Physical retail spaces continue to play a crucial role in the retail ecosystem. The in-store experience often augments (rather than replicates) the online offering. In the era of unified commerce, the store is reinventing itself to occupy a new place in the retail lexicon. However, the real renaissance of the retail industry may be yet to come.

With technological advances such as auto mated inventory management and agen tic customer service bots, we are on the cusp of a new era of commerce that will take unifi cation and personalisation to unprecedented levels. As the industry gains a better understanding of the ways artificial intelligence (AI) can be deployed, this will only strengthen those possibilities. To unleash the transformative power of Agentic AI, however, the fundamentals of your unified commerce stra tegy need to be strong. Below are four key areas that retailers must master before they can truly take advantage of the transformative potential of AI in the retail context.

Seamless experiences

Consumers don’t see channels anymore - they just see brands. They expect their favourite brands to provide consistent interactions wherever and whenever they choose to engage. This expectation makes real-time inventory visibility across all stores, warehouses, and online channels key to success. To cater to modern customers, offering uniform pricing and promotions is a must. This prevents frustration from channel-based inconsistencies. Additionally, flexible fulfilment options like BOPIS, ship-from-store, and same-day delivery are essential to provide the convenience and choice consumers want.

Actionable insights

Retailers generate massive amounts of data, but disconnected systems often prevent them from leveraging it effectively. Unified commerce breaks down the data silos to provide a single source of truth for inventory, sales, and customer data, ensuring accurate, real-time information across the entire retail estate. Agentic AI insights now offer the chance for brands to personalise promotions, optimise stock levels, and improve demand forecasting. They also deliver cross channel behavioural analysis at the same time, in the process, helping agents (machine and human) to better understand how customers engage across both digital and physical spaces.

Unified commerce is not just about adopting new technology – it’s about creating meaningful customer connections, improving operational efficiency, and driving sustained profitability.

Optimised operations

A unified commerce strategy delivers order and inventory management gains, while also minimising stockouts and overstock situations. For customers, unified commerce ensures purchases can be completed with minimal friction, thanks to streamlined mobile checkout and payment capabilities and real-time visibility of stock across a brand’s entire retail estate. Meanwhile, automated workflows reduce manual tasks, freeing up store associates to focus on delivering the concierge style, personalised service that customers will remember and return for.

Building customer loyalty

It’s not just hyperbole when it comes to unified commerce. Retailers that embrace it see a measurable impact on sales and retention, including higher conversion rates, fewer abandoned carts, more available inventory and improved customer satisfaction. Ultimately, unified commerce makes shopper experiences faster and transactions more convenient. Beyond bottom-line euros and pounds spent, unified commerce has the potential to deliver greater brand loyalty and drive more personalised engagement through a truly seamless service across all customer touchpoints. It is fast becoming the gold standard in retail, reshaping how brands create connected experiences from click to curb and supply chain to shopfloor.

Real-time inventory visibility

A key enabler of this new benchmark for retail is real-time inventory visibility, something which we should not underestimate. It is critical in helping retailers maximise sales and giving customers the ability to modify their orders post-purchase to minimise returns. After all, shopping isn’t just a transaction anymore - it is an opportunity for retailers to build long-lasting relationships with customers at every stage of the buying (and post-purchase) journey. As Agentic AI continues to evolve, and retailers increasingly look to deliver hyper-personalised recommendations and experiences across the entire (physical and digital) retail estate, the importance of unified commerce is only set to increase. Digitalisation, and more recently, social commerce, have changed the retail industry. Now, underpinned by unified commerce and fuelled with Agentic AI advances, the renaissance of retail is well underway. Are you ready to seize the opportunity?

Download the Guide to Unified Commerce.

Martin Newman, Retail Expert & Consumer Champion

Wilt u een fysiek exemplaar van het magazine ontvangen? Stuur een mail naar ce@manh.com o.v.v. Commerce Trends 2025, en vermeld bedrijfsnaam, uw naam, adres en woonplaats. Wij sturen u dan een exemplaar toe.