unified commerce starts with reliable connectivity

Evolve recently partnered with PMC for Winning the Race to Unified Commerce, an event bringing industry leaders together to explore what helps businesses turn transformation plans into measurable progress.

The research from PMC and Retail Economics is now live. Its findings highlight a clear connection between transformation progress and the foundations needed to support it.

For Evolve, reliable, secure connectivity is an essential part of those foundations. From keeping checkouts running to connecting stores, cloud platforms and the data that powers AI, the network supports the capabilities retailers depend on today and want to introduce tomorrow.

What are the leading 11% doing differently?

The research surveyed 100 senior leaders across consumer-facing industries, each representing a business with a turnover of at least £100 million.

Of those businesses, 11 stood out for combining strong transformation momentum with the readiness to deliver it. Named the “11% Club”, every member reports being ahead of their transformation plans.

Compared with the other 89 businesses surveyed:

• All 11 have connected systems, data and architecture fully in place, compared with 44% of the rest.
• 10 in 11 have shared ownership, decision rights and accountability fully established, compared with 54%.
• 10 in 11 have delivery sequencing, dependencies and risk management fully established, compared with 53%.
• 10 in 11 have team capability, change adoption and partner support fully established, compared with 48%.
• Nine in 11 measure ROI very effectively, compared with 30%.

These findings point to the importance of technology, people and delivery working towards the same commercial objectives. Connectivity provides the infrastructure that helps those connected systems operate reliably across an estate.

Why does connectivity matter to unified commerce?

Unified commerce relies on information moving between stores, online channels and core business systems. A stock update, a loyalty transaction or a collection order needs to reach the right system when it matters.

That makes the network part of the customer experience.

An interrupted connection can delay payments, prevent colleagues from accessing cloud applications or disrupt the flow of information between a store and the wider business. As retailers introduce more connected services, those dependencies grow.

The same applies to AI ambitions. Reliable connectivity helps make data available to the systems that use it. Its value sits alongside the integration, data quality, ownership and adoption needed to turn that information into useful decisions.

How does Evolve help build that foundation?

Evolve’s robust connectivity helps retailers build resilience into their transformation plans.

Our approach includes carrier-agnostic connectivity, multiple connection paths and 4G/5G failover options, supported by our UK-based, 24/7 multilingual network operations centre. These capabilities help businesses reduce reliance on a single connection and keep their sites supported around the clock.

For retailers modernising existing stores or expanding their estate, that means considering connectivity alongside checkout systems, cloud services, security and new digital capabilities.

Planning these requirements together helps ensure the network has the resilience and capacity to support each stage of growth.

What did the event bring into focus?

Evolve’s Neil Muttock contributed to the discussions alongside peers from Clekt, Kubus and e2e-assure, with PMC’s Richard Lowe and Dan Jelfs hosting.

Tash Courtenay-Smith, CMO of Bodycare Stores, shared a practical perspective on connecting store infrastructure with wider ambitions for social, AI and estate expansion. Her contribution illustrated how store networks, security, core IT, checkout and integrated data flows need to work together as a business grows.

For retailers managing legacy systems and live operations, this raises a practical question: what needs to be ready before the next capability can deliver value?

What should retailers assess next?

Use the research as a starting point for reviewing your own foundations:

• Can your connectivity support the systems and services in your transformation plan?
• What happens to critical store operations if a connection fails?
• Are network capacity and resilience considered before new capabilities are introduced?
• Do technology teams, operational teams and partners share clear ownership?
• Can you measure how each investment improves delivery and commercial performance?

The research highlights several conditions that support progress. A dependable network helps provide the technical foundation on which connected retail services can run.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 11% Club?

It is the group of businesses in PMC and Retail Economics’ research that meet high thresholds for both transformation momentum and execution readiness. Every member reports being ahead of plan.

How does connectivity support AI adoption?

Connectivity enables data to move between stores, business systems and cloud platforms. Reliable connections support that flow as retailers introduce and scale AI capabilities.

Where can I access the research?

Download Winning the Race to Unified Commerce to explore the full 11% Club profile, transformation matrix and practical playbook.

Thank you to PMC for bringing everyone together to discuss the steps towards unified commerce.

Talk to Evolve about building the connectivity foundation for your next stage of transformation.