Creating a Seamless Shopping Experience Online and Offline

Ecommerce stores can learn a LOT from brick and mortar. 'Digital marketing' isn't really a thing anymore - it's just marketing. Software and the internet ate the world. The lines between physical and digital are blurring, if they still exist at all. And the best brands treat their ecommerce experience a lot like an IRL store. → Personalization: Just as a good retail salesperson in a physical store can help a first time shopper or remember a returning customer’s preferences, ecommerce platforms should leverage data to personalize the shopping experience. → Immersive experiences: Brick-and-mortar stores have the advantage of creating sensory-rich environments. Ecommerce stores can replicate this by investing in high-quality content, virtual try-ons and 360-degree product views. There used to be an excuse that your product is 'difficult to sell online', but it's been busted. If people buy sunglasses, mattresses, and cars online - then you can definitely find a way to make your product more immersive. → Trustworthy customer service: For many shoppers, a helpful store assistant can make or break a sale. Ecommerce stores should focus on excellent customer service through live chat, and responsive customer support that goes the extra mile. → Leverage Data for continuous improvement: Physical stores often use foot traffic and sales data to optimize store layouts and merchandise. Ecommerce stores should use website analytics to understand customer behavior, optimize the sales funnel, and refine the user journey. It’s a no-brainer for brands to gather heat maps and customer feedback to unlock valuable insights into improving the online shopping experience. → Omnichannel: Successful brands integrate their online, offline, and marketplace channels to create a cohesive shopping experience. Features like BOPIS, Buy with Prime, and seamless returns across channels can enhance customer convenience and satisfaction. → Community engagement: Brick-and-mortar stores often serve as community hubs, hosting events and fostering a sense of belonging. Ecommerce brands should build communities with their audience so customers can engage with each other, as well as with the brand directly. → Innovative tech stack: IRL stores are investing heavily into technology, from POS to loyalty and beyond. Your ecommerce experience should feel fresh, easy, and exciting if you’re going to stand out in a sea of competitors. Ensuring that promotions, loyalty programs, and customer data are unified across channels strengthens brand consistency. Anything I'm missing?

If more of your store sales start on TikTok lately, you might wanna read this. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦. The checkout happens in-store. But the sale happens everywhere else. Here's the reality: This year 60%+, and in 2027, 70% of retail sales will be digitally influenced. I can't emphasize this enough; here's what most brands miss—digital influence isn't just about online sales. It's about shaping every moment before the customer even walks into your store. L'Oréal cracked this code: 100M+ AR try-on sessions driving real conversions. 31 brands orchestrating seamless experiences across 72 countries. No.1 in beauty influencer marketing (29% market share), 20-80% higher conversion rates through enhanced digital experiences. The new customer journey isn't linear—it's layered: - They discover you on social - Research you through reviews and UGC - Try your product virtually through AR - Get retargeted with personalized content - Finally purchase in-store (feeling confident they're making the right choice) Every touchpoint matters, and every interaction influences the final decision. The brands winning today aren't just selling products—they're orchestrating experiences across owned, paid, and earned media that guide customers from curiosity to checkout. Digital discovery is increasingly pay-to-play and shoppers are paying attention. ++ Tactical Recommendations for CPG / FMCG Brands ++ 1. Beyond just having perfect, high SOV product pages, create discovery ecosystems. - Optimize for "zero-moment-of-truth" searches. - Activate shoppable content at scale. - Leverage user-generated content as social proof. Brands that do these see a 35% higher conversion rate from digital touchpoints to in-store purchases. 2. Connect digital engagement directly to retail execution. - Geo-target digital campaigns to drive foot traffic - Create "store-specific" digital content CPG brands using geo-targeted social ads see a 23% higher in-store sales lift in targeted markets. 3. Most important one; stop flying blind—measure digital influence on offline sales. - Implement unique promo codes for each digital touchpoint to track conversion paths. - Use customer surveys at point of purchase. - Partner with retailers on shared data insights Brands with proper attribution see 15-25% improvement in marketing ROI within 12 months. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟰,𝟲𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁® : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. #CPG #FMCG #AI #ecommerce Procter & Gamble PepsiCo Unilever The Coca-Cola Company Nestlé Mondelēz International Kraft Heinz Ferrero Mars Colgate-Palmolive Henkel Bayer Haleon Kenvue The HEINEKEN Company Carlsberg Group Philips Samsung Electronics Panasonic North America

Grateful to be featured in the "Shoptalk Hot Takes" interview by Blenheim Chalcot and ClickZ.com alongside George Looker to unpack omnichannel commerce. 5 key takeaways and tactics from my conversation: 1. Design for Customer Continuity, Not Just Channel Expansion 💡 71% of customers expect brands to personalize interactions across every touchpoint. Tactical: Map out customer journey across channels, then design experiences that recognize and reward continuity—cart persistence, loyalty rewards, browsing history sync, etc. 2. Build the Infrastructure: Unify Data Streams Across All Touchpoints 🧠 Data fragmentation = missed opportunity Tactical: Integrate POS, e-commerce, mobile, social, and marketplace data into a centralized data lake or unified commerce platform. 3. Establish a Single Source of Truth for Customer Profiles 🔍 Brands with unified profiles see up to 2x better campaign performance. Tactical: Implement Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) to consolidate behavioral, transactional, and engagement data into unified customer profiles. 4. Partner Strategically for Scale, Not Just Stack ⚙️ A bloated tech stack doesn’t equal agility As I noted, Retailers are getting sharper about which partners can scale with them. Ecosystem efficiency matters more than ever. Tactical Step: Audit your tech stack and partnerships consistently. Prioritize partners that offer extensibility, future-proofing, and proven omnichannel success. 5. Measure What Matters: Unified KPIs Across Commerce 📈 You can’t optimize what you don’t measure holistically Tactical: Align your analytics stack to report holistically across channels—tie marketing to merchandising, CX to LTV, and inventory to revenue. 🧠 Bottom line: think holistically, move strategically, and build ecosystems that scale experience with agility, not just transactions. Complete list in comment 👇 #ecommerce #omnichannel #unifiedcommerce