Omnichannel retail isn’t just an industry buzzword — it’s an imperative for brands hoping to meet rising customer expectations. Today’s customers expect seamless, connected experiences across all journey touchpoints, whether they’re browsing an ecommerce site, engaging with a brand on social media, or making a purchase through a marketplace or in-store.
Yet, according to Forrester’s Predictions 2025: Digital Commerce, “we predict just 10% of major North American (NA) and EMEA retailers will commit to broader overhauls that tie store systems more closely to digital.” That means a staggering 90% of retailers will continue to struggle with fragmented, outdated solutions that fail to deliver a truly unified omnichannel experience.
This isn’t just an operational challenge — it’s a competitive risk. Brands that fail to integrate their product content, digital assets, and customer interactions across all commerce and engagement channels will lose conversions and long-term customer loyalty to those that do.
Why is this happening — and more importantly, how can your organization break free from the status quo? Below, we explore the barriers of omnichannel success, the common omnichannel mistakes retail businesses make, and how you can join the 10% that are leading the way. We’ll show how Contentserv’s advanced technology stack (including Product Information Management (PIM), Digital Asset Management (DAM), content syndication, and AI-driven contextualization) provides a solid foundation for retailers to succeed where others struggle.
The omnichannel mandate: Why it’s non-negotiable
Customers now dictate how, when, and where they interact with brands. They:
- Start their journey on one channel and complete it on another. They might discover a product on Instagram, research it on a website, and complete the purchase on a marketplace.
- Expect real-time accuracy. Any inconsistency in pricing, product information, or availability between channels erodes trust and increases the risk of abandoned carts.
- Require localized, relevant content. Product details, compliance information, and marketing messages need to be adapted based on language, region, and context to ensure engagement.
Without a unified digital commerce strategy, brands can’t keep up. As Forrester highlights, digital commerce will continue its rapid evolution, but most brands will struggle to align their investments with actual customer expectations. The companies that succeed are the ones that make “broader overhauls that tie [their] systems more closely to digital.” This requires not just small tweaks but a strategic shift in how product content, customer data, and contextualization are managed and delivered.
Why are 90% of retailers falling behind?
Siloed product data and content
Many brands manage their product information in separate, disconnected systems. This leads to:
- Conflicting product details across their website, marketplaces, and partner channels.
- Inconsistent digital assets, where product images and descriptions vary from one platform to another.
- Slow updates, making it difficult to react quickly to market trends, seasonality, or new product launches.
Forrester’s research underscores that fragmented product information is one of the biggest inhibitors of seamless omnichannel commerce. When systems don’t communicate, businesses lose agility, introduce inconsistencies, and create a disjointed customer experience. Without a single source of truth, maintaining a cohesive omnichannel experience is nearly impossible.
Manual, inefficient content distribution
Keeping product information updated across multiple channels is time-consuming when done manually. Many brands rely on spreadsheet-based updates or one-off fixes, which:
- Create delays in launching new collections or promotions.
- Increase the risk of errors — outdated prices, incorrect product specifications, or missing images.
- Make scaling difficult, limiting the ability to expand into new marketplaces or regions.
Without an automated, scalable content distribution strategy, brands struggle to keep up with evolving digital commerce demands, leading to inconsistent product experiences and missed revenue opportunities.
Lack of contextualized and localized content
A product listing that works in one market may not work in another. Brands struggle to:
- Adapt product information, like descriptions, images, and compliance information, to fit different regions, languages, and industry regulations.
- Ensure promotions and campaigns align with local market needs, resulting in disconnected experiences across global sales channels.
- Balance content consistency with regional flexibility, leading to either generic messaging or inaccurate product information.
Without AI-driven contextualization and localization tools, brands risk offering content that is irrelevant, inconsistent, or non-compliant with local regulations.
How to make the most of omnichannel retailing
To successfully implement omnichannel solutions, retailers must focus on a unified strategy that emphasizes automation, real-time data, and a contextualized customer journey. By avoiding common omnichannel mistakes retail businesses make and embracing a successful omnichannel approach, brands can provide a seamless shopping experience, enhance customer engagement, and strengthen long-term loyalty. By staying ahead of common mistakes retailers make and optimizing your omnichannel strategy, you’ll not only meet customer expectations but exceed them, ensuring growth in a competitive marketplace.
How to move into the top 10% with a unified approach
Retailers that lead in implementing omnichannel marketing have one key advantage: an integrated, technology-driven strategy that ensures consistency, scalability, and contextualization across all digital channels.
Contentserv PIM: A single source of truth for product data
Contentserv’s Product Information Management (PIM) eliminates siloed product content by centralizing all information in one place.
- Ensure real-time accuracy across websites, marketplaces, mobile apps, and digital campaigns.
- Launch products faster by automatically synchronizing product details everywhere at once.
- Maintain consistency across global markets, supporting multiple languages and regional variations.
With Contentserv PIM, every customer sees the right product details at the right time, no matter where they shop.
Contentserv DAM: Consistent, high-quality digital assets
A seamless omnichannel experience depends on consistent, engaging visuals. Contentserv’s Digital Asset Management (DAM) system ensures every image, video, and marketing asset is always up to date.
- Centralized asset repository — store, manage, and distribute digital assets effortlessly.
- Automate updates — change an image once, and it updates everywhere (ecommerce, marketplaces, marketing materials).
- Version control and compliance — ensure only approved, on-brand visuals are published across channels.
When visuals match across touchpoints, customer confidence increases, leading to higher engagement and fewer abandoned purchases.
AI-driven contextualization: Delivering relevant content across markets
Omnichannel success isn’t just about offering the right product — it’s about delivering the right message, in the right format, to the right audience. Contentserv’s AI-powered contextualization and localization capabilities help brands:
- Dynamically adapt product content based on recipient location, language, and market regulations.
- Ensure consistency across regions by automatically tailoring attributes like pricing, measurements, currencies, and compliance information.
- Enhance customer engagement with region-specific content variations that reflect cultural, seasonal, or industry-specific preferences.
With Contentserv’s intelligent content structuring and localization tools, brands ensure that every digital touchpoint — from product listings and marketing materials to syndication feeds and ecommerce descriptions — delivers information that is contextually relevant and fully aligned with each market’s expectations.
Contentserv syndication: Automate content distribution everywhere
Scaling an omnichannel strategy means publishing product content across multiple platforms efficiently. Contentserv’s syndication capabilities help brands:
- Automatically distribute product data and digital assets to any marketplace, ecommerce platform, or marketing channel.
- Adapt content formats dynamically, ensuring compliance with platform-specific requirements.
- Eliminate manual errors that lead to discrepancies in product listings.
Whether launching on Amazon, Zalando, Shopify, or a regional marketplace, Contentserv ensures your product content is optimized and delivered correctly every time.
Real-time accuracy with Feed Management & Digital Shelf Analytics
Ecommerce success relies on up-to-date product data and pricing across all digital channels. Contentserv’s Feed Management and Digital Shelf Analytics (DSA) solution:
- Synchronizes inventory, pricing, and promotions in real time.
- Ensures compliance with channel-specific requirements, preventing rejected listings and reducing time-to-market.
- Provides actionable insights through DSA, allowing brands to track product performance across ecommerce platforms and marketplaces. Forrester’s predictions also emphasize the growing role of analytics in e-commerce.
With real-time data synchronization and digital shelf insights, brands can confidently sell across multiple marketplaces while ensuring their products remain competitive, visible, and optimized for discovery.
PLM synergies: Strengthening omnichannel Product Lifecycle Management
To keep up with evolving customer demands and fast-changing market trends, retailers need to ensure seamless collaboration between product development, merchandising, and digital commerce teams. Contentserv’s PLM synergies enable:
- End-to-end product data consistency — from initial concept to final listing,
- Faster time-to-market — reduce delays in launching new products by streamlining workflows across product design, marketing, and sales teams.
- Smarter product lifecycle decisions — leverage real-time performance insights to refine assortments, optimize pricing, and adapt to market shifts.
By bridging the gap between product development and digital commerce, Contentserv’s PLM-integrated approach helps brands accelerate innovation and enhance product success across all omnichannel touchpoints.
A practical blueprint for getting ahead
Step 1: Establish your single source of product truth
Unify your data before bridging physical and digital channels. Contentserv PIM ensures every product detail is correct and ready for distribution.
Step 2: Integrate store systems
Use Contentserv’s headless architecture to feed accurate product content into in-store POS systems, associate apps, or kiosk solutions. This aligns in-store experiences with online channels — the “omni-fication” Forrester highlights.
Step 3: Streamline asset management
Leverage DAM to maintain consistent visuals and marketing materials. Brand consistency is a cornerstone of trust in omnichannel retail.
Step 4: Automate syndication
Expand your reach or venture into new marketplaces without overhauling your workflow. Contentserv’s syndicated publishing handles the formatting for each channel.
Step 5: Contextualize and optimize
Once your foundational data is clean and unified, advanced capabilities (like AI-driven contextualization) can be layered in to further enhance omnichannel experiences.
Are you ready to lead in omnichannel commerce?
Forrester’s prediction makes it clear: Retailers that fail to modernize their digital strategies will struggle to stay competitive.
But for brands that act now, the opportunity is huge. With Contentserv’s PIM, DAM, syndication, AI-powered contextualization, and Feed Management, businesses can deliver the seamless, data-driven experiences that today’s customers demand.
Digital commerce businesses will be slow to adopt new innovations despite their rapid development.
Reference:
Access Forrester’s “Predictions 2025: Digital Commerce” here to learn more.
This report is available to Forrester subscribers or for purchase.
Talk to Contentserv today to find out how we can support your strategy!
