Omnichannel or Unified Commerce – what’s the difference?

Unified Commerce is a hot topic and a real buzzword in commerce today. But isn’t it just a glorified Omnichannel? Are there real differences between Unified Commerce and Omnichannel? Let’s set things straight …

Omnichannel are linked channels for a cross channel experience.

Omnichannel is the start. It is the first step towards building a cross-channel customer experience. All your backend systems are linked towards creating good customer experience. But with Omnichannel, your systems are silos of information, with different data, rarely in sync. Therefore, the information is not reliable since it is not updated in real-time.

For example, if a customer buys an item in your flag store, the inventory availability is not updated until the store sends the data to the warehouse. The result is that the eCommerce store displays incorrect availability, and you might not be able to deliver purchased product to your customer, resulting in a dissatisfied customer.

Unified Commerce are synced channels with reliable information.

With Unified Commerce, all your backend systems are integrated towards a single source of truth. In whichever channel you are meeting your customer, they can rely on the information you are giving them. You will have full transparency throughout the whole shopping process, resulting in a good customer experience.

For example, if a customer buys an item in your eCommerce store, they can return them in your brick and mortar store and get the full refund, from the cashier. That will give you a satisfied returning customer, building loyalty for your brand, every step of the way.

Integrate with an iPaaS solution.

When you integrate your backend systems you must define which system should be the source of truth. Then you need to integrate everything with this key system. Usually, you use your ERP solution as the SSoT. Another factor you need to consider is upgradeability. All system needs to upgrade for security, new features, etc., and your integration platform need to be able to handle that. With an iPaaS solution, you will always be on top of these integrations since you have a cloud-based solution, that is upgraded in the cloud by Codeunit Solutions.

Do you need an iPaaS solution for a Unified Commerce built for Business Central?

Codeunit Solutions have developed OmniConnect, an iPaaS solution for integrations with Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. We have out-of-the-box connectors with eCommerce, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Centra, and Storm. We have integrations with POS, Warehouse Solutions, Shipping solutions, E-mail marketing Solutions, Printing Solutions, and CRM Solutions.

The OmniConnect iPaaS solution is created with Unified Commerce in mind. The Data and Information Transfer is made smarter, simpler, and more efficient than with large complex iPaaS integration solutions. Everything is handled in the background, there is no need for time-consuming and costly training programs. Your employees will continue to work in the same manner they do today.

To learn more about OmniConnect, iPaaS, or Unified Commerce, send us an email, and we will get back to you!