How omnichannel is meeting the moment for large merchants
A fragmented consumer journey creates friction. It can cause merchants to miss out on revenue and lead to elevated risk. This makes seamless omnichannel experiences much more than a “nice to have” — they’re now a business imperative.
4 minute read
Key takeaways
- Consumers expect consistent, seamless experiences across every channel.
- Payments and data form the foundation of effective omnichannel success.
- Post-purchase experiences play a critical role in brand loyalty.
Today’s consumer journey requires connected ecosystems
Consumers now expect a seamless experience from discovery to checkout and beyond. Having to deal with extra steps creates friction that can lead to lost revenue.
Meanwhile, discovery is now more fragmented than ever. People are finding products in new ways, with social-driven shopping in the U.S. reaching $114.7 billion in 2025, and still growing.1 AI is fast becoming a major shopping tool, making it easier for customers to pinpoint what they’re looking for, and retailers are seeing real gains from the recommendations this generates.
For merchants, your goal is delivering seamless, consistent and personalized experiences, however the customer chooses to shop. Delivering a consistent experience at scale requires real-time connectivity across payments and customer data systems.
After product discovery turns to purchase, you face the challenge of unifying payment and other data across multiple touchpoints. If you can achieve this effectively, it opens the door to providing a better experience that keeps the omnichannel shopper engaged with targeted offers and advertising. Robin Reodica, SVP, Merchant Services Product, Bank of America, believes that it all boils down to really knowing your customer, wherever and however they purchase.
“Seeing the different payment methods that each customer uses can help merchants understand how they’re moving across the channels.”
Smarter payments
Payments are where consumer confidence is won or lost, and technologies are getting smarter all the time. For example, network tokenization is critical for security and fraud reduction, but it also helps link consumers with their purchases and cards. To see different payments methods across multiple channels, merchants need an efficient payment orchestration from a reliable provider.
“It helps if you have one token or number that’s associated with a consumer. The payment authorization network, that behind-the-scenes technology, will help the merchant achieve their goal of knowing the consumer.”
Data needs to be synchronized across inventory, pricing, relationship management, promotions and payment systems, and AI has a role here too in helping to optimize operations and filter data. Reodica says, “Merchants need to personalize their message by being strategic and focusing on what’s really relevant, and AI can help with this.” AI can also facilitate swift returns and help cut chargebacks by reducing errors.
If a customer has left an item in their online shopping cart for a few weeks, AI-driven data could be used to trigger a special offer to incentivize them to complete the purchase.
Changing post-purchase expectations
With more flexibility in purchasing and payments, people want the same freedom when it comes to returns — from faster refunds to multiple ways to return merchandise — and the post-purchase experience can have an outsized effect on consumer brand perception.
Returns are now a huge part of most businesses. The ideal is to be able to return via any channel without friction, such as by mail with a return code found online or by returning an online purchase in-store. “We’re getting there, but there needs to be more flexibility between online and brick and mortar channels,” says Reodica.
But behind the scenes, systems are sometimes not optimized for seeing returns or chargebacks, leading to delays and frustration. Baseline expectations for consumers now include chatbots and AI for ordering, and greater visibility into inventory. This provides large merchants with major opportunities to gain a competitive advantage by improving the shopping experience at every stage through features like predictive fulfillment and personalized incentives.
Moving forward with confidence
Key trends that are already in progress include ensuring that orchestration of payments happens in a way that doesn’t create silos. This could mean consolidating vendors with different systems into one solution and making it easier for merchants to adopt this. As Reodica says, “Experiences are important, and payments need to be considered as part of this. To ensure the journey continues, retailers should be asking themselves, ‘How can I partner with institutions to help make it easier for consumers to engage with my business, now and over the longer term?’”
How Bank of America can help
Bank of America uses payments data to give you a complete view of how consumers interact with your business. By securely connecting transactions wherever they happen, whether that’s online, in-store or via an app, we can help you to identify your customers more easily, reduce friction at checkout and simplify returns and refunds. The result is a more seamless customer experience and a platform for long-term growth.
Contact your Bank of America representative today and start your own journey.
Robin Reodica | SVP, Merchant Services Product, Bank of America
Merchant Services
Payments are more than transactions. At Bank of America, they are a relationship. A relationship powered by technology and driven by our 24/7 commitment to the growth and success of your business.
