Omnichannel commerce is a sales approach that focuses on providing a unified experience to customers across all channels. According to the [Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2017/01/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-omnichannel-retailing-works), 20% of customers only shop in stores, 7% only shop online, and the remaining 73% use a mix of multiple channels.

Omnichannel commerce looks to connect the entire customer experience, whether it’s shopping on a mobile device or in-person at a brick and mortar store. To do this, retailers must seamlessly integrate their [e-commerce technology](https://resources.fabric.inc/blog/ecommerce-technology) across all channels.

## Integrating channels for omnichannel commerce

Integration is critical to omnichannel commerce as retailers must establish a free flow of real-time information between all components in their ecosystem including websites, physical stores, marketplaces, warehouses, and 3PLs.

This requires a flexible commerce solution that is directly compatible with major third-party service providers and allows you to use your own custom applications. The best way to ensure seamless integration between all components of your e-commerce solution is by following a [MACH architecture](https://resources.fabric.inc/blog/mach).

MACH stands for Microservices, API, Cloud, Headless. By using microservices you are able to select the best application for each specific function. APIs ensure that all parts of your e-commerce ecosystem are connected and able to communicate in real-time. [Headless commerce](https://resources.fabric.inc/blog/headless-commerce) allows you to easily adjust the customer-facing frontend to optimize the customer experience at each different touchpoint.

## An example of omnichannel commerce

Retailers need consistent product messaging to ensure a unified customer experience across all channels. This means having a central hub of product data that serves as a single source of truth to use for all product information.

Using a tool like [fabric Product Information Manager](/content/pim/index.html) ensures your product information is consistent and up to date. It allows you to share product data to online and offline channels like e-commerce marketplaces and brick-and-mortar stores, and you can enrich your product details for trending customer preferences.

By [making use of PIM](/content/blog/pim-software/index.html) and other commerce-related microservices, you can start structuring your business for omnichannel selling.