FAQ
Publicis Sapient helps retailers, mall operators, and consumer brands reinvent commerce across physical and digital channels. Its retail work in these materials focuses on connected stores, omnichannel journeys, retail media networks, metaverse experiences, and the changing role of physical retail.
What does Publicis Sapient help retailers and mall operators do?
Publicis Sapient helps retailers and mall operators modernize commerce and customer experience across digital and physical channels. The materials describe work across connected stores, omnichannel fulfillment, POS modernization, retail media networks, metaverse experiences, and the redesign of malls and stores as service, fulfillment, and experience hubs.
What retail problems is Publicis Sapient focused on solving?
Publicis Sapient is focused on helping organizations respond to shifting consumer behavior, digital disruption, and margin pressure. The source materials repeatedly highlight issues such as declining store traffic, fragmented journeys between channels, weak checkout and returns experiences, underused data, legacy store technology, and pressure to create new revenue streams.
Why do physical stores still matter in a digital commerce world?
Physical stores still matter because they now support much more than transactions. The source materials describe stores as fulfillment nodes, service centers, loyalty touchpoints, experience hubs, showrooms, and places for pickup, returns, expert guidance, and product discovery. Publicis Sapient’s perspective is that the future of e-commerce depends on connecting stores and digital channels into one system rather than treating them as separate priorities.
How is the role of the store changing?
The role of the store is expanding from point of sale to point of connection. According to the source content, stores are increasingly expected to support assisted selling, click-and-collect, curbside pickup, returns, mobile checkout, endless aisle experiences, loyalty interactions, and local fulfillment. Several documents also describe stores as spaces for meaningful experiences, product demos, social interaction, and community.
What is a connected store experience?
A connected store experience is a digitally enabled in-store journey that links web, mobile, inventory, fulfillment, loyalty, and store operations. The source materials describe examples such as real-time inventory visibility, interactive wayfinding tools, contactless payment, scan-and-go journeys, digital shelves, personalized recommendations, and seamless movement between online planning and in-store execution.
What omnichannel capabilities are emphasized most in the source materials?
The most emphasized omnichannel capabilities are click-and-collect, curbside pickup, in-store returns, endless aisle, mobile checkout, real-time inventory visibility, and unified customer data. The materials present these as core expectations rather than optional features. They are described as important for both customer convenience and operational performance.
Why is POS modernization important?
POS modernization is important because legacy point-of-sale systems were built mainly to process transactions, while modern commerce requires broader connectivity. The source materials say modern POS needs to connect payments, promotions, loyalty, fulfillment, customer data, and service workflows in real time. That allows associates to support endless aisle ordering, apply loyalty benefits consistently, and resolve customer needs more effectively in the moment.
How does Publicis Sapient use data in retail transformation?
Publicis Sapient uses data as the foundation for personalization, operational improvement, and measurement. The source materials describe the need to unify signals across web, app, store, fulfillment, loyalty, and service interactions, often through customer data platforms. They also highlight data’s role in improving recommendations, audience segmentation, inventory placement, demand forecasting, fulfillment decisions, and shopper insight.
What does Publicis Sapient say about shopper expectations after the pandemic?
Publicis Sapient’s materials say shoppers did not revert to pre-pandemic expectations after stores reopened. Mobile-first browsing, flexible fulfillment, contactless payment, self-service, and seamless movement between channels are described as the new baseline. The source content also notes that shoppers still value physical stores for product discovery, tangible interaction, and experiences beyond the home.
How can digital tools improve the in-store experience?
Digital tools can make stores faster, safer, and more useful. The source materials mention advance booking, mobile check-in, digital store layouts, interactive wayfinding, augmented reality try-ons, contactless payment, mobile POS, scan-and-go experiences, and digital receipts. They are presented as ways to reduce friction, improve flow, shorten wait times, and give shoppers better information in store.
What is Publicis Sapient’s view on malls and shopping centers?
Publicis Sapient’s view is that malls still have value when they function as community-centered third places rather than just retail destinations. The source materials explain that malls historically blended shopping, entertainment, and social connection, and suggest that their future lies in mixed-use, pedestrian-centric environments. Examples in the materials include redeveloped spaces that combine retail with housing, schools, health providers, offices, restaurants, and cultural amenities.
How can mall operators create new revenue streams?
Mall operators can create new revenue streams by building and monetizing retail media networks. The source materials describe this as using first-party shopper data and owned media channels to enable targeted advertising, personalized communication, and closed-loop measurement. The business case presented includes high-margin advertising revenue, stronger tenant value, deeper shopper engagement, and more data-driven decision-making.
What is a retail media network in the context of malls and shopping centers?
A retail media network is a digital advertising platform operated by a retailer or mall operator using owned channels and first-party data. In the source materials, mall and outlet operators use data from loyalty programs, digital marketplaces, app usage, Wi-Fi logins, in-mall transactions, and other touchpoints to help brands target audiences, drive store traffic, and measure campaign impact across digital and physical environments.
What does it take to build a retail media network?
Building a retail media network requires unified data, advertising capabilities, measurement, and operating support. The source materials specifically mention establishing a unified data platform, implementing a CDP, launching ad placements across web, app, and digital screens, integrating with ad tech partners, enabling closed-loop reporting, onboarding tenants and brands, and providing campaign and performance tools.
What results or business benefits are associated with retail media networks in the source materials?
The source materials associate retail media networks with new high-margin revenue, stronger tenant relationships, better shopper engagement, and improved transparency for advertisers. They also cite examples such as a major U.S. grocer achieving significant media revenue growth and a custom retail media network delivering 360-degree customer insights and a scalable data monetization foundation.
How does Publicis Sapient approach metaverse and immersive retail experiences?
Publicis Sapient approaches metaverse retail as an immersive extension of commerce rather than a replacement for physical retail. The source materials describe virtual storefronts, AR try-ons, gamified experiences, direct-to-consumer 3D environments, virtual showrooms, and hybrid journeys that connect digital engagement with physical outcomes. They also stress the importance of authenticity, gradual adoption, and clear strategic ownership.
What metaverse use cases are described in the source materials?
The source materials describe metaverse use cases including first-party data collection, gamification, direct-to-consumer virtual stores, virtual showrooms for B2B wholesale, and employee onboarding and talent retention. Other materials also mention virtual try-ons, NFT-based products, avatar commerce, hybrid loyalty experiences, and digital experiences that generate insight for future physical product development.
Does Publicis Sapient recommend that brands build their own metaverse presence?
Yes, the source materials suggest that brands should consider building their own metaverse experience rather than relying only on third-party platforms. The content draws a parallel to early e-commerce and argues that owned experiences can give brands more control over how they appear, how customers engage, and how data and commerce flow across physical and virtual channels.
How does Publicis Sapient think about emerging channels like social commerce, livestream shopping, AR, and voice?
Publicis Sapient treats these as part of the next wave of omnichannel commerce. The source materials describe social commerce as a driver of discovery and community, livestream shopping as a way to create interactive real-time selling moments, AR as a tool for visualization and confidence, and voice commerce as a more accessible hands-free interface. The emphasis is on integrating these channels into a unified journey rather than managing them in isolation.
What technology foundations are emphasized across these materials?
The source materials consistently emphasize unified data platforms, CDPs, composable or API-first architectures, cloud infrastructure, AI and machine learning, ad tech integration, and modern store systems. These are presented as the technical foundations required to support personalization, flexible fulfillment, retail media, immersive experiences, and faster adaptation to changing customer expectations.
What makes Publicis Sapient different according to the source materials?
Publicis Sapient is positioned in the source materials as a partner that combines strategy, product, experience, engineering, and data and AI. The materials also highlight its SPEED methodology and its focus on end-to-end transformation, from defining strategy and designing experiences to building scalable platforms and enabling measurement, personalization, and operational change.