How to Build End to End Customer Journeys for Ecommerce Success

The customer journey is evolving and ecommerce success requires brands to think holistically about their marketing strategies. From capturing the first flicker of interest to providing personalized offers and experiences to keep shoppers around for life, campaigns must work together, across the funnel, to build effective end-to-end customer journeys.

In this post, we'll break down tried-and-true tactics advertisers are using within retail media to achieve not only conversion and bottom-funnel objectives but also awareness and top-funnel goals. Dive into key strategies for building cohesive and engaging customer experiences below.

Full-Funnel Activation

For decades, marketers have used the funnel analogy to describe the path to purchase. Moving from the top to the bottom, the funnel includes the following stages: Awareness, Consideration, Conversion, and Retention.

Full-funnel marketing activations target shoppers at every stage of that journey. Marketing efforts are integrated across the entire funnel so that the brand can engage shoppers no matter where they are in the buying process. The goal is to educate and inspire the customer while bringing a brand to life.

Retail media campaigns are especially well-positioned to thrive in this area because they can reach shoppers in-store, onsite, and off-site.

Sparking Awareness & More: Top-Funnel Tactics

Awareness and top-funnel tactics focus on building brand visibility and recognition. After all, before shoppers can fall in love, they have to know your brand exists.

Typically, these campaigns are a "first date" and not a question of commitment. However, as we'll see with a full-funnel approach, awareness campaigns can also lead directly to conversions. Tactics to target include:

Social Media

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok offer brands many opportunities to interact with potential and current customers. In an EMARKETER podcast, Nikhil Sharma, senior director of performance and insights at Roundel, shared that he sees 40% of purchase journeys originate on social platforms.

Forever 21 used a full-funnel approach on its social networks with a campaign that encouraged shoppers to upload images of their favorite Forever 21 outfits to be featured in a gallery and shared on social media. Consumers could then shop the looks showcased in those photos. With one campaign, Forever 21 made current fans feel like celebrities, seamlessly taking shoppers from browsing (awareness and consideration) to the purchase stage.

In-Store Ads

While digital interactions are increasing, physical stores are still an important part of end-to-end customer journeys. In fact, 45% of consumers still prefer shopping in brick-and-mortar locations, with another 27% blending online and in-store shopping. Rather than overlooking these touchpoints, integrate them seamlessly into your full-funnel strategy to create a cohesive, unified commerce experience. Need ideas?

Hy-Vee has thousands of premium digital screens placed in high-traffic areas within its stores, as well as in-store audio, that it uses to influence customers with carefully curated messaging. This combination of screens and audio makes for a seamless, helpful experience - not one that is overwhelming or jarring. The grocer also allows consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to conduct surveys at the point of purchase on credit card machines, collecting data to further improve the shopping experience.

Connected TV (CTV)

It is increasingly important to meet consumers where they are already engaged, leveraging diverse channels to reach audiences effectively at every stage of their journey. CTV is emerging as one such channel, with almost 1 in 2 Gen Z shoppers showing interest in purchasing products directly through a TV streaming platform.

The Home Depot took advantage of this by launching its shoppable Action Ads on Roku. When these ads appear, potential buyers can click "Ok" with their Roku remote to receive a text with direct links to the deals or product offerings seen in the ads. This simplifies the path to purchase, making it easy for potential buyers to convert. It also provides powerful performance and ROI data for The Home Depot.

Continual Conversions: Bottom-Funnel Objectives

With conversion and bottom-funnel objectives, retail media aims to bring consumers home to their new favorite brand when they are ready to make a purchase. Examples of tactics to use for these objectives include:

Search Ads

According to EMARKETER data, retail media search ad spend will account for almost 75% of new search investment between 2024 and 2028, with around $6 of every $10 spent on search.

Search ads triggered by targeted keywords are a great tactic for reaching high-intent shoppers who are actively looking for a specific product or service. Ads that link directly to product pages are an excellent way to streamline the customer journey and increase conversions.

Post-Purchase Ads

The post-purchase moment is a key time to keep a shopper's attention and build more positive brand associations beyond the checkout. Post-purchase ads can help drive retention and loyalty by enhancing the customer experience and reinforcing a brand's value.

For example, ads that provide customers with personalized recommendations for new purchases and/or exclusive offers are a great way to interact with shoppers while they're still in a buying mood and engaged with your brand. According to Zippia:

• Boosting customer retention by 5% increases profits by 25-95%
• Companies have a 60-70% chance of selling to existing customers, vs. a 5-20% of gaining new customers
• 65% of a company's business comes from existing customers

Bottom line? Don't neglect post-transaction ads in your full-funnel approach. Consider product recommendations, cross-sell and upsell ads, and exclusive offers from premium brand partners.

Conclusion

Building end-to-end customer journeys for ecommerce success requires integrating top-funnel awareness tactics and bottom-funnel conversion strategies. With retail media, you can meet shoppers at every stage of the journey with relevant messaging and offers.

Don't wait for your competitors to take the lead. Fluent enables retailers to extend the customer journey beyond checkout while providing advertisers with a unique opportunity to convert highly engaged shoppers who are primed for purchase. Contact us here to get started with a full-funnel approach to drive long-term growth.

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