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

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?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello everyone, I'm Scott Benedict.
You know I was reading withinterest the other day a new
report from the team atProfitero titled US Digitally
Influenced Shopper Report for2025.
So this is an annual update toa report that they have done
previously, talking about howdigital experiences influence

(00:23):
retail shoppers, no matter wherea purchase ultimately ends up,
and it hits on a lot of topicsI've been passionate about,
including the fact that digitalis pretty much the doorway to
every retail purchase, whetherthat purchase ends up ultimately
happening online or in store.
And yet far too many brands arestill allocating budgets and

(00:45):
resources as if digital ismerely a fraction or a small
part in their total business,which is really a mistake.
Let's get one thing clear thereport says that digital
influence is three times largerthan e-commerce channel sales

(01:05):
are.
In other words, digital has anoutsized influence on how a
customer ultimately makes apurchase, and your resource
allocation, whether you are abrand or a retailer, really
ought to reflect that.
In fact, it says about 64% ofall retail purchases are somehow
influenced by digitaltouchpoint and that my former

(01:29):
category, consumer electronics,leads the way, with 79% of
purchases are ultimately thereflection of a customer
interacting with a digitalinterface, a brand page or a
digital advertising of some sort.
The report also goes on to talkabout the fact that younger
shoppers millennials and Gen Zsare even higher or more

(01:53):
disproportionately influenced bydigital shopping points and are
less loyal than priorgenerations, and so what they
see and hear and learn onlinecertainly influences their
purchase behaviors.
The report goes on to talk aboutthe fact that content online
content is really the equivalentof the the old shelf talker or

(02:16):
signage that you might see on ashelf in a physical store, and
so high-quality content shouldbe your priority, particularly
if you're a consumer brandtrying to stand out.
Search is obviously verycritical that's probably not
news to anyone but compellingimagery, ratings, interviews and
, obviously, pricing are allimportant elements of making

(02:38):
your digital front door, yourdigital experience, really stand
out, or your digital experiencereally stand out Probably also
wouldn't shock anybody if thisreport talks about the outsized
influence that social media andAI shopping tools are having in
how consumers ultimately followthe path to purchase after
researching an item and making apurchase, and so it's important

(03:03):
to that to keep prioritiesaround.
That Value remains important,obviously, according to this
report, and it really talksabout how national brands have
to continue to monitor what ishappening with private brands
and their respective categories,make sure that their value
remains in line.

(03:23):
So what's really the keytakeaways from this great report
from the folks at Profitero One?
You've got to look atreallocating your investments
and make sure that you fund yourdigital presentation, your
digital experiences, based onthe influence that they have not
just on e-commerce sales thatcome out of a particular channel

(03:44):
, on e-commerce sales that comeout of a particular channel.
Should make sure that yourteams internally are aligned
around shared KPIs.
So integrate sales, marketingand supply chain metrics in a
way that everybody has a voicein and a tie to what's happening
online as well as in physicalstores.

(04:05):
You should be sure to elevatedigital in your joint business
planning conversations withretailers.
If digital only constitutesabout five minutes of the
conversation, I think you'redoing it wrong and you're
missing the big picture thereand continuing to invest in
training and empower your teamsto make sales happen and to

(04:29):
serve customers wherever,whenever and how they want to be
served.
Long story short, digital andthe digital shelf is no longer
the back room of retail.
It is the front door.
It's the main entrance uponwhich consumers make purchase
decisions, and you shouldallocate your resources and your

(04:52):
focus accordingly.
Thought it was a great report.
That's what I've been thinkingabout.
I'm Scott Benedict.