How unified retail will transform shopping as we know it

Unified retail takes omnichannel several steps further by breaking down the concept of channels and creating a shopping experience based entirely on the customer’s own terms.

And it is set to reshape the future of shopping.

Unified retail: a five-step guide to future-proofing your business, produced in partnership with Salesforce, examines what a unified retail model is and how retailers can adopt it.

It explores how to:

• Create a customer-centric culture
• Introduce new KPIs
• Invest in the right areas
• Leverage your assets
• Collaborate with the best partners

The guide addresses the challenges retailers are facing when trying to adopt the new model in their efforts to put digital transformation at the heart of their business.

For instance, the transition to a truly unified retail model will require a massive cultural shift within organisations, according to Alex Hamilton, head of insight at Isobar. He points out that “currently, most retailers do not have the right talent within their businesses to offer a unified experience to customers”.

“Unified retail brings together the choice and availability of online retailing with the discovery, service and immediacy valued by shoppers in store”

David Nicholls, retail customer solution architect at Fujitsu UK and Ireland

It requires fresh thinking and a new approach. But if retailers can get it right, the prize is clear, says David Nicholls, retail customer solution architect at Fujitsu UK and Ireland.

“Unified retail provides retailers with another weapon in their armoury against the online retail juggernaut,” he says. “It brings together the choice and availability of online retailing with the discovery, service and immediacy valued by shoppers in store.”