce.” Look closely, and you’ll realize that you’re looking at vendors across many different categories of commerce technology and maybe even agencies that don’t have software, all saying that they do unified commerce.
TL;DR: We are hosting a webinar for Forrester clients on November 19. If you’re a Forrester client, please join us! We will dig in on how the term “unified commerce” is used in the commerce tech market. We’ll also provide clarity on what types of unification matter and how to cut through the marketing speak to get to the value you need.
We asked many vendors what “unified commerce” means to them. We get very different answers:
- Some said it’s about unifying (or consolidating) technical functions within one platform.
- Others talked about integrating tech across platforms.
- A few simply described the functionality that their company offers.
Lately, a common answer is even less clear: “Unified commerce is about selling and interacting with customers, seamlessly, across channels including digital and physical.” Sound familiar? Yes — it’s basically just “omnichannel” ( … which is already a term).
Is unified commerce just a new term for an existing concept — or, confusingly, many existing ones?
The biggest reason we see this term as problematic is because so many vendors use it, and they all mean something different when they talk about what they’re unifying.
We hear it from order management systems, point-of-service solutions, payment providers … and most of the time when a vendor uses the term, it doesn’t even offer a commerce solution. Rather, it provides systems that are a part of the great commerce tech ecosystem (no matter how unified it may be).
So if you’re struggling to understand what it is that vendors are helping you unify, and how and why you’d want “unified commerce,” we’re here to help you understand.
So “unified commerce” is not a thing. However …
Digital businesses benefit from unification in their commerce strategies and tech.
To be clear, there is value in unification. We will explain where we see benefits in unification within commerce tech, despite the numerous interpretations of the term unified commerce.
Join us on November 19 for a live webinar on the topic of unified commerce and ask your questions live! And if you can’t join that day, please listen to the playback. We’re also happy to discuss this with you as a Forrester client via a guidance session or inquiry.