78 percent retailers intend to implement a unified commerce platform by 2020 - survey

Moreover, customers expect a personalised, seamless brand experience across digital and physical commerce touch points and unified commerce is key to delivering this experience, according to the 2015 E-Commerce Survey issued by Boston Retail Partners. 43% of the respondents indicated that a consistent brand experience across channels is one of their top commerce priorities.

A customer’s journey is no longer a linear path to purchase it’s now an exercise in connect-the-dots for retailers as they try to piece together customer information, browsing history, inventory visibility and much more to enhance the customer experience.

“Retailers realize that that they can no longer operate from within silos, and the convergence of digital and physical commerce is now a retail imperative,” said Brian Brunk, principal, Boston Retail Partners. “Unified commerce transcends channels and enables store associates to personalize the experience to a customer based on her digital footprint. It is encouraging to see that so many retailers have implemented or will implement a unified commerce platform within the next five years.”

Nevertheless, improving the customer experience is the top priority, with 43% of retailers indicating that a consistent brand experience across channels is essential. Mobilising commerce remains a high priority, with 45% of retailers indicated that mobile websites are their most important e.commerce capability.

Payment options and security are essential, with 63% of retailers planning to accept Apple Pay by 2017. The ecommerce business continues to expand, with 85% of retailers expecting an increase in 2016 ecommerce website revenue.

Boston Retail Partners (BRP) is an independent retail management consulting firm dedicated to providing industry related services to its clients. BRP combines its consultants retail business knowledge and cross-functional capabilities to deliver superior design and implementation of strategy, technology, and process solutions.