Ecommerce Trends: What Matters as Much as Tech to Get Omnichannel Experiences Right

Omnichannel Ecommerce Is No Longer Optional — It's the Standard

For years, the conversation around omnichannel retail was largely aspirational. Brands talked about connecting their digital and physical touchpoints, but execution remained inconsistent. Fast forward to 2025 and 2026, and the landscape has shifted dramatically. According to data from Digital Commerce 360's Top 1000 Database, 85.9% of leading retail chains offered some form of omnichannel fulfillment option in 2025. That number alone tells a compelling story: omnichannel is no longer a differentiator — it's the baseline expectation.

But here's the question that retailers and ecommerce leaders should be asking themselves right now: if nearly every major chain is offering omnichannel options, what actually separates the winners from the rest? The answer, increasingly, goes beyond technology and infrastructure alone.

What Omnichannel Fulfillment Looks Like in 2025–2026

Before diving into what distinguishes great omnichannel experiences, it's worth understanding what these experiences actually look like on the ground. The most common omnichannel fulfillment options deployed by top retail chains include:

• Curbside pickup: Customers order online and collect their purchases from a designated spot outside the store without ever stepping inside. This surged in popularity during the pandemic and has remained a staple offering.
• Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS): One of the most widely adopted omnichannel strategies, BOPIS allows shoppers to browse and purchase online, then collect their items at a physical location — often within hours.
• In-store stock visibility online: Retailers sharing real-time inventory data on their websites so customers can confirm product availability at their nearest location before making a trip.

These aren't new concepts, but their widespread adoption reflects how deeply omnichannel thinking has embedded itself into modern retail strategy. Companies like Academy Sports and Outdoors have gone further, tightening their fulfillment data-awareness across channels to reduce inefficiencies and improve accuracy. Kohl's, meanwhile, has focused on reducing friction by expanding omnichannel options that simplify the path to purchase for their customers.

The Human Element: Why Technology Alone Isn't Enough

Here's where the story gets especially interesting. A new consumer survey conducted by Digital Commerce 360 and Bizrate Insights — drawing on responses from 1,005 online shoppers in March 2026 — dug into not just which omnichannel services shoppers used most frequently, but what factors genuinely contributed to a positive customer experience. The findings point to something retailers must not overlook: technology and operational infrastructure are table stakes, but the human and experiential elements of service are what make omnichannel truly shine.

Shoppers aren't just evaluating whether a store offers BOPIS. They're evaluating how seamlessly the experience flows from click to collection. They're noticing whether the pick-up area is easy to find, whether staff are helpful and informed, and whether the handoff from digital to physical feels natural or awkward. In short, the emotional and interpersonal dimensions of the shopping experience remain critical — even in a world driven by automation and data.

This is a crucial insight for any ecommerce or retail leader investing heavily in platforms, APIs, and fulfillment technology. The investment is necessary, but it is not sufficient. If the in-store experience fails to match the promise made online, the entire omnichannel journey suffers.

Key Lessons for Retailers Building Omnichannel Strategies

So what should brands take away from these trends as they refine their omnichannel approach for 2026 and beyond? Several themes emerge clearly from the data and from the experiences of leading retail chains.

1. Data Integration Across Channels Is Non-Negotiable

One of the biggest pain points in omnichannel execution is data fragmentation. When inventory data, customer order history, and fulfillment status are siloed across systems, the experience breaks down. Academy Sports and Outdoors' focus on tightening data-awareness across channels is a model worth emulating. Retailers need unified data platforms that give every part of the business — and ultimately the customer — a consistent, accurate view of inventory and order status.

2. Reducing Friction Is a Competitive Advantage

Kohl's approach to minimizing friction through omnichannel options highlights an important principle: every extra step, every moment of confusion, every failed handoff is a risk to conversion and loyalty. The brands that win in omnichannel are those that obsessively map the customer journey and remove barriers at every stage — whether that's streamlining the BOPIS checkout flow, improving curbside signage, or sending proactive order-ready notifications.

3. Staff Training and In-Store Culture Matter

No amount of technology investment will rescue an omnichannel experience if store employees aren't trained, empowered, and motivated to deliver on the brand's digital promises. Retailers need to invest in training programs that help floor staff understand how online orders flow into their systems, how to resolve issues quickly, and how to create a welcoming environment for click-and-collect customers who are often in a hurry.

4. Real-Time Inventory Visibility Builds Trust

Displaying in-store stock status online is only valuable if that data is accurate and current. Customers who show up expecting a product to be available — only to find shelves empty — are unlikely to trust that retailer's digital experience again. Investing in real-time inventory management is not just an operational improvement; it's a trust-building exercise that directly impacts customer loyalty.

Looking Ahead: Omnichannel in 2026 and Beyond

The 2026 Omnichannel Report from Digital Commerce 360 paints a picture of an industry that has broadly embraced omnichannel fulfillment but is now grappling with the next layer of the challenge: consistency, quality, and the human factors that turn a functional experience into a memorable one. As more retailers reach feature parity on the technology side, the battleground is shifting to execution, culture, and the subtle details that customers notice — even if they can't always articulate them.

For ecommerce and retail leaders, the message is clear. Omnichannel technology is the foundation. But what gets built on top of that foundation — the training, the processes, the culture, the relentless focus on friction reduction — is what will define the brands that customers choose again and again. In 2026, the retailers who understand this distinction are the ones best positioned to thrive.