Why Smart Brands Are Embracing Omnichannel Ecommerce

For years, Amazon has been the dominant channel for selling online. It’s still a critical part of the ecommerce landscape, but it’s no longer the only one that matters.

As shopping behavior continues to shift, more brands are embracing omnichannel ecommerce to reach customers wherever they shop. This includes marketplaces, retailer sites, direct-to-consumer websites, social commerce platforms, and retail media networks.

The days of relying on a single platform are over. All it takes is one account issue or fulfillment disruption and your entire revenue stream could be at risk. At the same time, shoppers are discovering products across more touchpoints than ever.

Smart brands are moving quickly to adapt. They’re not just adding new sales channels. They’re building an integrated commerce strategy that reduces risk, expands reach, and gives them greater control over how and where they grow.

At Channel Key, we help brands do exactly that. Our approach spans the interconnected areas of omnichannel growth, including marketplaces, retailers, retail media, DTC, and social commerce.

Shifting to omnichannel ecommerce isn’t just a defensive move. It’s a proactive strategy to scale with intention, build brand equity, and future-proof your business.

Let’s look at why this matters and how Channel Key is helping brands lead the way.

Amazon Is Still Huge, But It’s Not Enough

Amazon accounts for approximately 39% of all ecommerce sales in the U.S., according to eMarketer. It remains the dominant marketplace and a cornerstone of most ecommerce strategies. But that doesn’t mean it should be the only channel for your brand.

While Amazon continues to be essential, the marketplace ecosystem is diversifying rapidly. Walmart is growing quickly. Its ecommerce business increased by 21% in Q4 2024 and now represents nearly 18% of total company revenue. Walmart’s third-party marketplace is also gaining traction, with 38% of U.S. shoppers reporting that they've purchased from Walmart Marketplace.

Similarly, TikTok Shop is becoming a serious player in ecommerce. In 2024, over 47 million Americans shopped on TikTok, a 34% increase from the year before. More than 43% of users made purchases on the platform. TikTok Shop generated over $1 billion in monthly U.S. sales during Black Friday and crossed $100 million in sales.

Even with Amazon and Walmart controlling more than 40% of online retail in the U.S., other channels are growing faster. Smaller ecommerce platforms are outpacing the national ecommerce growth rate, which hit 16% last year.

This is why focusing on a few key players is no longer enough. Consumer behavior is shifting. Approximately 66% of product searches still begin on Amazon, but that means 34% start elsewhere. More shoppers are browsing on Walmart, TikTok, Target, and through direct-to-consumer sites. They’re seeking convenience, price comparison, and personalized experiences.

Relying on Amazon alone puts your business at risk. One listing issue or account suspension can put your entire revenue stream in jeopardy. With so much revenue tied to a single platform, there’s no cushion when things go wrong.

Omnichannel ecommerce helps you reduce this risk. It’s about expanding into new channels and markets to give your brand more control, more visibility, and more opportunities to grow. By diversifying across other platforms, your brand becomes more resilient and adaptable to changes in the ecommerce landscape.

Why Omnichannel Ecommerce Is a Must

Today, consumers move fluidly between platforms, devices, and experiences. If your brand only shows up in one place, you’re missing out on sales, visibility, and long-term growth.

According to reports, customers who shop across multiple channels spend an average of 30% more than those who shop on a single channel. These customers are also more loyal. They engage with the brand more often, spend more per transaction, and are more likely to recommend products to others.

Here’s why a strong omnichannel ecommerce strategy is essential:

1. It Reduces Risk

When most of your revenue comes from a single platform, you’re exposed to that platform’s policies, algorithms, and infrastructure. One listing suspension or fulfillment delay can take down your sales. Expanding into other channels gives you backup. It protects your brand and your revenue stream from unexpected disruptions and external changes.

2. It Reaches More Customers

Shoppers are everywhere. Some start their search on Amazon. Others browse TikTok, Google Shopping, or Instagram. Price-sensitive shoppers check Walmart, while experience-focused buyers prefer DTC sites.

The more places your products appear, the more chances you have to be discovered. In a recent Feedvisor survey, 75% of U.S. consumers said they regularly use more than one online marketplace when shopping. Your presence across multiple platforms increases your visibility and builds trust, allowing you to meet customers at every stage of their buying journey.

3. It Supports Smarter Scaling

An omnichannel strategy gives brands more ways to grow. You can roll out exclusive launches on your DTC site, expand your presence across key retailers, and tap into the social commerce channels that are right for your brand.

When done right, omnichannel ecommerce is not about simply being everywhere. It’s about showing up with purpose. Each channel plays a defined role in your overall strategy—whether it's to drive awareness on social platforms, convert through marketplaces, or build loyalty through your own ecommerce site. The key is aligning these channels strategically to maximize performance at every step.

4. It Improves Brand Control and Customer Data

Platforms like Amazon limit access to customer data. You don’t own the relationship. On your DTC site, you do. By combining marketplace sales with owned channels, you gain a more comprehensive understanding of who your customers are, what they want, and how they shop.

That data fuels smarter marketing, better personalization, and stronger long-term loyalty. It also helps you optimize performance across all your sales and media channels, driving better decisions and more effective campaigns.

The Real Challenge: Managing Complexity

Embracing omnichannel ecommerce requires more than launching on new platforms. It means building systems, processes, and team structures that can manage them effectively.

Each channel has its own ecosystem. Marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart come with distinct algorithms, ad formats, and fulfillment requirements. Retailers like Target, Best Buy, and Lowe’s have unique merchandising standards, curated assortments, and inventory management processes.

Social platforms like TikTok Shop, Meta Shops, and Instagram have their own ways of driving awareness, engagement, and conversion. And DTC adds another layer of complexity, with site experience, customer support, and direct fulfillment.

Retail media networks like Walmart Connect, Instacart Ads, and Target Roundel also play a crucial role in driving visibility and sales across these platforms, requiring tailored ad strategies and budget management.

For established brands with large product catalogs or multiple categories, this becomes even more complicated. Every channel adds operational strain. Listings need to be updated across different platforms. Inventory must be coordinated. Pricing must remain consistent. Advertising strategies need to be tailored to each channel’s unique dynamics, including retail media campaigns.

Most internal ecommerce teams simply aren’t built to handle this level of execution. They often operate with a single head of ecommerce who oversees all channels and functions. That model creates bottlenecks, making it difficult to scale efficiently.

What the most successful brands do is build some level of specialization. They assign clear ownership to each channel while centralizing shared support functions such as operations, creative, and analytics. This allows teams to move faster without sacrificing consistency or control.

Here are a few key challenges that omnichannel ecommerce introduces:

• Cross-channel coordination: Promotions, inventory, and messaging need to be aligned across all platforms.

• Media budget planning: Retail media is growing rapidly across platforms like Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, and even TikTok. Brands must balance spend and measure return both at the channel level and holistically.

• Data and reporting: Performance reporting must consolidate data from multiple channels and turn it into actionable insights.

• Brand consistency: Creative and messaging must feel unified, even when the format and customer experience vary across platforms.

These aren’t small issues. They’re strategic, operational, and technical challenges that can slow down even the most sophisticated teams.

Channel Key helps brands solve this complexity. We provide channel-specific expertise combined with centralized executional support. This means you get a strategic partner who can scale with you across every channel (whether it’s marketplaces, retailers, media networks, or DTC) and help you win in each one.

When Brands Should Think Omnichannel

Omnichannel ecommerce is powerful, but that doesn’t mean every brand should jump in right away. Timing and readiness matter. Expanding into new channels without a clear strategy can stretch teams thin, dilute brand consistency, and create operational chaos.

At Channel Key, we work with established brands to assess when omnichannel expansion makes sense. In our experience, successful growth begins with three core conditions.

1. A Strong Foundation on One or Two Channels

Before expanding, a brand should already have some level of stability on one or two primary sales channels. That might be Amazon, DTC, or a retail partner like Target or Costco. What matters is consistent sales, clear internal processes, and reliable performance data.

If a brand is still figuring out how to manage listings, fulfill orders, or analyze results, adding more platforms will only amplify the challenges. We typically recommend building critical mass first. This ensures there are clear benchmarks and repeatable wins to build on. It also gives brands the confidence and cash flow to invest in new growth opportunities without risking their core business.

2. Internal Systems That Can Support Growth

Scalability depends on infrastructure. Before launching on new marketplaces, setting up a TikTok Shop storefront, or running Instacart Ads, you need systems that can support multi-channel operations.

This includes a functioning ERP or order management system, a product information management (PIM) solution for consistent catalog data, and reliable inventory visibility. Without these tools in place, it’s easy to oversell, miss service-level agreements, or lose track of performance across platforms.

If your team is still managing inventory manually in spreadsheets or switching between logins to check performance, the first priority should be building better systems—not launching new channels.

3. Process and Team Readiness

Even when demand is high, your internal team must be set up to support expansion. That means having clear workflows, role clarity, and communication processes for launching, supporting, and scaling across multiple platforms.

You need to know who owns each channel, how content and pricing are approved, how inventory is prioritized, and how success will be measured. Without structure, things break quickly. Channel managers end up competing for resources. Marketing loses alignment. Customer service scrambles to learn new buyer flows on the fly.

The most successful omnichannel brands build around a centralized support model. Creative, operations, and customer service are shared across channels. Layer in platform-specific expertise and unified performance tracking, and your team will be ready to grow with confidence.

Channel Fit Must Align with Your Customer

Omnichannel ecommerce doesn’t mean launching on every platform at once. It means being intentional about which channels you invest in based on your audience, product type, and brand goals.

The brands that get this right start by asking one important question: Where are our customers already shopping?

Every platform attracts different types of buyers and supports different kinds of brand experiences. Your job is to understand who your customers are, how they shop, and what they expect from your category. Once you know that, the right channels become much easier to identify.

Below are just a few examples of how different platforms align with different brand strategies:

Amazon

Amazon is still essential for reach and credibility. But as discussed earlier, it limits access to customer data and often pressures brands to compete on price. It works best when paired with other channels that offer more brand control and data transparency.

Walmart

Walmart shoppers are often price-conscious and value-focused. If your brand competes on affordability or serves a broad consumer base, Walmart is a natural fit. It also offers access to omnichannel fulfillment, including curbside pickup and in-store inventory, which can be especially valuable for categories like household goods or personal care.

Target

Target appeals to lifestyle-driven consumers who seek trustworthy, well-designed products. It’s a good fit for brands that offer a curated experience and align with premium mass market positioning. Success on Target’s marketplace often depends on product-market fit and strong merchandising.

Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)

Your own ecommerce site gives you full control over the brand experience. You own the customer relationship, the data, and the margin. DTC is ideal for brands that want to tell their story in a unique way, differentiate through packaging or personalization, and build long-term loyalty. The tradeoff is that you must invest in media and drive your own traffic.

And many more

Other platforms like Costco, Kroger, Chewy, Lowe’s, Best Buy, CVS, Instacart, TikTok Shop, and Meta Shops each serve distinct customer segments and categories. Some cater to specific retail models or fulfillment capabilities, while others offer unique media, content, or discovery experiences.

Remember, not every brand needs to be on every channel. What matters is making smart, data-informed decisions about where to focus based on your customers and your capabilities.

At Channel Key, we help brands evaluate which channels make the most sense. While we currently support a core set of marketplaces, retailers, and social platforms, we are actively expanding our capabilities to support a growing number of commerce partners across the full omnichannel ecosystem.

Operational Readiness Still Matters

Choosing the right channels starts with understanding your audience, but it also depends on what your team and infrastructure can support. Each platform adds new fulfillment, customer service, and creative demands. Make sure you have the systems and resources in place to deliver a great experience before expanding.

Finally, consider unit economics. Every channel has different fee structures, customer acquisition costs, and return rates. Your pricing strategy, margin targets, and marketing budget all need to be mapped against each platform to ensure the effort is worth the return.

The Power of Unified Retail Media

Retail media has become one of the most important tools for driving visibility and sales across ecommerce. Brands are now investing heavily in on-platform advertising, not just on Amazon, but also through Walmart Connect, Roundel at Target, Instacart Ads, TikTok Shop promotions, and even emerging networks on platforms like Meta and YouTube.

Retail media spend in the U.S. topped $51 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $60 billion in 2025. It is now the fastest-growing segment in digital advertising. On platforms like Walmart and Instacart, retail media revenue is growing faster than core ecommerce sales.

This shift is transforming how brands go to market. You can no longer rely solely on organic search rankings. Paid placements, sponsored listings, and platform-native promotions are essential to winning share in competitive categories.

At the same time, the number of retail media networks is growing, and with it, the complexity of managing campaigns across platforms.

The Problem with Channel-Siloed Media

Without a unified retail media strategy, each platform operates in isolation. Amazon ads are often managed separately from Walmart campaigns. Roundel activations on Target may follow different timelines, creative briefs, or promotional calendars. TikTok or Instacart campaigns may be handled by different teams or agencies altogether.

As a result, budget allocation becomes reactive, performance data is fragmented, and messaging is inconsistent across the customer journey.

This disconnect makes it difficult to optimize spending, identify what's working, and scale campaigns efficiently. It can also lead to wasted media investment, missed opportunities, and friction between internal teams.

The Solution: A Unified Approach

Channel Key helps brands bring structure and strategy to retail media. We work across all major platforms to plan and execute campaigns that support both brand and sales goals, while accounting for the unique dynamics of each channel.

Our approach includes:

• Centralized campaign planning across retail media networks

• Creative alignment to ensure messaging is consistent and tailored to each platform

• Budget allocation strategies based on historical performance and channel-level return

• Shared reporting dashboards that track performance across channels and provide a holistic view

• Ongoing media testing to uncover what drives conversion in each environment

This unified strategy supports the broader goals of omnichannel ecommerce. It ensures that your brand shows up consistently across the platforms your customers use most, and that your investments in media are working together to drive measurable growth.

When managed effectively, retail media becomes a multiplier. It not only improves performance within each individual channel, it helps brands tell a connected story and move customers from discovery to purchase across the entire buying journey.

How Channel Key Supports Your Omnichannel Ecommerce Journey

A successful omnichannel ecommerce strategy begins with more than launching on new platforms. It starts with building the right foundation to scale intentionally across every touchpoint your customers engage with. That takes more than listing products. It requires expertise, systems, and a partner who understands how to connect the dots between strategy, execution, and long-term growth.

Channel Key works with established brands that are looking to reduce risk, unlock growth, and operate more efficiently across marketplaces, retailer sites, direct-to-consumer ecommerce, social commerce platforms, and retail media networks.

We don’t treat channels as separate tracks. We bring an integrated framework that supports omnichannel growth from day one and evolves with your business over time.

Strategy That Scales

Every brand is different. We start by understanding your business goals, current performance, and team structure. Then we build a custom expansion strategy that fits your product portfolio and organizational readiness.

This includes:

• Prioritizing channels based on customer behavior and opportunity size

• Defining success metrics for each stage of rollout

• Creating a phased roadmap to reduce disruption and maximize results

Centralized Operations and Creative Support

Managing multiple channels can quickly become overwhelming. That’s why we provide shared operational infrastructure across all platforms. Our team supports catalog management, listing optimization, inventory coordination, customer service workflows, and creative production.

This gives your brand the consistency it needs while freeing up your internal team to focus on high-level strategy.

Channel-Specific Expertise

Each platform has its own rules, systems, and success levers. Channel Key brings subject-matter experts for every environment we support. That means you aren’t getting general advice. You are getting hands-on expertise tailored to the exact channels you’re selling through.

From managing complex fulfillment flows to executing channel-specific merchandising and media strategies, our team ensures your brand is competitive wherever you go to market.

Unified Analytics and Retail Media

Performance data only matters when it’s connected. Channel Key builds centralized reporting dashboards to give you a clear, real-time view across all sales and media channels.

We also manage retail media campaigns in-house to ensure your advertising efforts are aligned, optimized, and delivering return across platforms. With unified media and analytics, you get a single source of truth and a clear path forward.

Final Thoughts on Omnichannel Ecommerce

The digital commerce ecosystem is more dynamic than ever. Shoppers are no longer loyal to one platform. Brands that continue to focus on a single channel are putting both growth and stability at risk.

Omnichannel ecommerce isn’t just a way to reach more customers. It’s a strategy to build a stronger, more resilient business. It gives you the flexibility to meet shoppers wherever they are, the control to shape your brand story, and the visibility to optimize performance across every channel.

For established brands, getting this right takes more than good intentions. It takes a thoughtful roadmap, the right systems, and deep platform expertise. The complexity is real, but so is the opportunity.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Contact Channel Key to build a tailored omnichannel strategy that drives performance across every touchpoint and positions your brand for long-term success.

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