How To Go Beyond Omnichannel

We know that 2016 was the year of “omnichannel”—but we don’t believe omnichannel goes far enough. To us, omnichannel requires only the ability to accept payments in all channels. It’s a good and necessary step for any business, but it’s not enough in today’s retail environment. Modern consumers demand unified commerce: support for the entire customer journey across all channels, from brick‐and‐mortar to e‐commerce to in‐aisle and beyond.

Many supposedly “omnichannel” solutions still silo channels to minimize risk. To us, this defeats the entire purpose of the technology—it is the fully interconnected setup of unified commerce that enables the power of a customized shopping experience.

Merchants are seeking out a truly unified experience, and they won’t stop until they have all the tools that the retail giants do. Omnichannel may let you see the behavior of some of your customers in certain limited ways, but unified commerce models how your customers behave as individuals and in the aggregate. You’ll use payments for much more than just transactions, improving loyalty, enhancing security, and making more informed decisions.