Discover The 7 Best Omnichannel Ecommerce Platforms
In this article, we have meticulously curated a list of the 7 best omnichannel ecommerce platforms. These platforms are not just tools but gateways to transforming your business into a versatile and customer-centric entity.
What Is An Omnichannel Ecommerce Platform?
An omnichannel ecommerce platform is a comprehensive solution that enables businesses to engage with customers seamlessly across multiple channels, including websites, mobile apps, social media, email, and more. It integrates various communication touchpoints into a unified system, providing a consistent and personalized shopping experience.
These platforms streamline operations, manage inventory, and facilitate communication, allowing businesses to optimize their presence and meet customer expectations.
Omnichannel vs Multichannel
Omnichannel and multichannel are distinct approaches to customer engagement in the business landscape. There are the differences:
Omnichannel:
- Holistic strategy
- Seamless integration of various channels
- Unified and consistent customer experience
- Effortless transition between channels
- Synchronized information, preferences, and interactions
- Emphasis on creating a cohesive brand experience
Multichannel:
- Uses multiple independent channels
- Presence across various platforms
- Channels may operate somewhat independently
- Focus on establishing a presence in different spaces
- Less emphasis on seamless transition and consistency
- Interactions may not be as synchronized between channels
In summary, omnichannel aims for a unified, interconnected customer experience, while multichannel involves a presence across various channels without the same level of integration and cohesion. The choice between the two depends on the business’s goals and the consistency desired in customer interactions.
Top 7 Omnichannel Ecommerce Platforms
Shopify
Shopify Plus is an advanced version of the Shopify e-commerce platform tailored for enterprise-level brands with substantial sales volumes. It offers additional functionality beyond the standard service, focusing on omnichannel selling.
Key omnichannel features and benefits
- Vast Sales Channel Selection: Enables selling on over 100 social media platforms, 80 online marketplaces, blogs, and mobile interfaces.
- B2B Commerce: Streamlines wholesale operations on a B2B level without additional programming or scripting.
- Global Sales: Facilitates businesses in expanding their reach across multiple channels worldwide.
- Headless Commerce: Allows separation of front-end and back-end, providing flexibility in customization.
- Retail and Point of Sale (POS): Integrates online and offline sales in a unified location.
- Campaigns and Flash Sales: Supports strategic marketing initiatives and time-sensitive promotions.
- Retail Automation: Automates various aspects of retail operations for enhanced efficiency.
- Payment Gateways: Offers multiple payment options and Shopify’s in-house payment gateway for customer convenience.
- Multiple Shipping Features: Provides diverse shipping options for flexible order fulfillment.
Target Business Size and Industry:
Shopify Plus is designed for large, enterprise-level brands with high sales volumes. It’s suitable for a range of industries, especially those involved in both B2C and B2B ecommerce.
Pricing and Support Options:
- Pricing: Custom pricing based on the business’s specific needs, starting at $2,000 per month. Higher-volume companies may incur additional variable fees.
- Customer Support: Shopify has dedicated 24/7 customer support with a specialized team, multi-channel assistance, technical guidance, platform onboarding, and regular updates to help businesses optimize their e-commerce operations seamlessly.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a robust omnichannel e-commerce platform known for blending enterprise-level functionality with versatility and extensive third-party applications. It excels in providing a comprehensive online shop and stands out with its unique feature that seamlessly combines online and offline sales.
Key omnichannel features and benefits
- Multi-Channel Management: BigCommerce seamlessly integrates with various marketplaces and social media platforms, enabling merchants to sell across multiple channels like Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and Instagram from a single dashboard.
- POS Integration: It offers robust integration with several point-of-sale systems, facilitating a unified experience between online and offline sales channels.
- Headless Commerce Capabilities: BigCommerce supports headless commerce, allowing businesses to decouple the frontend and backend of their ecommerce operations. This leads to greater flexibility in creating customized customer experiences across different devices and touchpoints.
- B2B and Wholesale Functionality: Apart from catering to B2C retailers, BigCommerce also provides specific features for B2B and wholesale merchants, such as custom pricing, bulk order management, and segmented customer groups.
- Advanced SEO and Marketing Tools: The platform includes advanced SEO features and marketing tools to help businesses increase their online visibility and attract more customers across various channels.
- International Selling: BigCommerce supports international selling with features like multi-currency support, localized payment methods, and global shipping options, making it easier for businesses to expand their reach globally.
Target Business Size and Industry:
BigCommerce caters to businesses of varying sizes, especially well-suited for mid-sized to large enterprises across industries seeking a versatile platform with robust omnichannel capabilities.
Pricing and Support Options:
- Pricing: BigCommerce subscription cost for the Enterprise plan is custom, based on each business’s needs.
- Support: Provides 24/7 customer support through various channels, including phone, email, and live chat, as well as an extensive knowledge base, community forums, and professional services for setup and customization assistance. The Enterprises plan includes routing, priority support, customer success management, and API support.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce, formerly Magento, is a comprehensive omnichannel e-commerce platform for B2B and B2C brands. It is a part of the Adobe Experience Cloud, offering a cloud-based solution to manage and enhance customer experiences across various channels, including web, mobile, email, and social media.
Key omnichannel features and benefits
- Multi-Channel Commerce Support: Enables the management of both B2B and B2C stores on a unified platform, ensuring a consistent customer experience across various sales channels.
- Powerful Integrations: The Adobe Marketplace provides access to over 3,600 native integrations, covering categories like marketing, payments, security, and customer support, allowing users to extend the platform’s functionality without additional costs.
- In-depth Reporting: Offers a Site-Wide Analysis tool for real-time reports, performance monitoring, and recommendations, providing detailed insights into Adobe Commerce instances and third-party extensions.
- Purpose-Built Themes: Provides customizable themes for different industries, facilitating the creation of unique storefronts tailored to specific aesthetics and branding.
- Inventory and Order Management: Includes a robust inventory management system with out-of-stock thresholds, real-time tracking across multiple channels, and a Source Selection Algorithm for automated inventory management.
- Business Intelligence: Provides business intelligence tools for leveraging customer data, enabling personalized sales avenues, and offering an intuitive analytics dashboard with real-time updates.
Target Business Size and Industry:
Adobe Commerce is ideal for medium to large businesses that require a high degree of customization and scalability. It is widely used in retail, fashion, electronics, and B2B commerce.
Pricing and Support Options:
- Pricing: Adobe Commerce offers a flexible pricing model based on the business’s Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and Average Order Value (AOV).
- Support: Adobe provides extensive support through its global network of certified partners and developers. Businesses can access many resources, including technical guides, forums, and 24/7 customer support services.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a highly robust and cloud-based ecommerce platform that offers many features for businesses seeking to merge their online and offline operations. It’s designed to provide a unified experience across all channels, enabling businesses to seamlessly manage customer interactions, sales, and services.
Key omnichannel features and benefits
- AI-based Insights: Powered by Salesforce Einstein, it utilizes AI for predictive analytics, NLP, and machine learning, offering product recommendations, predictive sorting, and commerce insights for an enhanced shopping experience.
- Merchandising & Catalog Management: AI-driven merchandising, complex product support, visual merchandising, task scheduling, and enhanced promotions make it a robust solution, particularly favorable for fashion and lifestyle businesses.
- Omnichannel Optimization: Centralizes sales channels, including physical stores, eCommerce, mobile, and social media platforms. Monitors and bridges consumer interactions across channels, facilitating dynamic customer segments, merchandising rules, and AI-powered recommendations.
- Internationalization: Allows easy modification and management of multiple storefronts from a single backend, supporting different languages, currencies, and tailored product information for each store.
- Advanced Analytics Reports: Provides comprehensive analytics reports covering conversion, purchases, catalog, traffic, customer behavior, search, navigation, and A/B testing, aiding in data-driven decision-making.
Target Business Size and Industry:
Salesforce Commerce Cloud is suitable for mid to large-scale enterprises across various industries, especially retail, consumer goods, and fashion.
Pricing and Support Options:
- Pricing: Custom pricing model based on the specific needs and size of the business.
- Support: Offers extensive support through a dedicated account manager, online resources, community forums, and 24/7 customer service.
Wix
Wix is a user-friendly website builder catering to users with no coding knowledge. It offers diverse templates, AI-driven design options, and an app marketplace. It focuses on simplicity, making it accessible for beginners while providing features for more advanced users.
Key omnichannel features and benefits
- Multichannel Selling: Wix supports integration with major online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Wish, as well as social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. It also has its own Wix POS and supports integration with multiple other POS systems.
- Shipping and Fulfillment: Wix offers flexible shipping options, including multiple carriers, local delivery, and geo-specific rates. The platform also supports dropshipping, making it easier for businesses to manage inventory and fulfill orders efficiently.
- Marketing Tools: Wix provides a comprehensive suite of marketing tools, including SEO optimization, social media integration, email campaigns, and customizable promotional videos. This helps businesses increase their online visibility and engage with customers effectively.
- User Experience: The platform offers a smooth user experience with navigation menus, filters, breadcrumbs, and shopping carts, making it easy for customers to find and purchase products.
Target Business Size and Industry:
Wix caters to a broad audience, particularly appealing to small to medium-sized businesses and individuals looking to establish an online presence. It accommodates various industries, offering solutions for service-oriented businesses and e-commerce stores.
Pricing and Support Options:
- Pricing: Wix omnichannel selling subscription plans start at $27/month to custom price.
- Support: Wix provides multiple support options, including phone, social media, community forums, email support, video tutorials, and a comprehensive knowledge base. The platform also offers priority support for higher-tier plans.
Netsuite
NetSuite Commerce is a fully integrated platform connecting various business aspects across multiple sales channels. It seamlessly combines enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, inventory management, finance, and more in a unified cloud interface.
Key omnichannel features and benefits
- End-to-End Real-Time Visibility: NetSuite provides comprehensive visibility of customers, employees, products, processes, partners, and vendors. This enables a 360-degree view of all customer touchpoints, making it easier for teams to track orders, manage invoices, and spot opportunities for upselling or cross-selling.
- Customization Abilities: NetSuite is highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor their management software and ecommerce websites to meet specific needs. It offers flexible design capabilities, unlimited layout control, and secure customizations maintained through platform upgrades.
- Robust Marketing Solutions: NetSuite enables targeted omnichannel marketing strategies through its CRM. It provides real-time access to critical customer data, facilitating personalized marketing campaigns across various channels like email, social media, and websites.
- Integration Across Channels: The platform ensures a seamless customer journey by integrating various digital touchpoints. This includes offering convenience features like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), and efficient home delivery options.
Target Business Size and Industry:
NetSuite caters to various industries, including retail, wholesale distribution, manufacturing, software, technology, and more. Due to its scalable nature, it’s suitable for businesses of various sizes, from small to large enterprises.
Pricing and Support Options:
- Pricing: Custom pricing is available upon request, and NetSuite Commerce offers a free tour to assess platform suitability.
- Support: The platform provides excellent customer support through various phone, chat, and email channels.
SAP Commerce Cloud
SAP Commerce Cloud is an innovative platform focused on intelligent solutions to personalize the customer experience.
Key omnichannel features and benefits
- Efficient Content Management: SAP Commerce Cloud enables the presentation and processing of large product information volumes, facilitating content consistency across multiple sales channels.
- Customer Experience Management: The Experience Management module tailors product information, providing personalized recommendations, targeted campaigns, and storefront customization.
- Inventory Management: Offering global real-time visibility, it streamlines order fulfillment, controls inventory, and improves order status visibility.
- Industry-Specific Accelerators: Ready-to-use solutions cater to specific industries, allowing businesses to launch an online presence quickly and customize as needed.
- Omnichannel Commerce: B2B and B2C Accelerators empower businesses to build omnichannel solutions, managing relationships, catalogs, quotes, and order history across touchpoints.
- Integration with Other SAP Solutions: SAP Commerce Cloud integrates well with other SAP solutions like SAP Marketing Cloud, SAP Service Cloud, and SAP Sales Cloud, enhancing its functionality and offering a more comprehensive solution.
Target Business Size and Industry:
SAP Commerce Cloud is particularly suitable for large enterprises and is capable of supporting various business models such as B2B, B2C, B2B2C, and D2C. It has preconfigured functions for retail, production, wholesale, telecommunications, travel, and public services and can be adapted to other industries.
Pricing and Support Options:
- Pricing: SAP Commerce Cloud follows a custom pricing model, and businesses can request a demo to assess its suitability.
- Support: SAP Commerce Cloud provides comprehensive support through a dedicated support portal, AI chatbots for 24/7 assistance, and integration with other SAP services like SAP Marketing and Service Cloud.
How To Choose The Right Platform Create A Successful Omnichannel Strategy
Choosing the right omnichannel platform involves several key steps:
- Define Your Needs and Goals: Identify the channels you want to market on and the features you need in an omnichannel platform. Consider whether you need automation, customization, and scalability. Defining your specific requirements will help narrow the search for the right platform.
- Evaluate Features and Integrations: Look for platforms that offer a range of features like automated bidding, keyword research, ad management, inventory management, and robust reporting. Ensure the platform integrates well with the channels and marketplaces you’re targeting.
- Consider Pricing and Scalability: Assess the pricing plans of each platform, ensuring they fit your budget and business needs. It’s crucial to choose a platform that can scale with your business growth.
- Assess Customer Support and Training: Check the platform’s level of customer support and training. 24/7 customer support and access to training resources are important for effective use of the platform.
- Trial the Platform: Before finalizing, take advantage of free trials or demos to test the platform’s features and assess its compatibility with your business.
When building your omnichannel marketing strategy, focus on:
- Understanding Your Customer: Gather data on customer behavior to optimize campaigns. Segment customers by demographics, purchase history, and engagement levels. Utilize social media and social listening tools for insights.
- Choosing the Right Channels: Identify where your customers are most active online and pick channels for interaction, content delivery, or selling.
- Consistent Brand Voice: Maintain a consistent brand identity across all channels. This involves aligning messaging, goals, and design to provide a seamless customer experience across different devices and platforms.
- Crafting Individual Experiences: Use data analytics to understand customer patterns and preferences, enabling personalized experiences. Customer journey mapping can help visualize and optimize the path from discovery to purchase.
Final Thought
We hope these 7 best omnichannel platforms provide you with the information needed to find the right one for your business. Why not try them out and see if they fit your expectations?
FAQs
For instance, customers can add items to their shopping cart via the mobile app and complete the purchase on a computer or through Alexa.
Additionally, Amazon’s Prime membership offers perks that are usable online and at physical locations, enhancing the overall customer experience. This comprehensive approach to retail, combining online and offline elements, exemplifies the core of the omnichannel strategy.
Omnichannel ecommerce can benefit your brand in several ways. Here are some of the benefits:
- Improved customer experience: Customers receive a consistent omnichannel brand experience across all touchpoints, including social, mobile, desktop, and email.
- Increased sales: A consistent omnichannel shopping experience across all channels allows customers to quickly pick up where they left off.
- Enhanced brand loyalty: Engaging with customers on their preferred channels can boost customer engagement and satisfaction, increasing customer retention and higher sales.
- Better insights: Omnichannel ecommerce provides a seamless and consistent shopping experience across all channels, building customer trust and increasing customer satisfaction and retention.