Chapter 1
Crafting the Omnichannel Experience Consumers Deserve
The future of retail is neither online or offline - it's both. Creating a seamless experience which blends the best of both worlds is a continuous challenge for DACH online retailers
Our survey revealed a strong focus on leveraging data to drive omnichannel success.
When asked to rank factors important to their omnichannel strategy, respondents prioritised data analytics platforms and tools (50%), followed by customer relationship management (CRM) systems (37%) and data-driven decision-making (36%).
Customer data platforms (28%) and machine learning/AI solutions (26%) also ranked highly, indicating a growing recognition of the importance of personalised experiences. However, implementing effective omnichannel strategies presents significant challenges.
Many businesses struggle with maintaining consistency across touchpoints, whether it be support across live chat, mobile apps, and in-store agents, or ensuring consistent product information and troubleshooting guides.
Inventory management also emerged as a major concern, with many respondents citing difficulties in keeping inventory updated across platforms and managing stock levels between online and physical stores.
Furthermore, creating seamless integration between digital and physical experiences is proving difficult.
Respondents highlighted challenges around tracking online browsing behaviour that leads to in-store purchases, matching sizing recommendations virtually, and coordinating promotions across different channels.
Ultimately, DACH retailers and e-commerce leaders are striving to unify their online and offline presence but face hurdles in delivering a consistently high-quality customer experience across all touchpoints.
Rank the following factors in terms of importance to your omnichannel strategy.
*Results are displayed as an average
Seamless customer experience
Unified customer data platform
Integration of online and offline channels
Personalised customer journeys
Data security and privacy
Mobile optimisation
Social media integration
“The survey confirms that a seamless customer experience (5.69) is the top omnichannel priority. However, this cannot be achieved without a unified customer data platform (4.61). Centralised, enriched product information is the key to delivering consistent and engaging experiences across channels. While the integration of online and offline channels (4.11) ranks lower, it still depends on strong data foundations. Brands must recognise that without accurate, structured product data, even the best omnichannel strategy will struggle to succeed."
Marcus Albrecht, Director of Customer Success CEE & APAC, Akeneo
What technologies will be key to omnichannel strategy being a success? (Respondents were asked to select three options)
Data analytics platforms and tools
Customer relationship management systems
Data-driven decision making
Customer data platforms
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence solutions
API Integrations
Headless commerce platforms
Automation platforms
Data privacy and GDPR compliance
Cloud computing
Live chat and chatbot solutions
Social media management tools
Unified communication platform
Other
“Data analytics platforms (50%) lead as the most critical technology for omnichannel success, emphasising the need for insights-driven strategies. CRM systems (37%) and data-driven decision-making (36%) follow closely, highlighting the importance of centralised customer information. However, without high-quality, structured product data, even the best analytics and CRM tools will fall short. Investing in a strong product information foundation ensures these technologies deliver accurate, personalised, and seamless customer experiences across all channels. Data is powerful, but only if it's enriched, consistent, and accessible."
Laetitia Korn, VP Marketing, Akeneo
“There are many reasons why implementing an effective omnichannel experience is such a challenge, with the main one being the fact that privacy laws vary by region, which makes compliance very complex. Customers are now also interacting with brands through multiple different channels which makes unified data protection challenging, and offline data collection or monitoring such as loyalty cards and receipts are much more difficult to regulate compared to digital footprints."
Ajanta Palmiero-Rundle, Content Director, eTail Germany 2025
