Emerging Omnichannel Commerce Channels: Social, Voice, AR, and Livestreaming

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the boundaries between commerce, content, and community are dissolving. Brands and retailers are no longer just meeting customers where they are—they’re engaging them in new, immersive ways across a growing array of digital channels. Social commerce, voice commerce, augmented reality (AR), and livestream shopping are at the forefront of this transformation, reshaping the omnichannel landscape and setting new standards for customer engagement, personalization, and business agility.

The New Frontier: Opportunities and Challenges

Social Commerce

Social commerce seamlessly merges shopping with social interaction, leveraging platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Meta to enable direct buying experiences within the social feed. This channel taps into the power of community-driven marketing, allowing brands to reach new audiences, engage in real time, and guide consumers on individualized shopping journeys. The global impact is undeniable—social commerce is projected to generate $6.2 trillion in revenue by 2030.
Opportunities: Challenges: Best Practices:

Voice Commerce

With the proliferation of smart speakers and virtual assistants, voice commerce is emerging as a hands-free, accessible shopping channel. Generative AI is making voice interactions more natural and conversational, opening new avenues for personalized engagement.
Opportunities: Challenges: Best Practices:

Augmented Reality (AR) Commerce

AR commerce brings products to life, allowing consumers to visualize items in their own environment before purchasing. This is particularly impactful in fashion, beauty, and home goods, where visualization boosts confidence and reduces returns. By 2029, the AR and VR market is expected to reach $62 billion, signaling growing consumer demand for immersive shopping experiences.
Opportunities: Challenges: Best Practices:

Livestream Shopping

Livestream commerce blends entertainment and shopping, enabling brands to broadcast product demos, promotions, and sales events in real time. This channel fosters direct interaction, builds community, and drives impulse purchases through authentic engagement.
Opportunities: Challenges: Best Practices:

Integrating Emerging Channels into a Unified Data Ecosystem

The proliferation of new channels brings both opportunity and complexity. To deliver seamless, personalized experiences, brands must integrate these channels into a unified omnichannel data ecosystem. This means aligning data, messaging, and systems to ensure consistency and reduce friction throughout the customer journey.
Key Steps:
  1. Build the Right Tech Stack:
  2. Synchronize Data Across Channels:
  3. Leverage Unstructured Data:
  4. Act Fast, Iterate Often:

Industry-Specific Considerations

Building for Agility and Innovation

A modern omnichannel strategy requires more than just technology—it demands a culture of agility and continuous innovation. Composable architectures empower brands to quickly add new channels, test emerging experiences, and scale what works. Real-time data integration enables hyper-personalization, smarter inventory management, and operational efficiency.
The Path Forward:

Why Publicis Sapient?

With deep expertise in digital business transformation, Publicis Sapient helps brands design, implement, and optimize omnichannel data ecosystems that support innovation across emerging channels. Our proven methodologies, accelerators, and industry insights empower clients to deliver seamless, profitable commerce—today and into the future.
Ready to future-proof your commerce strategy and capitalize on the next wave of consumer engagement? Let’s connect and shape the future of omnichannel together.