Webinar Highlights: Growing Online Sales for Brick-and-Mortar Stores in 2025

Retail is changing fast, and eCommerce is no longer optional for brick-and-mortar stores. But many retailers still struggle to connect online and offline sales, invest in the right digital tools, and get the whole team on board with omnichannel strategies.

We spent the past year talking with retail executives in London, New York, and Sydney, uncovering the biggest roadblocks and solutions that actually work. In our latest webinar, we broke down the top challenges for 2025 and how retailers are tackling them. Here’s what you need to know.

Watch the full webinar in the video above, or read more for key takeaways on the biggest challenges and solutions shaping retail in 2025.

Fixing the disconnect in personalizing customer journeys across online & offline

Many retailers can’t deliver a consistent, personalized experience across web, app, and physical stores. Teams run separate campaigns. Offline data is rarely used to refine online tactics. No one has a clear view of all customer touchpoints in one place.

This is common, as only 35% of companies say they’ve nailed omnichannel personalization. That means there’s a significant competitive advantage for those who get unified commerce right.

Step 1: Unite your teams

Give both online and offline teams shared KPIs. If store managers help online sales, reward them. If online promotions drive more store traffic, give them credit. Keep prices and deals the same across channels to avoid confusing shoppers.

Step 2: Collect and share data across channels

Use a Customer Data Platform (CDP) to gather info from Point of Sale (POS), eCommerce, apps, and even live chat, building a complete profile of your shopper.

1. Listen to your customers by tracking what people browse, buy, or abandon.
2. Understand your customers by grouping them into segments based on their behavior and interests.
3. Act on those insights through targeted emails, ads, or in-store displays.

The payoff: A hyper-personalized experiences

When data and teams come together, retailers can turn scattered touchpoints into a single conversation. You’ll know who’s browsing online, who’s shopping in stores, and how to speak to each shopper individually, increasing customer engagement and loyalty.

Optimizing marketing spend for offline and online

Retailers pour money into digital ads, but struggle to prove if those campaigns actually bring people into stores. Tracking which online channels drive sales is already tough. Adding offline only makes it harder, with scattered data making it nearly impossible to connect online behavior to in-store purchases.

Only 32% of companies have unified online and offline data, and fewer than 3% actually use that data to optimize marketing spend.

Step 1: Use in-store tracking tech

Tracking tech helps connect digital ads to in-store behavior. Each option has pros and cons, so choose what fits your needs.

• Beacons rely on Bluetooth and a store app, making them affordable but limited.
• Ultra-wideband (UWB) provides precise tracking but costs more.
• Computer vision & Wi-Fi analytics track age, gender, and dwell time without apps but raise privacy concerns.
• RFID & IoT sensors improve inventory tracking and product interactions but require expensive installations.
• NFC works well for contactless payments but doesn’t scale for broader shopper tracking.

Step 2: Incentivize mobile app use in-store

Mobile apps collect more data than websites, and they’re also a powerful way to track in-store shopping. Encourage customers to check in or scan items through the app by offering discounts, loyalty points, or special deals. While this makes shopping more enjoyable for your customer, it also links in-store purchases to their online profiles for more accurate insights.

Step 3: Build a unified data foundation

Centralizing data from POS, eCommerce, and mobile apps is critical—especially in the age of AI, where accurate insights depend on complete datasets.

Consider a Microsoft Fabric implementation to unify and analyze data across channels, paving the way for better targeting and personalization.

Step 4: Making attribution work

If a customer sees an ad online, clicks through to your website, but then visits your store a week later to buy, how do you know what really influenced their decision? Without proper attribution, you’re guessing which channels work and where to invest your budget.

A working offline-to-online attribution system needs three key components:

• Data foundation that unifies in-store, eCommerce, and marketing data into a single source of truth, which is essential for AI insights
• Multi-touch attribution tools like Rockerbox, Northbeam, or Google Analytics track which channels drive sales both online and in-store
• CDPs like Segment, Bloomreach, or Adobe Real-Time unify and activate customer data for precise, targeted marketing.

Bringing these together creates a full-picture model for tracking and optimizing marketing spend. It’s a big project, but starting with a solid data foundation, for example, adopting Microsoft Fabric, is a good first step.

Competing with digital-first brands like Shein & Temu

Online-first brands are winning customers with low prices, fast shipping, and effortless checkouts. Meanwhile, many traditional retailers still treat eCommerce as an afterthought, missing major growth opportunities.

To put it in perspective, 64% of shoppers now buy straight from brands, skipping stores entirely. If your digital strategy isn’t a priority, you’re already falling behind.

Step 1: Understand your customer to the very core

Without real data on who your customers are and how they shop, you’re just guessing.

• Analyze behavior by tracking how shoppers move between online and offline, segmenting audiences, and mapping their full journey.
• Conduct surveys, interviews, and polls to understand their needs.
• Observe in real time using user testing, first-click tests, and quick “5-second” impressions to see where visitors get confused or drop off.
• Test and refine with A/B testing to measure what changes improve engagement and conversions.

Step 2: Make product pages do the selling

Just like a great salesperson, a product page should tell a compelling story and help customers see how the product enhances their life.

• Organize information clearly, so shoppers instantly understand what the product is, who it’s for, and why it’s worth buying.
• Use storytelling with high-quality photos, videos, and concise copy to highlight real benefits.
• Build confidence by showing accurate pricing, stock availability, and shipping details upfront. Reviews and ratings reinforce trust.

Step 3: Invest in personalized experiences

Generic marketing no longer works. Shoppers expect brands to know what they want and deliver relevant offers, content, and recommendations.

• Use AI-driven search and product recommendations that adapt in real time to shopper behavior.
• Link online and offline data with a unified loyalty program to track shopping habits and offer better suggestions.
• Leverage AI-powered, hyper-personalized agents to create real-time, customized experiences across all touchpoints.

Some popular SaaS solutions for personalization include Klevu (search, product recommendations, voice search), ConvertFlow (personalized offer quizzes), Popupsmart (lead generation pop-ups for data collection), Algolia (smart bundles, voice search), Nosto (dynamic bundles), Dynamic Yield, and Bloomreach.

Step 4: Build loyalty that lasts

Shoppers who feel valued and rewarded will choose you over cheaper competitors, and keep coming back.

• Use QR codes and digital wallet cards, so in-store shoppers can scan barcodes for outfit suggestions or instant online purchases.
• Centralize buying history by merging offline and online transactions, making future recommendations smarter.
• Reward repeat business with perks and discounts that work across both in-store and online.

Avoiding internal sales cannibalization between online & offline

Store managers often worry that eCommerce will take revenue away from physical stores. And in many cases, it does, but only when the strategy is flawed.

About 75% of retailers say online sales cut into store revenue, but it doesn’t have to be this way. In truth, a strong omnichannel strategy increases total purchases by giving customers more ways to buy.

This is the essence of the phygital approach—treating physical and digital experiences as one seamless journey rather than competing forces.

How to ensure both channels support growth

• Keep prices consistent, so shoppers don’t favor one channel just for a better deal.
• Offer omnichannel shopping options like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) or buy in-store, ship to home to improve convenience.
• Sync real-time inventory, so customers see what’s available online and in-store, reducing frustration and lost sales.
• Extend the store digitally with in-store tablets or barcode scanning, letting shoppers browse the full catalog and order unavailable items.
• Adopt a unified loyalty program that rewards customers no matter where they shop.
• Train store employees to use online tools to assist customers, and reward them so that they actively support both online and offline revenue.

Gaining executive support for online investments

Retail executives hesitate to fund digital projects. And for a reason. They want proof that the investment will pay off, and often worry about risk, cost, and disrupting what already works. Strategic innovation must be backed by clear ROI, and the key is to approach it methodically.

Step 1: Align teams

Online and offline teams need shared goals. A unified omnichannel strategy keeps everyone focused on total revenue growth instead of protecting their own turf.

Step 2: Start small with a Proof of Concept (PoC)

Instead of a full rollout, test on a small scale first. A PoC minimizes risk while providing real data on what works before making a major investment.

Step 3: Use data-driven testing

Measure ROI with A/B testing and real-time analytics to see what drives results. Scale up what works. If something fails, refine and retest.

Keep track of important unified commerce metrics like Customer Retention Rate (CRR), Average Order Value (AOV), and others.

Example: Super product page (PDP) for a sports retailer

A retailer tested product page improvements to drive conversions:

• Cross-linking variations displayed related products and matching gear
• Rich product descriptions combined specs with clear benefits, like how running shoes reduce knee strain
• Upsells encouraged full outfit purchases and add-ons.

After successful and rapid testing, the winner from A/B testing delivered a 19% increase in add-to-cart rate and 39% more transactions.

Summary: What’s next for retailers in 2025?

To win in 2025, retailers need to shift from seeing online and offline as separate entities and embrace a truly integrated omnichannel strategy.

Some key takeaways

• Speed and convenience will outperform everything else.
• Omnichannel is non-negotiable—customers expect seamless experiences between online and offline.
• AI and automation will define the next wave of retail success.
• Social and conversational commerce will become key sales channels.
• Customer loyalty will be harder to maintain, but more valuable than ever.

To put it another way, retailers that act now to unify their digital and physical experiences will be the ones leading the industry in the years ahead. Will you adapt or fall behind?

Want a strategy that actually works? scandiweb helps retailers connect online and offline, personalize customer experiences with AI, and build a digital roadmap that drives real results. Get in touch with us and let’s talk about your next 3-5 years.

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