Scott's Thoughts

Why Your Brand's Digital Experience Matters More Than You Think

• Scott Benedict

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The digital shelf has officially become the front door to retail, and brands ignoring this reality are missing the bigger picture. Profitero's "US Digitally Influenced Shopper Report for 2025" delivers a wake-up call that demands attention: digital touchpoints influence three times more purchases than e-commerce sales figures alone suggest.

While many brands continue allocating resources as if digital represents just a fraction of their business, the data tells a different story. A remarkable 64% of all retail purchases are influenced by digital touchpoints, regardless of where the final transaction occurs. Consumer electronics leads this trend with 79% of purchases shaped by digital interactions, signaling where other categories are headed. Younger shoppers—particularly Millennials and Gen Z—show even higher digital influence patterns and lower brand loyalty, making a compelling digital strategy not just important but essential.

The report highlights how online content serves as today's equivalent of traditional shelf talkers, with quality imagery, detailed product information, ratings, reviews, and pricing transparency all critical to success. Search visibility remains paramount, while social media and emerging AI shopping tools increasingly shape the path to purchase. For brands, this means reallocating investments based on digital's true influence, aligning teams around shared KPIs that bridge online and offline experiences, elevating digital in retail partnerships, and empowering teams to serve customers across all touchpoints. The message is clear: digital is no longer just another channel—it's the gateway through which most retail journeys begin. How does your digital doorway welcome potential customers?

Speaker 1:

Hello everyone, I'm Scott Benedict. You know I was reading with interest the other day a new report from the team at Profitero titled US Digitally Influenced Shopper Report for 2025. So this is an annual update to a report that they have done previously, talking about how digital experiences influence retail shoppers, no matter where a purchase ultimately ends up, and it hits on a lot of topics I've been passionate about, including the fact that digital is pretty much the doorway to every retail purchase, whether that purchase ends up ultimately happening online or in store. And yet far too many brands are still allocating budgets and resources as if digital is merely a fraction or a small part in their total business, which is really a mistake. Let's get one thing clear the report says that digital influence is three times larger than e-commerce channel sales are. In other words, digital has an outsized influence on how a customer ultimately makes a purchase, and your resource allocation, whether you are a brand or a retailer, really ought to reflect that. In fact, it says about 64% of all retail purchases are somehow influenced by digital touchpoint and that my former category, consumer electronics, leads the way, with 79% of purchases are ultimately the reflection of a customer interacting with a digital interface, a brand page or a digital advertising of some sort. The report also goes on to talk about the fact that younger shoppers millennials and Gen Zs are even higher or more disproportionately influenced by digital shopping points and are less loyal than prior generations, and so what they see and hear and learn online certainly influences their purchase behaviors.

Speaker 1:

The report goes on to talk about the fact that content online content is really the equivalent of the the old shelf talker or signage that you might see on a shelf in a physical store, and so high-quality content should be your priority, particularly if you're a consumer brand trying to stand out. Search is obviously very critical that's probably not news to anyone but compelling imagery, ratings, interviews and, obviously, pricing are all important elements of making your digital front door, your digital experience, really stand out, or your digital experience really stand out Probably also wouldn't shock anybody if this report talks about the outsized influence that social media and AI shopping tools are having in how consumers ultimately follow the path to purchase after researching an item and making a purchase, and so it's important to that to keep priorities around. That Value remains important, obviously, according to this report, and it really talks about how national brands have to continue to monitor what is happening with private brands and their respective categories, make sure that their value remains in line. So what's really the key takeaways from this great report from the folks at Profitero One?

Speaker 1:

You've got to look at reallocating your investments and make sure that you fund your digital presentation, your digital experiences, based on the influence that they have not just on e-commerce sales that come out of a particular channel, on e-commerce sales that come out of a particular channel. Should make sure that your teams internally are aligned around shared KPIs. So integrate sales, marketing and supply chain metrics in a way that everybody has a voice in and a tie to what's happening online as well as in physical stores. You should be sure to elevate digital in your joint business planning conversations with retailers. If digital only constitutes about five minutes of the conversation, I think you're doing it wrong and you're missing the big picture there and continuing to invest in training and empower your teams to make sales happen and to serve customers wherever, whenever and how they want to be served. Long story short, digital and the digital shelf is no longer the back room of retail. It is the front door. It's the main entrance upon which consumers make purchase decisions, and you should allocate your resources and your focus accordingly.

Speaker 1:

Thought it was a great report. That's what I've been thinking about. I'm Scott Benedict.