In June 2024, commercetools published a blog to help businesses understand the concept of unified commerce. The term had been popping up everywhere and we felt that with multichannel, omnichannel and composable commerce all established in the lexicon of eCommerce, it was important to define the industry’s newest buzzword. Interestingly enough, unified commerce was the main theme at Shoptalk Fall 2024, which wrapped up last week in Chicago. While our blog explained unified commerce in technical terms and shared the benefits, the retail leaders who spoke at the event provided tangible examples that show how connecting disparate systems and unifying data can improve the customer experience.
Here, we’ve collected some of the best examples presented at Shoptalk to give you insight into what unified commerce looks like today for some of the biggest brands in the world.
The US-based beauty brand is exploring multiple initiatives in its journey toward unified commerce. In her keynote, Kecia Steelman, President & Chief Operating Officer, shared that connecting the physical and digital experiences (aka phygital) customers have with Ulta Beauty is a top priority. She explained that doing so is critical to retaining and building customer loyalty, pointing out that Ulta Beauty Rewards has 44 million loyalty members, and that the company recently announced a goal to reach 50 million by 2028.
Ulta Beauty has been able to delight members by ensuring loyalty points are received no matter which channel they use to purchase products from the brand. Today, this includes 1,385 brick-and-mortar locations, its brand website and app, as well as Ulta Beauty shops inside all of Target’s physical and digital stores and on DoorDash and TikTok Shop.
Our partnership with Target was table stakes in the beginning, and it wasn't easy to do two integrated linked programs. But, in the three years we've been in the partnership, we’ve linked 4 million members between Target Circle and our Ulta Beauty rewards programs, and those guests are spending two times more with Ulta.
PRESIDENT & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, ULTA BEAUTY
The world’s largest fast food chain is focused on creating a single platform structure that will connect all its restaurant and customer platforms across all its channels to gain a 360° view of its data and provide a single version of the truth. Michelle Gansle, Chief Data and Analytics Officer explained that the vision is to deliver a unified experience for customers no matter where they are in the world. For the 150 million McDonald’s app users, this will translate into a universal app.
Currently, each country has its own app, so if you’re a US customer, you can’t use your app in the UK.
In the very near future, we will have one app that will work in every country — and that's important — because as a consumer you expect that if McDonald's is McDonald's is McDonald then you should be able to use the same app anywhere in the world.
CHIEF DATA AND ANALYTICS OFFICER, MCDONALD’S
Customer loyalty is also one of the main driving forces behind PetSmart’s focus on unifying its commerce operations, which include multiple channels offering products, as well as in-store grooming and vet care services. In a session dedicated to discussing how to create loyalty programs that build brand trust, Bradley Breuer, VP of Loyalty & CRM, explained how the Treats Rewards program, which the brand launched this year, fuses the data collected from all customer touchpoints into a single, cohesive loyalty program.
This holistic view allows PetSmart to better leverage customer data to provide its more than 67 million Treats Rewards loyalty program members with more personalized messages and tailored offers.
The home improvement retailer is embracing unified commerce to create a true connection between its physical and digital properties. Sara Post, Vice President of Interconnected Experience, provided multiple examples of what this looks like today. First, she explained how the company’s in-store app mode personalizes the shopping experience. When an app user enters a store, the technology automatically switches to a CX that’s tailored to that exact location. This makes navigating the store easier as app users can search foir a product on the app and get information on where to find it without having to go to the product detail page. They can also scan barcodes to get detailed information on products. If they decide they’d rather have something delivered after seeing the dimensions, they can do that quickly on the app instead of going through checkout.
Connecting in-store and digital inventory management also enabled The Home Depot to solve a problem that was frustrating both customers and store associates. Customers were coming into stores looking to purchase items on clearance they had discovered via a TikTok video posted by someone who had scored the deal. Unfortunately, clearance items vary store by store. Sara shared that store associates asked her team, “Can you do anything to help us out? It's causing confusion and we're letting down our customers.”
Ultimately, the company figured out a way to expose clearance items online to allow customers to access items that might not be available in their store for the best price. “It’s a great example of interconnected innovation that was very much customer-focused.”
Launched in 2019 in Calabasas, California, True Classic is one of the fastest-growing menswear brands in the world. In 2022, the company made a bold move by expanding into 192 countries, quickly discovering the challenges of distributing internationally. Breanna Moreno, Vice President of Customer Experience, said the company partnered with third-party providers for fulfillment and distribution. The company’s internal team wasn’t involved in the post-purchase experience and discovered through negative online reviews that customers looking for delivery information or needing to return items were unhappy.
To improve the post-purchase experience, True Classic found a partner that worked with them to connect shipping, tracking and returns to the brand experience.
We had minimal visibility in our post-purchase experience. I just knew we could do better. We were able to drive our customers back to our site, which just transformed the experience. We saw an increase in revenue and a decrease in those third-party reviews. We also implemented returns, which gave an even more robust experience and created a solid unified flow.
VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, TRUE CLASSIC
The global beauty brand’s vision for unified commerce is to leverage its power to deliver “omni convenience” to its customers. Amber Turley, Vice President of Omni Convenience & Commerce Partnerships, told the Shoptalk Fall 2024 audience that Sephora’s overarching goal is to make connecting to the brand “mindlessly easy,” so customers can shop whenever and wherever they want. “We've really been intentional about having multiple touchpoints. It’s sort of a choose-your-own-adventure model.”
Amber explained this strategy encompasses everything from Sephora at Kohl’s and selling through DoorDash, Instacart and Shipt to their same-day delivery program. It also includes their recently announced partnership with Hearst publications, which allows Cosmopolitan magazine readers to purchase Sephora products directly from editorial content.
Sephora recognized it was imperative to integrate its loyalty program into every partnership, not only for their existing customers but also for customer acquisition. As Amber pointed out, “It obviously brings in data points as well so we can truly see that customer journey end to end.”
We see all these convenience elements as incredibly additive to connecting Sephora to consumers in their shopping moments and even their adjacent-to-shopping moments. We're very excited to continue on this journey of trying to reach out to shoppers where they are and connecting Sephora outside of our four walls.
VICE PRESIDENT, OMNI CONVENIENCE & COMMERCE, SEPHORA
As a composable commerce solution, commercetools Platform makes it easy for brands to unify the data from all their channels and touchpoints onto a single backend to create the most personalized, most connected experiences that build customer loyalty and drive long-term growth. To learn more about brands that have embraced digital transformation, read our blog, Composable commerce chronicles: The top 8 commercetools customer stories of 2023!
Anita J. Temple is the Corporate Journalist at commercetools. She was a fashion editor at Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) and W Magazine before launching a career as a freelance writer and creative producer. She has written content and worked on a wide range of marketing projects for companies including Dreamworks, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Verizon, and Adidas.