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Education

MLSs must educate unified commerce platforms by the end of 2020 in order to
support a customer base that increasingly expects to shop
themselves – and and buy seamlessly across brick-and-mortar locations,
mobile platforms and on the web. This is up from just 9
percent two years ago and 28 percent last year. I think you
merchants – about could safely say this is the way the wind is blowing for
American merchants.
unified commerce Unified commerce improves more
than the user experience

By Connie Spencer-Adams As data integration improves and becomes more
commonplace via APIs and unified commerce platforms,
Womply the potential exists for merchants to benefit from greatly
enhanced fraud-prevention processes and capability.
he move toward the omnichannel sales model This may be based on artificial intelligence and machine-
has become nearly inexorable for American learning data, such as how long it typically takes a user
retailers as more customers expect a seamless to type in his/her password when logging into an online
T user experience between in-store, online and store, or even analyzing the rhythm of the keystrokes or
mobile interactions with businesses. "listening" to the patterns of touch-screen taps.

While going omnichannel has been the end goal for most Security-enhancing and CX-streamlining technologies
large retail corporations for more than a decade, many are often pioneered in the payments industry, where RFI-
well-established, resource-heavy enterprises have been enabled payments devices are now common for large
unsuccessful in their attempts to truly unify these cross- events such as the World Cup and the Olympics. Some
channel integrations. The key problem lies in the use and U.S. sports stadiums have embraced cashless payments
availability of data. "Unified commerce" requires – and technology, and even mobile order-ahead capability, for
by definition is – the seamless integration of all customer, concessions and other in-stadium purchases.
product and inventory data to facilitate a friction-free
customer experience whether in-store, online or via Facial-recognition-authorized payments have been online
mobile sales channels. in China and other locations since last year, though they
are still somewhat clunky and more time-consuming than
It may indeed be that these business paragons are so traditional card- or cash-based payments.
well-established—and their processes and systems so
entrenched—that they are held back from achieving Amazon Go and others are toying with handprint-
truly unified commerce. On the other hand, smaller, recognition-authenticated payments, which seems to have
local merchants may be more flexible in adopting unified the potential to become the default authentication and
commerce technologies that facilitate better customer payments method of the not-so-distant future, balancing
experiences – if their MLSs can show them how profitable speed and convenience with a rapid, satisfying customer
such a move may be and can educate them about the checkout process and unimpeachable security. Of course,
available platforms. this on-site model will have to be developed into more
Unified commerce is coming universally adopted, mobile-friendly, and web-capable
sooner than you may think versions in order to not subvert the ultimate unified
commerce goal of a seamless, friction-free customer
The need for a unified commerce platform that integrates experience across all platforms.
payments, customer data, product information, accurate
pricing across all sales portals, and loyalty/marketing Unified commerce is a beneficial
offers is a generally recognized need in modern retail. But goal even for local merchants
change is always painful, and such a sweeping sea-change It may seem that this sea change toward a unified commerce
even more so. experience is relevant only for huge corporations with a
gigantic sales presence online and offline. However, even
Since even payments giants such as Mastercard and Visa for local merchants, whatever strides MLSs can urge them
had to eventually soften their deadline for universal EMV- to take toward seamless integration of online and offline
card-enabled payments at gas stations in the United States customer interactions will help them stand out in an
due to huge problems relating to the cost and hassle the increasingly competitive market space.
implementation created for merchants, you might imagine
that a potentially problematic change such as adopting Here are a few examples of local merchants embracing the
new unified commerce platforms may be years or even move toward unified commerce:
decades away for many American merchants. However,
this doesn't seem to be the case. According to a recent BRP • Small, local florists and dessert shops that allow
study, an astonishing 81 percent of retailers will be using online ordering combined with convenient, pre-
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