Why unified commerce is the foundation for agentic shopping

The value of omnichannel shopping 

The value of cross-channel shopping is undeniable: Omnichannel shoppers spend an average of 16% more per order and buy 70% more frequently than single-channel shoppers. 

But implementing those experiences across multiple channels — and if we go further, across multiple brands, business models and countries — remains a thorny issue for retailers. 

The reason is simple: Even today, experiences transcending channels, brands and regions are delivered by a smorgasbord of touchpoints, each implemented via separate systems — eCommerce, POS (point-of-sale), CRM and inventory — using APIs, middleware and third-party integrations. The gaps that customers experience today when navigating such complex shopping journeys stem from the following issues: 

• Data synchronization challenges: Separate systems require constant syncing, often leading to delayed or inaccurate information.
• Higher operational costs: Managing multiple platforms and maintaining integrations increases expenses.
• No real-time visibility: Inventory and customer data updates often lag, impacting order fulfillment and demand forecasting.
• Disjointed customer experiences: Maintaining personalization and seamless transitions between channels is difficult.

The data backs this up: 65% of retailers admit their current technology stack doesn’t enable the customer experience they want and need to deliver. Sadly, 62% of customers agree, as they demand different store experiences than what retailers currently provide. 

What is unified commerce, and how does it solve the omnichannel challenge

Unified commerce has become a necessity to bring order to the chaos. By moving beyond omnichannel or managing data in silos to providing a single view of the customer, retailers ensure consistency and context, whether a customer is in-store, online or on the move.

Instead of managing data in silos, unified commerce enables businesses to connect all data, such as inventory, pricing, product data, customer profiles, loyalty programs and order history, in one platform, keeping data synchronized in real time. This allows retailers to: 

• Enhance customer experience through seamless omnichannel interactions.
• Streamline decision-making with real-time analytics.
• Centralize systems and workflows to reduce operational inefficiencies and duplication of efforts.

The result? According to the latest report by Manhattan and Google Cloud, retailers leading the pack in unified commerce show 2x higher growth rates than retailers lagging behind. 

Now, what if retailers could maximize the results of unified commerce even more with the upcoming agentic AI era?  

What is agentic AI — and why unified commerce is its best ally 

Agentic AI, a subset of machine learning and deep learning techniques, enables computer systems to exhibit agency: The ability to set goals, make decisions autonomously, as well as take actions through perception, reasoning and action loops. 

When agentic AI is applied to commerce, shoppers can not only discover, compare and evaluate products, but also delegate buying decisions to agents. For example, consumers are increasingly allowing agents to automatically replenish orders or delegate decision-making for a complete shopping journey.   

These aren’t far-off dreams: They’re real capabilities augmented by AI agents that understand business context, take initiative and learn from outcomes. In retail, these agents can support merchandising, marketing, logistics, customer service and more.

For instance, nearly 50% of online shoppers are expected to use AI agents by 2030, accounting for ~25% of their spending, adding $115B to the US eCommerce sector. 

So, what does agentic AI require to make these scenarios a reality? Accurate data that can be retrieved and analyzed in real-time. 

That’s where unified commerce comes in. By unifying fragmented data ecosystems in one place and eliminating data silos across disconnected systems, retailers can achieve a 360-degree view of all information. 

Unified commerce provides accurate and instant data. Agentic AI transforms it into intel that can be used in various ways, from enhancing CX to streamlining workflows. 

Use cases: How unified commerce and agentic AI can work together 

Unified commerce gives AI agents the context they need to move beyond answering questions to taking meaningful actions. Instead of relying on fragmented data across disconnected systems, agents can access a single, real-time source of truth for products, customers, inventory, pricing and orders. This enables them to make informed decisions and execute tasks with confidence.

Here are a few examples:

1. Personalized shopping assistants that complete the entire purchase journey

An AI shopping agent can understand a customer’s preferences, loyalty status, purchase history and real-time product availability to recommend the best products, apply eligible promotions, reserve inventory and complete checkout — all without requiring the customer to switch between channels or repeat information.

2. Autonomous inventory and fulfillment optimization

AI agents can continuously monitor inventory levels across warehouses and stores, predict shortages and automatically reroute orders to the optimal fulfillment location. Because unified commerce provides real-time inventory visibility, agents can balance availability, shipping costs and delivery speed while reducing stockouts and excess inventory.

3. Intelligent customer service with transactional capabilities

Instead of simply answering questions, customer service agents can resolve issues end-to-end. They can verify orders, initiate returns or exchanges, update delivery preferences, issue refunds and recommend alternative products based on live inventory from one commerce platform.

4. Automated merchandising and pricing decisions

AI agents can analyze demand signals, competitor pricing, customer behavior and inventory positions to recommend or automatically adjust promotions, product assortments and pricing strategies. With centralized commerce data, promotions can be executed consistently across every sales channel.

5. Proactive omnichannel engagement

Agentic AI can identify opportunities before customers do. For example, it can remind shoppers to replenish frequently purchased products, recommend complementary items after a purchase or notify customers when an out-of-stock item becomes available at a nearby store. Because every interaction draws from the same customer and commerce data, engagement remains relevant and consistent regardless of where the customer shops.

Together, these scenarios illustrate why unified commerce is more than an operational improvement. It provides the trusted, real-time foundation that enables AI agents to reason, act and continuously optimize experiences across the entire retail ecosystem.

Where commercetools comes in

Our architectural philosophy provides a powerful advantage in enabling a unified commerce experience. Sphere, our enterprise commerce platform, enables shopping on all channels from a single backend, giving enterprise retailers a cohesive and centralized engine for all their operations. This design ensures that businesses can readily adapt and integrate new technologies and touchpoints as they emerge on the market, effectively future-proofing their investment.

With the introduction of commercetools InStore, retailers can now leverage a genuine unified POS solution by bridging between the physical and digital channels, which is a complex task for less flexible platforms to replicate. 

With the addition of an AI-ready infrastructure, commercetools can now expose key commerce capabilities (e.g., carts, catalogs, pricing, promotions and inventory) in a modular, API-first format that’s easily consumable by AI agents. With AI Hub, commercetools makes it easy for brands and retailers to connect to leading AI channels, such as ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft Copilot, through seamless, plug-and-play integrations.

When unified commerce and agentic AI work together, the result goes beyond connecting systems. It’s about aligning strategy, operations and customer experience through real-time intelligence, bringing the full promise of unified commerce to life.

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