Consumer products and retail organizations are at a pivotal moment. The rise of distributed work—where teams collaborate across locations, time zones, and digital platforms—has fundamentally changed how these industries attract, retain, and empower talent. With high turnover, seasonal workforces, and the relentless pace of digital transformation, the stakes have never been higher. To compete with digitally native brands and meet the evolving expectations of both employees and customers, leaders must modernize the digital workforce experience (EX) and tightly integrate it with customer experience (CX).
The talent skills gap is now the top business risk for North American CEOs, and nowhere is this more acute than in consumer products and retail. With over 117,000 open positions in U.S. CPG firms alone, companies are vying for talent against tech giants and agile startups. Gen Z and millennial workers are driving a shift toward flexibility, purpose, and digital-first engagement. For these employees, the quality of the digital workplace is as important as compensation or brand prestige.
Yet, many organizations still treat employee experience as an afterthought in their digital transformation journeys. This is a missed opportunity. Research shows that breaking down silos between EX and CX can drive revenue growth of 50% or more. When employees are empowered with the right tools, culture, and support, they deliver better customer experiences, accelerate innovation, and reduce operational costs.
At Publicis Sapient, we believe that EX and CX are inseparable. Our approach to modernizing the digital workforce experience is built on three pillars:
Distributed work is now a permanent feature of the consumer products and retail landscape. But enabling true distributed work is more than a logistical shift—it’s a cultural and technological transformation. We help organizations map the full employee journey, from recruiting and onboarding to ongoing engagement, knowledge management, and learning & development. By treating employees as internal customers, we design digital EX journeys that:
Practical Example:
A leading group of television networks partnered with Publicis Sapient to create a self-service onboarding journey. The result: staff could navigate a user-friendly online community, reducing manual effort, streamlining reporting, and accelerating access to accurate payment data. This not only improved the employee experience but also delivered measurable business efficiencies.
Every customer journey has a corresponding employee journey. In consumer products and retail, employees are the enablers behind digital-first experiences for retail partners and end consumers. Yet, most organizations fail to map or optimize the EX side of new CX initiatives. We work with clients to:
Industry Challenge:
In sectors like electronics and luxury, employees often juggle multiple platforms and processes, leading to inefficiency and frustration. By reimagining the EX journey alongside the CX journey, organizations can simplify workflows, improve satisfaction, and enable employees to deliver superior service.
Agility is the new gold standard, but rapid change can overwhelm employees—especially those not native to digital environments. Our change management strategies are designed to:
Practical Example:
Publicis Sapient’s “two in the box” approach has helped consumer products firms navigate rapid digital transformation by pairing employees with consultants for hands-on, role-based learning. This not only accelerates adoption but also builds internal capability for sustained change.
Modern EX and CX are not just about aesthetics or convenience—they must be dataful, ethical, accessible, and iterative. Publicis Sapient’s experience design philosophy is rooted in these principles:
By leveraging dataful design, consumer products and retail companies can rapidly test, learn, and evolve both employee and customer experiences—staying ahead of shifting expectations and market dynamics.
The future of work in consumer products and retail is distributed, data-driven, and deeply human. By modernizing the digital workforce experience, organizations can:
Publicis Sapient’s proven frameworks, industry expertise, and commitment to holistic transformation make us the partner of choice for consumer products and retail leaders ready to reimagine the future of work. If you’re ready to unlock the full potential of your people and your business, let’s start the conversation.