Industry Deep Dive: Real-Time Data Transformation in Retail with Publicis Sapient and Adobe

Unlocking Retail’s Data Potential: The New Imperative

In today’s retail landscape, data is the new competitive currency. Every hour, retailers generate up to 40 terabytes of data—yet much of this information remains fragmented, noisy, and underutilized. The challenge is no longer about collecting data, but about unifying, analyzing, and activating it to deliver seamless, personalized experiences that drive measurable business outcomes. As consumer expectations rise and digital and physical channels converge, the ability to act on real-time insights is what separates retail leaders from the rest.

This is where the partnership between Publicis Sapient and Adobe becomes transformative. By combining deep retail expertise with the power of Adobe Experience Platform (AEP), retailers can move beyond basic marketing tactics to true data-driven transformation—unlocking the full value of their data and delivering the connected experiences today’s shoppers demand.

The State of Data Maturity in Retail

Despite significant investments in analytics and automation, most retailers are still in the early stages of data maturity. Many use data primarily for foundational marketing activities—such as detecting product preferences or predicting intent—while only a minority are leveraging advanced analytics to predict life events, create customer genomes, or optimize inventory and returns. Only 40% of retailers are actively creating 360-degree customer views, and just 37% use data to detect or predict major life events that could trigger new shopping behaviors.

This gap is compounded by organizational silos, a shortage of AI skills, and fragmented technology stacks. Insights and analytics teams often operate separately from digital teams, limiting the ability to mine data for actionable insights. The result? Missed opportunities for personalization, inefficient operations, and a lack of measurable ROI from customer experience investments.

Why Adobe Experience Platform?

Adobe Experience Platform is designed to address these challenges head-on. As a modern Customer Data Platform (CDP), AEP unifies first-, second-, and third-party data in real time, creating actionable, real-time customer profiles. Retailers can:

Break down data silos by integrating data from web, mobile, in-store, call centers, and more.
Leverage AI and machine learning to generate predictive insights, segment audiences, and orchestrate personalized journeys across channels.
Activate insights through seamless integrations with Adobe Experience Cloud applications (like Adobe Target, Campaign, and Audience Manager) and over 200 non-Adobe destinations.
Ensure governance and compliance with robust privacy controls and data management capabilities.

With AEP, retailers can move from static, batch-driven marketing to dynamic, real-time engagement—meeting customers where they are, with the right message, at the right time.

The Publicis Sapient Advantage

Implementing Adobe Experience Platform is not just a technology project—it’s a business transformation journey. Publicis Sapient brings deep retail expertise, proprietary methodologies, and a proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes for some of the world’s largest retailers. Our approach is grounded in:

Strategic Data Assessment: Identifying immediate and long-term value opportunities by assessing current data capabilities and business objectives.
Agile Value Realization: Through rapid proof-of-concept sprints and agile pods, we launch campaigns, test hypotheses, and scale what works—ensuring every investment is tied to clear revenue and ROI metrics.
Organizational Enablement: Addressing the skills gap by providing training, change management, and ongoing support, empowering teams to fully leverage AEP’s capabilities.
Continuous Optimization: Working alongside clients to measure, analyze, and optimize customer journeys, driving ongoing improvement and innovation.

Real-World Impact: Retail Case Studies

Retailers who have embraced this approach are already seeing tangible results:

Global Retail Chain: By centralizing siloed data across seven countries and integrating over 15 data sources, a leading retailer achieved stronger sales performance, improved customer loyalty, and more strategic product planning. The foundation laid by AEP and Publicis Sapient enabled the retailer to become a true algorithmic retailer, using predictive analytics to drive acquisition, personalization, and retention.
World’s Largest Retailer of Diamond Jewelry: Through a focused personalization strategy, the retailer unlocked a $500 million revenue opportunity over 3-5 years, with $60 million in incremental revenue in the first year alone.
US Hardware and Home Improvement Store: By identifying quick wins in eCommerce personalization, the retailer realized a $120 million commerce opportunity over five years.
Falabella Group: With a 360-degree customer view, Falabella increased campaign audience size by up to 400%, achieved 10-15% higher clickthrough rates, and rapidly scaled use cases, fueling its journey to algorithmic retailing.

Overcoming Common Barriers to Data Maturity

Research shows that while 60% of retailers believe they are ahead of the competition in AI, true data maturity requires more than confidence. Key barriers include:

Siloed data and teams: Integration across business units is essential for a unified customer view.
Skills and adoption gaps: 44% of retailers cite a shortage of AI skills, and 45% struggle with employee adoption of new solutions.
Lack of clear ROI: Many organizations lack a coherent approach to measuring and realizing value from their data investments.

Publicis Sapient’s methodology addresses these challenges by connecting disparate data, democratizing access, investing in people, and fostering a culture of experimentation and continuous learning.

The Path Forward: Recommendations for Retailers

To unlock the full power of Adobe Experience Platform and achieve data maturity, retailers should:

Connect all data sources—not just transactional data—into a single, unified platform.
Democratize data access across the organization, with clear governance and privacy controls.
Invest in talent and training to close the AI skills gap and drive adoption.
Think beyond marketing: Use data to optimize operations, pricing, inventory, and more.
Embrace agile experimentation: Test, learn, and iterate to continuously improve outcomes.

Why Publicis Sapient and Adobe?

As a globally managed Platinum Adobe Solution Partner, Publicis Sapient has been named Adobe’s Partner of the Year seven times—a distinction no other partner has achieved. Our teams bring unmatched expertise in retail, data science, and Adobe technologies, helping clients transform data into a strategic asset and deliver relevant, real-time customer engagement across all channels.

Ready to move beyond the basics and unlock the true value of your retail data? Let Publicis Sapient and Adobe Experience Platform be your partners on the journey to data maturity and business transformation.

Discover how to fully harness your data sources and create real-time customer profiles with Publicis Sapient and Adobe. Contact us to start your transformation journey.