Unified commerce

Unified commerce means one shopper identity, shared payment tokens, and consistent data across every channel — web, mobile app, and physical store. VINR achieves this through cross-channel shopper recognition, shared tokenization, and a unified transaction history: a card saved during online checkout works at the terminal, a loyalty balance earned in-store is redeemable through the app, and every order — regardless of origin — appears in one place for your team and for your customer.

Why unified commerce mattersAskCopy

The table below contrasts a fragmented multi-channel setup against a unified commerce approach across four dimensions that directly affect revenue and operations.

What VINR unifiesAskCopy

The following capabilities together form VINR's unified commerce layer. Each links to the dedicated reference page.

• Shopper recognition and shared tokens — a shopper profile anchors across channels; the same pm_ token works online, in-app, and at the terminal. See Tokenization.
• Endless aisle — staff complete a sale for out-of-stock items by taking payment in-store and fulfilling from another location or warehouse; the order enters the same transaction history. See In-person payments.
• Click and collect (BOPIS) — customers buy online and collect in-store; the in-store handoff is linked to the original online payment. See Click and collect.
• Buy online, return in-store (BORIS) — store staff can look up and refund any online order directly from the terminal. See In-person refunds.
• Pay by link in-store — staff generate a payment link from the terminal or dashboard for a remote or contactless handoff; the customer pays on their own device. See Payment links.
• MOTO (mail order / telephone order) — agents take card details over the phone and charge a stored or new pm_ token without a customer-facing checkout page. See In-person features.
• Cross-channel loyalty — a single loyalty balance accumulates and is redeemable regardless of whether the purchase was online, in-app, or in-store. See Cross-channel loyalty.
• Digital receipts — receipts are delivered by email or SMS after any channel's transaction and are accessible in the shopper's profile. See Receipts and engagement.
• Shopper insights — unified transaction history and loyalty data feed into a single analytics view; segment shoppers across channels from one place. See Engagement analytics.

How channels share a shopper identityAskCopy

A shopper's email address or phone number is the anchor for their VINR profile. When a shopper provides either at any touchpoint — checkout, loyalty sign-up, or terminal prompt — VINR resolves or creates a cust_ record and links all subsequent activity to it: payment tokens, loyalty balance, and order history follow the profile, not the channel.

PrerequisitesAskCopy

Before enabling unified commerce flows you need the following in place.

• A VINR account with both online and in-person processing enabled. Contact your account manager if either is not active on your account.
• At least one online integration: either Hosted Checkout or Elements, so web and mobile payments create cust_ profiles.
• At least one VINR terminal provisioned and assigned to a location, so in-store transactions can resolve and update shopper profiles. See In-person payments for terminal setup and pairing.
• Shopper identifier collection enabled at checkout — pass customer.email or customer.phone when creating a payment, or enable the terminal's shopper prompt in the Dashboard.

Next stepsAskCopy