In today’s competitive retail landscape, having a strong online presence is no longer enough. Customers expect a seamless shopping experience across all channels, whether they’re browsing on their phones, shopping in-store, or interacting with your brand on social media. This is where omnichannel ecommerce comes in.

Omnichannel ecommerce refers to the practice of integrating your sales channels to provide a unified customer experience. This means that no matter how a customer interacts with your brand, they’ll have a consistent experience.

Here are some of the benefits of using an omnichannel ecommerce platform:

·  Boosted productivity and efficiency: By streamlining your operations across all of your sales channels, you can save time and money.

·  Improved customer satisfaction: Omnichannel ecommerce can provide a more convenient and enjoyable shopping experience for your customers, which can lead to higher satisfaction and loyalty.

·  Increased sales: By making it easier for customers to buy from you, omnichannel ecommerce can help you boost your sales.

Now that we’ve established the importance of omnichannel ecommerce, let’s take a look at three popular ecommerce platforms: SiteGiant, Bigseller, and Shopify.

SiteGiant

SiteGiant is an omnichannel ecommerce platform that offers a comprehensive solution for businesses managing multiple sales channels. It’s particularly popular in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia.

Core Omnichannel Features of SiteGiant

• Centralized Dashboard: SiteGiant provides a unified platform to manage various sales channels, including market place like shopee, lazada, tiktok shop , amazon (avail end of 2024), social media, and your own website. This centralizes product information, inventory, and order management.
• Inventory Management: Real-time inventory synchronization across all channels ensures accurate stock levels, preventing overselling and stockouts.
• Order Management: The platform consolidates orders from different channels into a single interface, streamlining order processing and fulfillment
• Product Management: You can efficiently manage or copy product listings, images, descriptions, and pricing across multiple channels from a single location.
• Marketplace Integration: SiteGiant integrates with several popular marketplaces in Southeast Asia, offering features like product listing optimization, order synchronization, and performance analytics.
• Build in webstore: Sitegiant offers built in webstore function to build your own website, and integrate with Sitegiant ERP by default, the webstore function and design is limited compared to Shopify, but it is good enough for a simple e-commerce website.

Advanced Omnichannel Capabilities

• ERP Integration: SiteGiant can integrate with ERP systems, providing a seamless flow of data between your ecommerce operations and back-office functions.
• Warehouse Management System (WMS): The platform offers WMS capabilities to optimize inventory management, picking, packing, and shipping processes.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM): While not a primary focus, SiteGiant provides basic CRM functionalities to manage customer data and interactions.
• Marketing Tools: The platform includes marketing tools like email marketing, promotions, and customer segmentation to support omnichannel marketing efforts.
• OMO system: SiteGIant provides Online Merge Offline (OMO) system bridging the gap between online and offline business to create seamless experience and loyalty program across channels.
• Mobile App: SiteGiant helps retailer and wholesaler create their own eCommerce mobile app that sync with the ERP system, with smooth user experience.

Benefits of SiteGiant for Omnichannel Commerce

Comprehensive Solution: SiteGiant offers a wide range of features, covering various aspects of omnichannel ecommerce.

•  Efficiency: Centralized management and automation can significantly improve operational efficiency.
• Scalability: The platform can handle growing businesses with increasing sales volumes and product lines.
• Productivity: SiteGiant ERP system and WMS system dramatically increase the productivity of retailer and eCommerce seller, save man power.
• Local Focus: SiteGiant’s strong presence in Southeast Asia provides in-depth knowledge of local markets and consumer behavior.

SiteGiant is a suitable choice for businesses seeking a robust omnichannel solution with a strong focus on Southeast Asian markets. It’s particularly beneficial for companies with complex operations, multiple sales channels, and a need for advanced features like ERP and WMS integration.

BigSeller

BigSeller is an omnichannel ecommerce platform primarily focused on the Southeast Asian market. It offers a suite of tools designed to streamline multi-channel selling, inventory management, and order fulfillment.

Core Omnichannel Features of BigSeller

• Centralized Platform: BigSeller provides a single dashboard to manage multiple online stores, including marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada, Tokopedia, and your own website. This centralized view allows for efficient management of products, orders, and inventory.
• Inventory Management: The platform offers real-time inventory synchronization across all sales channels, preventing stockouts and overselling. You can also manage warehouse and shelf locations for better inventory control.
• Order Management: BigSeller automates order processing, allowing you to handle orders from different platforms in one place. This includes features like bulk order processing, shipping label generation, and order status updates.
• Product Management: You can efficiently manage product listings, descriptions, images, and pricing across multiple channels. Bulk uploads and editing are supported for time-saving.
• Marketplace Integration: BigSeller offers deep integration with major Southeast Asian marketplaces, providing features like product listing optimization, order synchronization, and performance analytics.

Additional Omnichannel Capabilities

• Shipping Management: While not as comprehensive as dedicated shipping solutions, Bigseller offers basic shipping tools, including label generation and carrier integrations.
• Customer Management: Although not a primary focus, Bigseller provides basic customer data management, allowing you to track customer orders and purchase history.
• Analytics: The platform offers basic sales and inventory analytics to help you monitor performance and make data-driven decisions.

Benefits of BigSeller for Omnichannel Commerce

• Simplified Management: By centralizing operations, BigSeller reduces the complexity of managing multiple online stores.
• Cost-Effective: The platform is free to use, making it an attractive option for small to medium-sized businesses.
• Focus on Southeast Asia: BigSeller has a strong presence in the Southeast Asian market, offering deep integration with local marketplaces.

BigSeller is a solid choice for businesses primarily operating in Southeast Asia that require a free, easy-to-use platform for managing multiple online stores. However, if you need advanced omnichannel features, robust analytics, or global expansion capabilities, you might consider other platforms like Shopify Plus or dedicated enterprise-level solutions.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus, the enterprise-level plan of the popular ecommerce platform, is designed to cater to high-volume and complex businesses. Its omnichannel capabilities are particularly robust, allowing businesses to seamlessly integrate various sales channels and deliver consistent customer experiences.

Core Omnichannel Features of Shopify Plus

• Unified Commerce Platform: Shopify Plus provides a centralized hub for managing all sales channels, from online stores and mobile apps to physical retail locations. This unified view of inventory, orders, and customer data is crucial for effective omnichannel management
• Inventory Management: The platform offers sophisticated inventory management tools to ensure accurate stock levels across all channels. This prevents overselling, reduces out-of-stock issues, and optimizes fulfillment.  
• Point of Sale (POS): Shopify Plus integrates seamlessly with Shopify POS, enabling retailers to manage in-store sales, inventory, and customer data efficiently. Features like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and buy online, return in-store (BORIS) are easily implemented.
• Order Management: Centralized order management allows businesses to process and fulfill orders from any channel, improving efficiency and reducing errors.
• Customer Data Unification: Shopify Plus collects and unifies customer data from all touchpoints, providing a comprehensive view of customer behavior and preferences. This information can be used to personalize marketing campaigns and improve customer experiences
• Flexible Fulfillment: The platform supports various fulfillment options, including in-house, dropshipping, and third-party fulfillment services. This flexibility allows businesses to choose the best fulfillment method for each order based on factors like product type, location, and shipping costs.
• International Expansion: Shopify Plus offers tools and features to help businesses expand globally, including multi-currency support, localized checkout, and international shipping options.
• Advanced Omnichannel Capabilities
• Shopify Flow: This automation tool allows businesses to create custom workflows to streamline processes across different channels. For example, you can automatically update inventory levels when a sale occurs on any channel or send personalized email notifications based on customer behavior.
• Shopify Scripts: For highly customized omnichannel experiences, Shopify Scripts enables developers to create custom logic and integrations. This can be used to implement complex pricing rules, promotions, or fulfillment strategies.
• Partners and Apps: Shopify Plus offers a vast ecosystem of partners and apps that can extend the platform’s capabilities. Many of these partners specialize in omnichannel solutions, such as order orchestration, returns management, and customer loyalty programs.  

Benefits of Shopify Plus for Omnichannel Commerce

• Enhanced Customer Experience: By providing a consistent experience across all channels, Shopify Plus helps build customer loyalty and drive repeat business.
• Increased Sales: Omnichannel strategies have been proven to boost sales by offering customers more convenient shopping options.
• Improved Operational Efficiency: Centralized management of inventory, orders, and customer data streamlines operations and reduces costs.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: The platform provides valuable insights into customer behavior and performance metrics, enabling data-driven decision making.
• Scalability: Shopify Plus is designed to handle high-volume traffic and rapid growth, making it a suitable choice for scaling businesses.  

By leveraging the omnichannel capabilities of Shopify Plus, businesses can create seamless shopping experiences, increase sales, and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.  

Sitegiant vs Bigseller vs Shopify Plus

Feature	Shopify Plus	BigSeller	SiteGiant
Platform Focus	Enterprise Businesses	Southeast Asian Marketplaces	Omnichannel Commerce (Southeast Asia)
Pricing	Varies (starts around $2,000/month)	Free	Varies (generally higher than BigSeller)
Ease of Use	Moderate	Easy	Moderate to complex
Omnichannel Features	Extensive (Shopify Flow, Scripts, App Marketplace)	Basic (marketplace integration, order management)	Comprehensive (ERP, WMS integration)
Inventory Management	Advanced (real-time, multi-location)	Real-time, multi-channel	Advanced (real-time, multi-location)
Order Management	Centralized (across all channels)	Centralized (marketplace orders)	Centralized (across all channels)
Customer Management	Unified customer data	Basic customer data	Basic (CRM functionalities)
Marketing Tools	Extensive (built-in & app integrations)	Limited	Marketing tools included (email, promotions)
Analytics	Advanced (customizable reports)	Basic sales & inventory reports	Good (customizable reports)
Scalability	Excellent	Good (for Southeast Asia)	Good (scalable)
Global Reach	Global	Limited (Southeast Asia focus)	Strong in Southeast Asia
Customer Support	Good	Variable (reported inconsistencies)	Good

As you can see, the best platform for you will depend on your specific needs. Here’s a quick summary to help you decide:

• Shopify Plus is the best option for large businesses that need a scalable, feature-rich platform with a global reach.
• BigSeller is a good option for small and medium-sized businesses that are selling on marketplaces in Southeast Asia.
• SiteGiant is a good option for businesses of all sizes that are looking for a comprehensive omnichannel solution with a strong focus on Southeast Asia.

In conclusion, omnichannel e-commerce isn’t just about convenience; it’s about empowering multi-store owners to save time, work smarter, and ultimately earn more. By breaking down siloed operations and creating a unified sales ecosystem, you can unlock the true potential of your business and orchestrate a symphony of success.