Composing a Unified Omnichannel Purchase Experience: The Competitive Edge in Modern Retail
Unified checkouts streamline online purchasing and drive conversions by consolidating multiple steps into a seamless, user-friendly experience.
In the competitive retail sector, adopting a unified omnichannel purchase experience is crucial for market dominance. This approach focuses on providing a highly personalized customer experience and integrating seamless and engaging shopping experiences across all physical and digital channels. By removing key points of friction from the purchase flow, brands can improve customer experiences at the most crucial moment and drive conversions.
In research conducted by Bold Commerce that examined over 3,000,000 checkout sessions, by reducing friction in the checkout and payment experience, the top 25% of brands achieve 2-3x as many conversions as the lowest performers. Brands can improve their conversion rates substantially, and it starts by creating a seamless omnichannel checkout experience.
Simplifying Online Checkout Processes
When considering where to start optimizing the checkout experience, one of the most important areas is online cart abandonment. The Baymard Institute highlights a 70.19% average online shopping cart abandonment rate, underscoring the importance of streamlined checkout processes.
There are a variety of reasons for such high abandonment rates, but the primary include unexpected fees at the last minute (e.g., shipping costs, taxes, and other miscellaneous charges that drastically alter the purchase price), complicated or lengthy checkouts, and a general lack of trust in the security of the site. The good news is, with a properly orchestrated checkout experience, you can mitigate all of these concerns.
From simple improvements, like displaying all charges up front and featuring a progress bar so consumers know how many steps remain in the checkout process, to more complex ones, like streamlining the process so it’s shorter and more automated, improving customer experiences at checkout will improve brand outcomes. But even the so-called simple solutions can pose a challenge.
Many brands find it difficult to improve their online checkout experience, as investments in modernizing legacy or monolithic digital commerce platforms can be costly and technically challenging. Checkout platform providers like Bold Commerce and Stripe help brands to evolve their checkout experience. By decoupling checkout from the commerce platform, these platforms make enhancements and experimentation easier to deliver.
Along with streamlined conversion flows, the evolution of online checkout experiences has seen the integration of a variety of new payment methods. Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Wallet, along with Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) providers like Affirm and Klarna, offer customers convenience and flexibility, further reducing friction in the checkout process.
“A big shift we’ve seen in the past few years is the rise of the wallets. Consumer desire is to avoid typing their name, address, and credit card information, especially on mobile devices where typing and auto correct still leave much to be desired,” notes Peter Karpas, CEO, Bold Commerce.
By incorporating additional payment methods, retailers can cater to a broader customer base, appealing to those who prefer more convenient and secure payment solutions, and those looking for payment flexibility.
Unifying In-Store & Online Experience
Optimizing the in-store experience is often overlooked in omnichannel commerce, but in-store still represents roughly 80% of all retail transactions. One reason the in-store experience is overlooked is because of the heavy reliance on physical, on-premise systems for managing transactions.
Stephane Lalonde, Strategic Solutions Architect at Stripe, says “To improve the buying experience, many merchants are enabling every associate in the store to easily support a customer with finding what they need and purchasing from a simple mobile interface.”
Modern cloud-native platforms like NewStore can transform the store experience, by putting all of the power of a traditional checkout system into the palm of a store advisor's hand, through the combination of a mobile POS and all-in-one mobile application. Other platforms, like Stripe Terminal, can also provide the ability for brands to deliver seamless in store mobile purchasing experiences, while simultaneously unifying online and offline transaction activity into a single view of each customer.
On top of the seamless in-store experiences mobile platforms like NewStore and Stripe Terminal can create for store advisors and customers alike, innovations like Apple and Android's tap-to-pay services have streamlined the in-store checkout experience, by enabling customers to complete transactions wherever is most convenient— without the need for traditional payment hardware.
These contactless payment methods align with the increasing demand for quick, secure, and contactless transactions, especially in the post-pandemic retail landscape. Implementing these technologies in physical stores not only enhances customer convenience but also reduces wait times and improves overall customer and employee satisfaction.
Expanding Beyond Traditional Channels
An effective omnichannel strategy extends to platforms like social media, email, SMS, and online marketplaces.
“One trend that’s gaining momentum is the idea of 'contextual commerce',” adds Rick Berger, President of NewStore. “This is where purchasing is seamlessly integrated into daily life, facilitated by voice-assisted shopping and IoT-enabled devices. Such transactions will extend to other aspects of our daily routines, becoming more ingrained in our regular activities.”
This expansion enables retailers to meet customers directly in the digital channels where they are naturally researching and learning about products and services. Some of these channels provide their own payment options, while others can be redirected to a hosted or headless checkout solution like Bold Commerce or Stripe to complete the transaction.
Providing a consistent and personalized experience across all touchpoints makes it easier for brands to maintain relevance with customers, regardless where they shop. Platforms like Feedonomics make it easy for retailers to import, transform, and distribute product data across a variety of advertising, social, and marketplace channels from a single platform.
Leveraging Data for Personalized Experiences
Brands that focus on optimizing for transaction costs can miss the big picture of the overall experience that customers have with their brand, and this is what keeps customers coming back time and again.
“In the past few years we’ve seen merchants begin to shift their focus from individual transactions to customer lifetime value,” adds Lalonde, “which means they need to select technologies that optimize for experience.”
With data sourced and unified across purchasing channels, brands are able to create comprehensive customer profiles that are invaluable for tailoring shopping experiences, improving inventory management, and developing informed marketing strategies.
“What I see coming soon is optimized and personalized checkout experiences,” says Karpas. “Every other part of the ecommerce experience can be easily personalized, and this is coming soon for the checkout experience as well.”
The value of building a deep understanding of customer values and preferences is essential for brand engagement, and will continue to increase in importance.
According to Berger, "Brands will need to evolve from mere product providers to facilitators of meaningful experiences and enablers of consumer values. In this new landscape, the boundaries between consumers and brands become less defined, and shopping transforms into an activity that reflects individual identity and fosters community belonging."
Leveraging all of this data across different platforms can be challenging, and often requires thoughtful customer and retail data strategies, and the incorporation of a customer data platform, such as Bloomreach Engagement. With the right customer data platform, brands can consolidate, understand, and act upon the customer data available in each channel.
Conclusion
Adopting a unified omnichannel purchase experience is essential for retailers to stay competitive in the digital age. By providing seamless shopping experiences across in-store and digital channels, retailers can drive immediate sales and enable digital strategies that foster long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. The unified commerce approach is not just about keeping up with the competition; it's about leading a retail revolution centered on customer satisfaction and engagement.
Everett Zufelt
VP, Strategic Partnerships & Emerging Technology, Orium
As VP Strategic Partnerships & Emerging Technology at Orium, Everett leverages his extensive technical background and over a decade of experience in headless and composable commerce to lead the development of Orium’s offerings. He guides the go-to-market strategy and supports his teams in crafting solutions that enhance the digital capabilities and operational efficiency of scaling commerce brands.