Last updated : April 02, 2026 4:02 pm
Mithun Shenoy, SVP and Head of the Retail and CPG Business Unit at Mastek talks about how retailers can build a truly connected omni-channel stack.
The reinvention of retail organisations around the omnichannel customer has been remarkable. Leading retailers are leveraging personalised, AI-driven algorithms and demand forecasting to improve the relevance of product recommendations and enable seamless buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) experiences. They are also integrating online and in-store shopping journeys in ways that feel intuitive and frictionless.
In short, today’s winners are retailers that deliver a truly connected omnichannel experience—one where backend efficiency ensures no stock mismatches, no missing loyalty points, and store associates who are fully equipped to support digital promotions and customer journeys.
Success does not come from ripping and replacing the bricks. It comes from intelligently integrating and layering clicks and bricks.
An omni-channel myth to bid goodbye
Many retailers fall into the “greenfield fallacy” when pursuing their omnichannel ambitions—the belief that a connected experience requires a complete platform overhaul. While omnichannel does require a reset in mindset, it does not require starting from scratch.
Legacy systems hold years of valuable transactional intelligence and should be treated as a retailer’s strongest ally in charting omnichannel success. The real challenge is not the age of technology, but data silos.
A recent KPMG survey of consumer and retail leaders found that while 60% of respondents collected frequent customer feedback, there was still what they described as “stubborn data disconnects” between channels.
Before building anything new, retailers must first map their existing technology stack. A thorough audit across POS, OMS, WMS, CRM, eCommerce platforms, and loyalty systems should answer three fundamental questions:
An integration readiness score can help answer these questions, especially as AI-led omnichannel systems demand high levels of data accuracy and consistency. This score should assess how well products are represented across channels, how effectively online experiences convert, how closely inventory aligns with demand, and how customer relationships extend beyond transactions
The four pillars of a connected omnichannel stack
I recommend the following four-pillar customer-first strategy, built on the foundation of a shared architecture, which allows each pillar to be developed incrementally.
1. Unified customer identity
A well-designed customer data platform can serve as the connective tissue to provide a single customer view across channels. This should integrate all customer touchpoints — online shopping, in-store purchases, loyalty across all channels, and customer service interactions.
2. Real-time inventory visibility
This makes a retailer’s omnichannel retail strategy visible to customers. It is the glue that holds the BOPIS, ship-from-store, and endless aisle strategies together with an accurate, centralised, and unified system of inventory management, fulfilment, and returns. Adoption of RFID and cloud-based inventory management can realise this objective.
3. Consistent Commerce Logic
Product availability, pricing, promotional campaigns, and offers must remain identical and consistent across all the channels that customers interact with. This is the only way retailers can build trust and confidence with shoppers.
Achieving this requires an API-first design of systems that places connectivity at the core. From product catalogues to pricing, inventory, checkout processes, and loyalty programs, they must work the same — online and in-store. A headless architecture framework provides retailers with the freedom of such agility to deliver consistent brand-first experiences without the disadvantages of legacy systems.
4. Intelligent fulfilment and last-mile orchestration
The order management system (OMS) is the central nervous system of omnichannel fulfilment. A powerful technology platform, it orchestrates data and activity for seamless fulfilment, including the much under-rated touchpoint of the returns experience.
Intelligent OMS platforms and solutions provide the competitive advantage to flexibly evolve, scale and adapt in real-time to rapidly changing consumer demands. Modular and AI-powered systems transform the OMS into a strategic growth engine, far beyond transactional efficiency.
From quick wins to full-stack connectivity
Point-to-point integrations may yield short-term wins but can turn into a nightmare when attempting to scale. Based on the individual demands of scale, retailers have a fair range of options.
Whichever route is chosen, phased progress to full-stack connectivity is advisable. As a first step, unifying inventory and order data and consolidating customer profiles will build a solidly connected core. Customer experience can then be activated by enabling BOPIS, ship-from-store, endless aisle and a unified loyalty program. AI-driven personalisation can then be brought in to activate predictive fulfilment. Finally, an event mesh (or a network of event brokers that dynamically routes events between various applications and devices across environments) may be used to create a dynamic, interconnected network of data, applications, and AI-powered agents across an enterprise.
Avoiding common pitfalls
Retailers should be mindful to avoid:
Key takeaway
True omnichannel success lies in making every channel feel like the same brand. It is connectivity—across data, systems, and experiences—that enables this. Omnichannel is not a one-time transformation, but a continuous journey of adaptive intelligence and agility
About:
Mithun Shenoy is SVP and Head of the Retail and CPG Business Unit at Mastek, where he leads digital transformation initiatives for global retail and consumer brands. With over 20 years of experience in digital engineering, enterprise modernization, and digital commerce, he combines strategic leadership with hands-on execution.