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Delivering unified retail is a priority for brands of every size. Yet while many are making progress, new research shows that one group is finding it significantly harder than the rest.
Just 21% of retailers turning over £25-£50 million describe themselves as fully unified, making them the least likely revenue group to have a completely connected online and offline setup.
That finding comes from our latest research report, published in partnership with Shopify, which explores how UK retailers at different stages of growth are progressing towards unified retail. Based on a survey of 200 UK retail decision-makers, it highlights that while 89% of retailers believe unified retail is essential to future growth, almost 8 in 10 merchants operating at a mid-market level have yet to unify their retail operations.
At first glance, the numbers seem counterintuitive. Small retailers often have fewer resources to invest in new tech, while large organisations typically have a lot more stores, systems and processes to manage. But it's businesses in the middle that seem to be making the slowest progress.
So why are mid-market merchants more likely to hit a wall? And what can they do to keep moving towards unified retail?
More tools, more problems
By the time a retailer reaches £25 million in turnover, the business often looks very different to when it first started out. Additional stores, increased warehouse space, expanded sales channels, larger teams and broader fulfilment networks all mean more parts to manage.
It’s also fairly common for customer expectations to grow in tandem with the business. Shoppers look for consistent pricing, stock visibility, flexible delivery and return options, and joined-up experiences regardless of how or where they choose to shop.
To support those evolving needs, retailers often introduce new tech. eCommerce platforms, POS, inventory systems, fulfilment software and customer data platforms each solve specific requirements, however, keeping those systems connected can quickly become a huge hurdle that’s difficult to overcome.
Our research suggests many mid-market retailers have reached that point. 43% still rely on partially connected systems, while a further 29% continue operating in primarily omnichannel environments with limited integration.
Stuck between simplicity and scale
Retailers with lower turnover often benefit from relatively small and straightforward operations. With fewer locations and processes to coordinate, it's often easier to deliver joined-up experiences.
At the opposite end of the market, enterprise retailers face significantly more complexity, but this can be offset by dedicated digital transformation teams, much larger tech budgets, and the resources needed to modernise infrastructure right across the business.
Mid-market retailers often find themselves somewhere in between those two positions.
Operational demands have increased significantly, while investment has to compete with every other priority, from opening new locations and expanding product ranges to recruitment and marketing. Large-scale transformation projects become harder to justify, even as disconnected processes begin creating friction throughout the business.
Many retailers continue growing successfully, but they often do so by relying on multiple fragmented platforms, dated tech stacks, and manual workarounds that can't seamlessly scale in line with growth.
Those compromises don't stay behind the scenes. Four in ten retailers have experienced customer complaints linked to inconsistent experiences, while 38% have lost sales because of inaccurate or unavailable inventory information. While those findings apply across the retail sector, they're likely to be amplified for merchants already operating with disconnected systems.
How mid-market retailers can move closer to unified retail
Few mid-market retailers can replace every system overnight. Instead, unified retail is often built incrementally by reducing operational friction, improving how existing systems work together, and making more considered technology investments. With that in mind, here are five practical steps retailers can take.
1. Start with the biggest operational blockers
Not every disconnected process carries the same commercial impact. Begin by identifying where fragmented systems are creating the greatest operational strain, whether that's inventory visibility, customer data, fulfilment or in-store operations.
Focusing investment on the areas that make a marked difference to customers and day-to-day operations creates immediate improvements while laying the groundwork for wider transformation.
2. Join up existing systems before adding more
Introducing another platform to your tech stack can sometimes feel like the quickest way to solve a new challenge. But if your existing systems remain disconnected, every new addition potentially increases friction.
Creating stronger connections between eCommerce, POS, inventory and customer data helps reduce manual workarounds, improves visibility across the business and creates a more consistent experience for both customers and employees.
3. Invest in connected capabilities
Our research shows retailers are already prioritising the capabilities that support more connected operations. AI-driven personalisation tops the list, followed by inventory management, integration platforms and middleware, customer data platforms and POS modernisation.
Rather than investing in isolated tech, focus on capabilities that strengthen the foundations of unified retail and support multiple parts of the business at once.
4. Focus on outcomes, not individual features
Retailers often compare platforms feature by feature. But unified retail depends on how well those platforms work together. Will a new investment reduce manual processes? Improve stock accuracy? Give in-store and online teams access to the same information? Or make it easier to introduce new stores, channels or services?
5. Pick providers that understand the mid-market
Not every platform or agency is the right fit for every retailer. Look for providers with experience supporting merchants of a similar size and operational profile. They're more likely to understand the trade-offs involved, recommend the right solutions, and help retailers get more value from every tech investment.
Download Selling in sync to explore the full findings from 200 UK retail decision-makers, including where retailers are investing next and what's holding them back.
