Omnichannel retail redefined

The term "omnichannel" refers to the integration of customer interactions across various platforms, ensuring a seamless experience. Retailers aim to unify these touchpoints, whether online or in-store, to provide consistent messages and performance tracking.

ChatGPT becomes a shopping platform

Carrefour has become the first European retail brand to allow purchases through ChatGPT, marking a major shift in how consumers shop. Customers can now find meal ideas, refine choices based on dietary needs and budget, and complete purchases without leaving the AI interface.

Advertising within AI conversations

Distributors and platforms are embedding advertisements into AI interactions. Amazon's Rufus shopping assistant is being watched closely for its potential to serve as an ad inventory, while OpenAI launched ChatGPT Ads in France, enabling tracking of campaigns similar to other digital platforms.

Shift in consumer interaction with AI

Consumers are increasingly using large language models (LLMs) for personalized recommendations. This transition from keyword searches to guided conversations changes how brands optimize discovery. Users engage with LLMs in three main ways: exploring options, filtering choices, and seeking reassurance before purchasing.

LLMs as potential super-apps

LLMs may evolve into the next super-apps, unifying the omnichannel experience. While they could serve as the central layer for interactions, traditional brand and retailer apps are unlikely to vanish entirely due to their unique value in loyalty, personalization, and after-sales service.

Physical retail remains relevant

Despite the rise of digital shopping, physical retail is not declining. Retail networks are expanding, even for brands that started online. For example, Abercrombie & Fitch's app detects when a customer enters a store and switches to "store" mode, requesting feedback after the visit.

Pop-up stores and trust in physical spaces

Shein's pop-up stores in London and Paris, alongside TikTok Shop's similar experiments, show that while product discovery can start online, trust and conversion often happen in person. This highlights the importance of physical spaces in the customer journey.

Fragmented customer journeys complicate marketing

As customer journeys become more fragmented across multiple channels, brands face the challenge of connecting these touchpoints. Traditional last-click reporting becomes less effective, and brands must treat AI-assisted search as a new data source, similar to SEO or internal site search.

Attribution becomes more complex

To effectively measure the impact of these new touchpoints, brands need to ensure analytics tools correctly identify traffic from LLMs. Cross-referencing this data with incrementality measurement methods will be essential, as decisions should not rely solely on click signals.

E-commerce leaders must adapt

E-commerce leaders must view these changes as both a challenge and an opportunity. The complexity of customer journeys requires new measurement approaches, emphasizing the need to build connected experiences between digital and physical spaces, and to implement analysis systems that track the actual evolution of purchase decisions.