Retail systems traditionally organize around channels (online, in-store, mobile) while customers think in goals like "I want it today" or "I need to return this easily." This misalignment causes inconsistent delivery promises, inefficient fulfillment routing, and broken customer trust. Intent-driven commerce aligns stores, apps, and fulfillment by capturing real-time signals (location, device, time, basket size) and coordinating responses across pricing, inventory, UI, and customer service simultaneously. The technical foundation requires decoupled frontends, real-time inventory visibility, unified customer data, and composable commerce architecture. Companies implementing strong omnichannel strategies retain 89% of customers versus 33% for weak approaches, with omnichannel shoppers delivering 30% higher lifetime value.
