Straight from the executives who have done it — and the technology leaders helping them get there
The Unified Retail Stack roundtable is available on demand. Watch the full conversation
At a recent executive roundtable hosted by Deposco and Shopify, four panelists — including the technology leaders of EVEREVE and Psycho Bunny — spent an hour being unusually candid about what it actually takes to build a retail operation where commerce and fulfillment work as one.
If you’re a CTO, VP of Operations, or senior technology leader responsible for how orders get to customers, these are the five things worth your attention.
1. Data quality is the foundation — and most brands underestimate how much work it is.
Every panelist came back to this. Unified commerce only works when the data underneath it is clean, consistent, and trustworthy across every system. EVEREVE’s CTO Tamer Selim described the moment the stakes became clear: multiple systems syncing imperfect data was creating cascading failures — in returns, inventory visibility, customer recognition at the register. The fix wasn’t a new platform. It was getting the data right first. Eduardo Frias from Shopify sharpened the definition: if you need to look at two systems or query four databases to understand the status of a single order, you don’t have unified commerce. You have integrated commerce. That gap is costing you more than you realize.
2. The hardest part isn’t the technology. It’s getting the organization aligned.
Both EVEREVE and Psycho Bunny were clear: organizational alignment — not technology — is where most brands stumble. E-commerce and store operations teams running independently, with different metrics and different definitions of success, will break even the best stack. Todd Dean from Psycho Bunny uses customer experience design as the alignment tool. Put the customer journey at the center of the conversation and the internal debates about technology and priorities tend to resolve themselves. “It helps clear the air,” he said, “and that bleeds into the technology roadmap.” Frias put the warning plainly: “If you’re singing out of two different songbooks, it’s not going to work.” Do the organizational work. Don’t skip to the technology.
3. Buy what doesn’t differentiate you. Build what does — and be ruthlessly honest about which is which.
The build versus buy question came up naturally. The panel’s answer was consistent and unambiguous: stop building commodity technology. Frias was pointed: “Why would you reinvent checkout? I want to meet the person who thinks they can build a checkout that converts better than Shopify’s. Actually, I wanna invest in that company.” Selim described EVEREVE’s discipline: partner with companies innovating on your behalf so your team can focus on what makes you uniquely EVEREVE. Bill Gibson from Deposco distilled it: “We’re an outcomes company disguised as a software company.” The technology is a vehicle. Stop treating it like the destination.
4. On legacy systems, two smart people disagreed — and both were right.
Eduardo Frias from Shopify was direct: legacy systems memorialize outdated ways of working. Stop putting lipstick on them. Brands that layer AI on top of old architecture will feel good for eight months and then realize they haven’t started doing the hard work. Todd Dean from Psycho Bunny pushed back — respectfully but clearly. Legacy systems are hard to move. That’s operational reality for most brands. The smarter play is pushing them further down the stack, using AI and integration layers to build around them, and not trying to make them do things they were never designed for. Both positions have merit. Where you land probably depends on how much runway you have and how much technical debt you’re already carrying. The point both would agree on: the mistake is using legacy technology as an excuse not to move at all.
5. Agentic commerce is already here — and unified commerce is the prerequisite for taking advantage of it.
The conversation closed with where retail is heading, and the panel didn’t mince words: the shift is happening faster than most brands realize. Frias cited Shopify’s own platform data — traffic and orders from AI sources are growing at double-digit rates year over year, and those customers convert better and spend more than those acquired through traditional channels. Selim made the implication operational: the shopping journey is being restructured. Customers aren’t arriving through the homepage anymore. They’re discovering brands through prompts, images, AI agents, and physical stores simultaneously — and they expect consistency across all of it. Every investment in data quality, organizational alignment, and platform discipline is also an investment in being ready for what’s already here. Brands that have done that work are positioned to capture high-intent, high-value customers arriving through AI channels. Brands that haven’t are sending those customers to competitors who can.
It’s a cheat code. If there’s a way to get to unified commerce faster, go for it.”
— Todd Dean, Interim Strategic Lead, Technology & Transformation, Psycho Bunny
Watch the full conversation or talk to an expert.
The Unified Retail Stack roundtable is available on demand. Watch the replay or connect with Deposco and Shopify to explore how unified commerce and fulfillment can work for your operation.