Salesforce-Powered Digital Transformation in Retail: Profitability, Omnichannel, and AI-Driven Customer Experience

The Retail Imperative: Profitability and Seamless Experience

Retailers today face a dual mandate: make e-commerce profitable and deliver seamless, personalized omnichannel experiences. The digital acceleration of recent years has left many retailers with fragmented systems, rising costs, and a pressing need to modernize. As the Ipsos Global Retail Decision-Makers survey reveals, while 96% of retail leaders expect e-commerce to keep growing, only 73% expect profits to rise in tandem. Nearly half say their e-commerce business is less profitable than in-store, and a quarter admit it’s not profitable at all. The challenge is clear: growth alone is not enough—profitability and customer-centricity must go hand in hand.

Salesforce as the Engine of Retail Transformation

Salesforce, with its Data Cloud, Agentforce, and AI-powered solutions, is at the forefront of helping retailers address these challenges. Publicis Sapient, recognized as a market leader in Salesforce-powered digital transformation, brings deep expertise in leveraging the Salesforce ecosystem to drive measurable business outcomes for retailers. Our approach is rooted in a consumer-first mindset, direct-to-consumer (DTC) expertise, and a proven ability to deliver strategy, design, and transformation at scale.

Unlocking Profitability Through Data and AI

Retailers know what needs to be done to improve e-commerce profitability—90% say they have a clear roadmap—but nearly half struggle to make the necessary investments. The answer lies in harnessing data and AI to optimize every aspect of the retail value chain:

• Unified Customer Data: Salesforce Data Cloud breaks down silos, creating a 360-degree view of the customer. This enables real-time personalization, smarter segmentation, and more effective marketing spend—critical as 77% of retailers admit to targeting existing loyalty members with paid media, wasting acquisition budgets.
• AI-Driven Insights: Salesforce Einstein and Agentforce empower retailers to automate lead management, forecast demand, and deliver intelligent recommendations. AI-driven customer service, chatbots, and self-service tools not only reduce costs but also elevate the customer experience.
• Operational Efficiency: Automation and workflow orchestration streamline supply chain processes, inventory management, and fulfillment. For example, micro-fulfillment centers and automated shipping optimization—top investment areas for retailers—are made more effective with real-time data and AI-powered decisioning.

Omnichannel Commerce: Meeting Customers Where They Are

The modern shopper expects a frictionless journey across digital and physical touchpoints. Retailers are investing heavily in omnichannel commerce, with 80% making medium to high investments in this area. Salesforce Commerce Cloud, combined with Publicis Sapient’s expertise, enables:

• Replatforming and Marketplace Expansion: Rapidly launch new brands and expand product selection through marketplaces, as seen in our work with L’Oréal, where time-to-market for brand launches dropped from months to weeks, saving hundreds of thousands annually.
• Dynamic Pricing and Promotions: AI-powered dynamic pricing ensures competitiveness and margin optimization, while personalized promotions drive conversion.
• Headless and Composable Commerce: Future-proof architectures allow retailers to adapt quickly to changing consumer behaviors and technology trends.

Personalization at Scale: The AI Advantage

Personalization is the single most critical investment for boosting e-commerce profitability, cited by 53% of retail leaders. Salesforce Data Cloud and AI enable:

• Real-Time Personalization: Deliver tailored offers, content, and experiences across web, mobile, and in-store channels.
• Customer Journey Orchestration: Map and optimize every touchpoint, from acquisition to loyalty, using unified data and AI-driven insights.
• Retail Media and Data Monetization: Unlock new revenue streams by leveraging first-party data for targeted advertising and partnerships, all while maintaining privacy and trust.

Modernizing the Supply Chain for Agility and Resilience

Supply chain modernization is a top-three investment area for retailers seeking profitability. Salesforce-powered solutions enable:

• Inventory Visibility: Real-time tracking and predictive analytics ensure the right products are in the right place at the right time.
• Automated Fulfillment: AI-driven optimization of shipping partners, multiple delivery options, and returns management reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.
• Sustainability: Data-driven insights help retailers optimize sourcing, reduce waste, and meet ESG goals.

Real-World Impact: Case Studies in Retail Transformation

• L’Oréal: Publicis Sapient defined a new commerce strategy and implemented Salesforce Commerce Cloud across 60+ DTC sites in the Americas. The result: accelerated brand launches, automated build and release processes, and significant annual cost savings.
• Asda: Leveraging Salesforce, we delivered omnichannel personalization at scale, enabling continuous optimization and deeper customer engagement.
• Global Jewelry Brand: Upgraded and optimized Salesforce Commerce to enable a common codebase and storefront, doubling release velocity and halving migration time.

The Path Forward: AI, Data, and Ecosystem Collaboration

Retailers are moving beyond point solutions to holistic transformation. The next wave of digital business transformation is powered by:

• Agentic AI: Platforms like Agentforce deliver autonomous, always-on support, freeing teams to focus on high-impact work and enabling new levels of customer engagement.
• Ecosystem Synergy: Success in retail now depends on collaboration—across technology partners, data providers, and even competitors—to create new sources of value.
• Outcome-Driven Models: Retailers are demanding outcome-based partnerships, with clear ROI, transparency, and alignment to business objectives.

Why Publicis Sapient?

• Consumer-First, DTC Mindset: Deep expertise in retail and direct-to-consumer business models.
• Proven AI and Data Cloud Leadership: Early adoption and deployment of Salesforce Data Cloud and Agentforce, with 40+ cross-industry use cases and live deployments in tier-one retailers.
• End-to-End SPEED Capabilities: Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, and Data & AI—integrated to deliver transformation at scale.
• Outcome-Focused Partnerships: From profitability to customer experience, we deliver measurable impact, as validated by client and partner feedback.

Conclusion: Retail’s Next Chapter

The future of retail belongs to those who can make e-commerce profitable, deliver seamless omnichannel experiences, and harness the power of AI and data to personalize every interaction. Salesforce, combined with Publicis Sapient’s transformation expertise, provides the platform, tools, and vision to help retailers not just adapt—but lead. The time to act is now: invest in the foundations of data, AI, and omnichannel, and unlock new sources of value for your business and your customers.