Customer Experience & Personalization in 2025

Delivering meaningful, connected customer experiences has never been more critical. The 2025 Omnichannel Retail Index (ORI) shows a retail industry that is maturing in loyalty, mobile, and search, but still struggling to deliver consistent, personalized experiences across the entire journey.This year, our Customer Experience & Personalization Spotlight explores:

How global retailers are using personalization to improve engagement
Where loyalty programs and mobile experiences are driving value
Which gaps are holding brands back from winning long-term customer loyalty

With 116 retailers across 13 verticals and 3 regions benchmarked, the ORI offers a clear view of what leaders are doing right—and where laggards are leaving growth on the table.

Personalization: From Basic Recognition to Real Relevance

Retailers are making progress, but personalization remains shallow for most brands.

Many retailers recognize returning users and show behavior-based recommendations
Few allow customers to control their experience through robust preference centers
Dynamic, cross-journey personalization—like updating landing pages or tailoring email frequency—is still rare

The takeaway: Foundational personalization is in place, but the next step is creating active, user-led experiences that are embedded across every touchpoint—not siloed to a product page or single channel.

Loyalty Programs: A Cornerstone for Data and Engagement

Loyalty programs continue to be a key driver of engagement and data capture, with nearly three-quarters of retailers offering them.

Leaders reward behaviors beyond purchases, like reviews or referrals
In-store loyalty sign-ups are widely adopted, bridging digital and physical
Yet, few programs deliver experience-based perks that create emotional loyalty

As loyalty and personalization become more connected, brands that reward engagement holistically will gain a measurable competitive edge.

Critical Gaps in the Experience

Even as core features improve, high-intent moments are still under-optimized:

Cart & Checkout: Many retailers still don’t show delivery dates, creating uncertainty
Customer Service: Live chat exists, but isn’t persistent or proactive where it matters most
Mobile Apps: Often mirror the website without exclusive value, missing a chance to differentiate and drive adoption

The bottom line: Shoppers expect fast, transparent, and personalized interactions at every step. Subtle friction adds up—and today’s customers switch brands easily.

Regional Perspectives

North America leads in personalization, loyalty sophistication, and AI adoption
Europe excels in mobile and in-store experiences but lags in web personalization
Brazil offers strong service and shipping policies, yet needs deeper data-driven personalization to capture long-term loyalty

The Path Forward

Customer expectations are clear and uncompromising:

Experiences must be fast, personalized, and convenient
Loyalty programs and mobile must drive real value, not just points or parity
Generative and agentic AI can accelerate personalization and service—but only with responsible data use and consistent execution across channels

Retailers that turn these insights into action will deepen engagement, boost conversion, and build sustainable loyalty.

Coming Soon: Get the Full ORI Insights

The Customer Experience & Personalization Feature Spotlight is part of the upcoming 2025 Omnichannel Retail Index release.Join the waitlist to:

Access the full global and regional reports
Receive exclusive feature spotlights on loyalty, mobile, and cross-channel execution
Get invitations to webinars and events in Paris, Berlin, Madrid, São Paulo, and New York

Be first to turn ORI benchmarks into a competitive advantage.Join the Waitlist

Author: Rich Siefert

Rich Siefert is a Senior Consultant, Practice Lead in OSF Digital´s Strategy group. He has over two decades of executive-level experience at large-scale retailers, particularly in the home categories, with a proven record in strategy, P&L management, and organizational leadership in an omnichannel environment.