Unified Commerce Analytics

A data approach that consolidates performance metrics from all sales channels (DTC, marketplaces, retail) into a single source of truth for multi-channel brands.

Updated
June 18, 2025
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Understanding Unified Commerce Analytics

Running a multi-channel brand without unified analytics? It's like checking your bank balance by logging into five different apps and doing mental math. Not fun.

At Tydo, we define unified commerce analytics as bringing all your sales channel data—Shopify, Amazon, wholesale, retail—into one clear view. No more Excel gymnastics or dashboard hopping.

Here's the thing: if you're doing $25M+ in revenue, you're probably selling everywhere. Your Shopify store, Amazon, maybe Target or Nordstrom. Each platform shows different metrics, calculates things differently, and definitely doesn't talk to the others.

So what happens? You think Amazon's crushing it because sales are up 50%. But you're not seeing that your fees went up too. Or that those Amazon customers never come back. Meanwhile, your DTC customers purchase 3x per year but you're neglecting them.

Unified commerce analytics fixes this mess. It pulls everything together and shows you what's actually making money.

How to calculate unified commerce metrics

Unified commerce analytics = All channel data + standardized metrics + true cost allocation

Data sources: Shopify, Amazon Seller Central, wholesale platforms, POS systems

Key metrics to unify:

  • Revenue by channel (obviously)
  • True profit margins (after ALL fees)
  • Customer acquisition costs per channel
  • Lifetime value by acquisition source
  • Inventory turnover by channel

Example

Let's say you sell premium coffee equipment. In December, you did $2M in total sales:

- Shopify: $800K (40%)

- Amazon: $700K (35%)

- Wholesale: $500K (25%)

Looking good, right? But unified analytics reveals the real story:

- Shopify profit margin: 45% = $360K profit

- Amazon profit margin: 18% = $126K profit

- Wholesale margin: 28% = $140K profit

Your DTC channel generated 40% of revenue but 58% of profits. That changes everything about where you invest next year's marketing budget.

Takeaway

Unified commerce analytics is like having GPS instead of asking for directions at every intersection.

Why does this matter for your brand? Because channel blindness kills profitability. You end up feeding the channels that look good on paper but actually drain your margins.

Benefits of unified data:

  1. See which channels actually make money (not just revenue)
  2. Spot customers who buy across channels
  3. Allocate inventory where it sells fastest
  4. Know where to spend your next marketing dollar
  5. Catch margin erosion before it hurts

Most importantly? You stop making expensive guesses. When you can see that wholesale orders tank your cash flow but Amazon drives new customer discovery, you can plan accordingly.

Read more about Unified Commerce Analytics

Map your data sources first

Before diving into fancy dashboards, get clear on what you're working with:

  • Revenue streams: List every place customers can buy (including that random Faire account)
  • Cost buckets: Platform fees, shipping costs, channel-specific labor
  • Data access: Who sends what reports and how often?
  • Metric mismatches: How does each channel calculate returns? Profit? LTV?

Start by unifying your top 2 channels. Even that simple step usually surfaces surprising insights about where your profit really comes from.

Channel profitability isn't just revenue minus COGS

To see true channel profitability, include:

  • Marketplace fees (that 15% Amazon referral fee adds up)
  • Channel-specific ad spend
  • Different fulfillment costs (FBA vs. 3PL vs. in-house)
  • Return rates by channel (Amazon returns hit different)
  • Customer service time per channel
  • Payment processing differences

One brand discovered their wholesale channel looked profitable until they factored in 90-day payment terms killing their cash flow. Another found their "expensive" DTC channel had 70% lower return rates than Amazon.

Questions unified analytics should answer

Daily: Which channels need inventory? Are margins holding?

Weekly: What's selling where? Any channel trending wrong?

Monthly: How's channel mix shifting? Where are new customers coming from?

Quarterly: Which channels deserve more investment? What's the ROI of expansion?

Remember: You don't need perfect data. You need good-enough data that's actually unified. A simple spreadsheet that connects your channels beats beautiful dashboards that don't talk to each other.