Retail trends: How brands blend physical and digital channels to improve customer experiences

For customers these days, “omnichannel shopping” is simply shopping. They expect certain conveniences when they shop, including the ability to look up items while in-store; have their cart carryover from desktop to app; and to reach customer service as needed, any time via phone, email, chat, or social media. The demand for omnichannel offerings is rising, with 44% of consumers preferring retailers who “demonstrate omnichannel prowess,” according to Mintel.  

Now more than ever, consumers seek convenience and value. The top reasons consumers access a retailer’s site or mobile app while in-store are to use digital coupons (45%), use a loyalty rewards account (44%), look up an item to learn more (42%), and use scan-and-shop features (41%).  

Late last year, Pottery Barn debuted a new app that allows customers to enjoy the in-store shopping experience anywhere, anytime via their mobile device. Customers can access Pottery Barn’s Design Crew expertise by making in-store, in-home, or virtual appointments; share items in consideration directly with contacts (like contractors or designers) or to social media pages; and use VR to assess items in-home, all within the app.  

A good omnichannel experience relies on the quality of channel integration and the MarTech stack. Brands without well-thought-out systems architecture may struggle to seamlessly integrate and scale up their offerings in-store and online to the level their customers expect or need.  

Recently, Netflix teamed up with Google to allow viewers to scan outfits as they watch. Viewers can pause the screen, search with Google Lens to take a picture, and shop looks directly by finding similar pieces. This technology facilitates shopping not just for apparel but for many other retail items as well. 

Product discovery is changing. Outside of using blended channels to support and convert purchase intent, brands are also leveraging entertainment, influencers, and gaming, to drive brand discovery, awareness, and relevancy. LG Electronics invited six new residents to compete in an Amazon Prime series, “Estate of Survival.” Contestants competed to acquire home appliances and the chance to win a grand prize of $100,000. The show is part of LG’s larger strategy to reach consumers “not interested in traditional advertising.” 

Forty-nine percent of consumers make daily, weekly, or monthly purchases “because of influencers,” and those who make daily or weekly purchases are more likely to be millennials or Gen Z. Given the nature of trust between consumers and those they follow on digital channels, it’s not surprising that eMarketer reports spending growth on sponsored content to rise 3.5x faster than social ad spending this year. (Although it’s important to note that social ad spending still significantly outnumbers influencer marketing spending.) 

Urban Outfitters partnered with Gen Z Pinterest creators to bring their college dorm boards to life in a two-day, in-person activation. Visitors could shop the boards, enjoy live performances, and have the chance to win $5,000 to bring their boards to life. 

While influencer marketing has been around for years, its importance to brands is increasing. Twenty-nine percent of all consumers (including 41% of Gen Z) “are more likely to share product feedback with influencers,” instead of directly with brands, as they feel a deeper, more authentic, human connection. This is an opportunity for influencers to provide added value for brands by collecting consumer data and being a human extension of the brand to their audience. 

Honda became the first-ever partner of Twitch Rivals, Twitch’s tournament series. In multiple episodes, Honda presented an interactive segment where chat poll participants influenced and customized a 2025 Civic hybrid sedan. This is the latest in a partnership between the two brands, which began in 2019. Honda has explained this partnership as part of their strategy to (successfully) reach “GenZennial,” multicultural gaming and esports fans. 

The future of retail lies in creating cohesive, hyper-personalized experiences that blend the best of physical and digital worlds. Brands are meeting consumers where they’re at, exploring what works best, and engaging authentically through influencer partnerships, gaming platforms, and branded content.  

As the landscape continues to evolve to meet customer expectations of seamlessly integrated channel experiences across the entire shopping journey, successful brands will routinely revisit customer journeys to address pain points, testing and learning along the way.  

Here are some top takeaways to improve your customer’s omnichannel experience: 

1. Create an overarching customer journey map if you don’t already have one. If you do, consider the last time you updated it. Are identified pain points still relevant today? Work with cross-functional teams to predict and track impact and continuously prioritize tasks to be done.  
2. Track how data feeds into the customer journey. How are you activating on zero- and first-party data you’ve collected to effectively personalize brand experiences? Are these data feeds reliable, and how often are they refreshed (if applicable, think preferences, contact information, and other data that might change over time)? 
3. Explore opportunities to partner with influencers and creators. Knowing how effective influencer marketing can be, especially in building brand awareness, trust, and equity, what does your social engagement strategy look like? How might you leverage partnerships to connect with hard-to-reach or hard-to-win-over target audiences? Measure incremental lift to track effectiveness.  
4. Conduct a tech assessment to identify gaps. How does and will your MarTech platform(s) support your strategic roadmap for improved customer experiences? Ensure that any existing barriers to cross-functional collaboration and workstreams are addressed to support alignment between strategy and execution capabilities.