Modern Retail is More than Just a Collection of Channels

Suffering from Funnel Vision

For years, marketers treated awareness, consideration, and conversion as distinct stages. They believed they could control the buying journey by assigning each channel a specific job. Social media generated awareness. Websites drove intent. Retailers closed the conversion. 

Consumers don’t behave like that anymore. And any brand that continues planning against this outdated construct is suffering from “funnel vision”.

Today, shoppers can discover products on Instagram, compare alternatives using an AI assistant, and complete a purchase within seconds. Equally, they may encounter a retailer’s shoppable ad on Connected TV (CTV) and go straight to checkout. 

Instead of thinking about channel theory, CPG marketers should be thinking about communication theory. 

It’s not about making every channel look identical; it’s about creating a connected ecosystem where every interaction feels like it came from the same brand. For example, the way a brand communicates on Instagram should naturally differ from how it communicates on its website. The language, creative, and storytelling should reflect how consumers behave in that environment and the experience they expect. 

The Website isn’t the Primary Storefront

CPG brands shouldn’t stop investing in their own properties and channels, such as websites. However, as their product is primarily discovered and purchased in non-direct retailer ecosystems and channels, they should pivot their purpose. 

For direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, websites remain the primary destination for education. Consumers expect buying to be seamless and information easy to find and simple to digest. 

Conversely, for CPG brands, websites increasingly exist to establish credibility long before the consumer makes a purchase. Very few consumers will visit L’Oréal or Heinz before buying shampoo or ketchup. They’re far more likely to compare products side by side on a retailer’s website while placing an order. 

Brand-owned content still matters. But not because consumers read it directly. It exists to establish authority. Rich, trustworthy content improves a brand’s share of model, helping search engines and AI assistants understand, validate, and recommend products to the relevant consumers at the right moment.

Removing Scale as a Barrier

Modern retail ecosystems stretch far beyond ecommerce websites. Retail media networks, CTV, loyalty programmes, mobile apps, off-platform integrations — everything is connected, with channels working together to drive consumers back to the retailer. 

Retailers may own the platforms and define the rules. But brands still own the experience.

Provided they meet retailer requirements — each retailer mandates that brand content within their ecosystems be different from content published in competitors’ retail environments — brands retain significant control over how they present themselves. Product descriptions, brand stores, and creative assets all contribute to how consumers perceive them. 

Historically, the challenge has been consistency at scale. Creating bespoke experiences for every retailer, platform and audience led to protracted production cycles and lengthy approval processes. Many brands found this resource-intensive process difficult to justify and cost prohibitive to activate.

This is where technology tilts the scales in CPG brands’ favour. 

AI removes the cost barrier, making ecosystem-thinking easier to execute. Rather than producing generic assets for mass use, brands can create channel-specific content and experiences at scale, tailoring each experience to the environment. 

The differentiator isn’t AI, though. It’s understanding the consumer. 

Why are they choosing that retailer? What else are they buying? Which payment methods do they prefer? What motivates them in that particular moment? These behavioral signals reveal much more about a consumer’s intent than any traditional demographic data will. 

For years, CPG brands have chased the Holy Grail of first-party data. In reality, the greatest opportunity often lies in forging closer partnerships with retailers. Combining your brand’s knowledge of its products and consumers with the retailers’ rich behavioural and purchase insights will create a deeper understanding than either could achieve alone. 

The Experience Is the Brand

Consumers are spread across the internet, constantly researching, comparing — and increasingly, relying on AI to surface relevant products. Awareness, engagement, and conversion happen simultaneously in various channels. 

The CPG brands that deliver seamless, enticing experiences across the entire retail ecosystem won’t just drive purchases. They’ll secure lasting loyalty. 

Get rid of your brand’s funnel vision. Build your ecosystem for how consumers shop today.