Why omnichannel investment still feels disconnected to shoppers.
By Lauren Heckman, Sherwen
New research among 2,000 UK consumers suggests retailers need to measure omnichannel performance through the moments shoppers experience, not simply the systems they have connected.
Omnichannel programmes are often reported through milestones, platforms integrated, customer records consolidated, fulfilment options launched and loyalty schemes connected.
Shoppers use a different measure. They judge whether the product shown online is available when they reach the store, whether a promotion applies at the till and whether an online order can be returned without a lengthy explanation.
Research conducted by Sherwen among 2,000 UK consumers found that 36% still regard online and in-store shopping as separate experiences. Only 11% see them as one connected journey, while 23% say the experience varies by retailer.
For retailers that have invested heavily in joining their channels, those figures expose an important gap. Technical integration may be progressing while the customer continues to encounter conflicting information, repeated steps and uncertain ownership.
Measure what shoppers can see
Customers rarely know which platforms, suppliers or departments sit behind a transaction. They only know whether the retailer keeps its promises as they move between channels.
Even when the underlying systems are connected, the experience can still break down if stock availability is inaccurate, shoppers have to repeat themselves in store, or unclear collection messages leave colleagues struggling to locate an order. In each case, the investment is only valuable if it produces a clear and consistent experience for the customer.
This suggests retailers need to add a customer-visible measure to their transformation reporting. Alongside completed integrations and launched features, they should examine whether shoppers can complete common journeys without encountering a contradiction or starting again.
The most revealing points are often where responsibility changes hands: from ecommerce to stores, checkout to fulfilment, marketing to customer service or a digital interaction to a colleague.
These handovers are where disconnected operations become visible.
Stores remain vital to connected retail
Physical retail continues to play a central role in how people research, assess and buy products. 70% of consumers surveyed had visited a physical store during the previous three months.
The store offers immediacy and reassurance that ecommerce cannot always provide. Shoppers can inspect an item, speak to someone, compare alternatives and leave with the product.
Digital services can make a store visit more productive, but only when the information is dependable. Customers expect the stock shown online to be available when they arrive, their collection order to be recognised and store colleagues to have enough context to provide informed advice.
Retailers should therefore be wary of treating stores and ecommerce as competing channels with separate measures of success. A store visit may influence an online purchase, while online product information may determine whether a customer visits at all.
The commercial contribution of each channel is difficult to understand when performance is assessed in isolation.
Delivery problems can undo the sale
Some of the clearest signs of a disconnected journey appear after the shopper has decided what to buy.
In Sherwen’s research, 42% of respondents selected unexpected delivery charges as a reason to abandon a purchase. Delivery delays were selected by 31%.
These findings place delivery firmly within the retail proposition. It is not simply an operational stage that follows the sale.
A compelling product page can quickly lose its impact if delivery costs appear too late, estimated dates change after checkout or conflicting order updates make click and collect harder than expected.
Retailers should examine whether delivery costs, timings and collection instructions remain accurate throughout the journey. They should also look at how quickly customers can get an answer when the original promise cannot be met.
Personalisation has to repay the customer
Connecting customer data is frequently justified by the promise of more relevant experiences. Shoppers, however, are not automatically persuaded that personalisation works in their interests.
More than a quarter of respondents, 27%, said they did not want retailers to use their data for personalisation at all.
This does not mean retailers should abandon personalisation. It means the benefit needs to be recognisable. Customers can see the value when their information saves time, prevents repetition, improves product recommendations or gives them a relevant reward. They are less likely to welcome data use that feels intrusive or appears designed solely to increase the retailer’s return.
The same test should be applied to AI. Introducing AI into a fragmented journey may allow the underlying problem to happen faster or at greater scale. The strongest use cases will solve a defined customer or colleague problem, such as improving product information, finding an order or giving store employees quicker access to accurate answers.
Transparency and access to human support should remain part of the design.
Start with one journey, not another platform
Retailers do not need to review every channel at once. A focused assessment of one commercially important journey can expose where information, ownership and incentives have become misaligned.
A practical review should:
- Select a common journey that crosses channels, such as checking stock before visiting, collecting an online order or returning an ecommerce purchase in store.
- Follow the journey as a customer would, including messages, waiting periods and conversations with colleagues.
- Compare the price, stock, delivery and loyalty information shown at each stage.
- Identify each point where responsibility moves between systems or departments.
- Prioritise the failures most likely to lose the sale, increase service demand or waste store time.
This gives retailers a clearer basis for investment than beginning with a technology category. It also helps different functions agree on the problem they are trying to solve.
Make integration visible
The finding that 36% of consumers still see online and in-store shopping as separate should prompt retailers to examine how much of their omnichannel investment customers can recognise.
The answer is unlikely to sit within one platform or department. It lies in the promises made across the journey and whether stores, ecommerce, operations, marketing and service can fulfil them consistently.
The next phase of omnichannel retail should be judged less by the number of connected systems and more by what those connections allow shoppers and colleagues to do.
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The full findings are available in Sherwen’s report, The Omnichannel Illusion.
