An experience-first approach is reshaping digital commerce. But what does that actually look like in practice? We gathered insights from experts who’ve built successful, experience-driven strategies that engage, convert, and grow to get insight on practical solutions to make more sales.
Our expert responses show there’s a clear consensus: a successful digital commerce strategy must revolve around the customer, powered by advanced personalization and the ability to reach audiences across all digital channels.
Personalize to power conversions
One of the strongest themes to emerge from our roundtable is the importance of digital commerce personalization. In a market where every brand is vying for attention, delivering a user experience that feels uniquely tailored is a competitive necessity. Today’s online shoppers expect digital interactions that anticipate their needs and respond to their preferences.
Liam Goldfinch from IDHL highlights how real-time personalization can supercharge conversions by responding to individual user behavior.
“I think the biggest factor in a successful e-commerce strategy today is a personalized, relevant experience for each user that drives conversions. For example, we’ve integrated Algolia into product listing pages, allowing us to boost products and categories in real time based on what each visitor is browsing. The more they engage with the site, the more tailored and useful the experience becomes. That leads to stronger engagement, better product discovery, and ultimately, increased sales.”
Keep in mind that a focus on customer-centric design requires a strong digital commerce infrastructure. Roel Kuik of Aviva Solutions builds on this idea by emphasizing that personalization isn’t effective unless it's delivered on a platform that can support high performance, speed, and agility.
“A well thought out strategy is essential for success. Critical factors to make your strategy work is a blazing fast platform that allows you to create the best possible shopping experience through a combination of personalized content and carefully leveraged marketing features.”
Every channel counts
Consistency across every touchpoint is essential. Customers expect seamless shopping experiences; whether browsing online, exploring a shopping app, calling customer service, or wandering around a store. These experiences should be personalized, fluid, and connected to reinforce your brand at every turn in the customer journey.
Graeme Ashworth of Ridgeway discusses the importance of delivering consistent experiences whether online, in-store, or through customer service.
“For me, the biggest thing for any commerce success is going to be nailing the overall customer experience, making every interaction feel personal, whether someone’s shopping online, in-store on the high street, including chatting with customer service. Good brand consistency is key and needed to keep everything joined across all channels, so customers feel recognized, and information is relevant and valued, not just at the point of sale but throughout their whole journey. That’s what will build loyalty and keep people coming back.”
In addition to consistency, agility plays a critical role in adapting to shifting consumer behaviors. Ashworth highlights how using AI and analytics enables brands to remain relevant and responsive.
“Being smart with captured data and the use of technology is important for success. Using analytics, and now AI, can help you understand what customers actually want, helps you personalize offers, and keeps your marketing sharp. Plus, if you have flexible, scalable technology, this means you can adapt quickly to new trends or feedback. It’s for me all about putting the customer at the heart of everything, while staying agile and ready to evolve.”
Taking a long view of customer relationships, Mandy Basra from IDHL advocates for strategy that extends beyond acquisition and into the post-purchase experience.
“In my view, a truly successful commerce strategy today starts with a deep understanding of the customer journey—not just pre-purchase, but post-purchase and beyond. It’s critical to build flexible, scalable digital infrastructure that can adapt quickly to shifts in customer behavior, channel mix, and business needs. Platforms like Xperience by Kentico give you the flexibility to integrate content and commerce in one place, which is essential for delivering personalized, high-converting experiences across every touchpoint.”
Eliminate silos to accelerate growth
A recurring theme among the experts is the need to eliminate gaps between commerce, content, and marketing. When technology stacks are fragmented, it’s difficult to act quickly on helpful insights. Consolidation has become essential to compete in this digital-first economy.
Jonathan Henault from Kentico outlines the risk of disconnected tools and the value of having a single, consolidated platform.
“The secret to a successful ecommerce strategy today? Integration, not isolation. Simply listing products online isn’t enough. Growth requires a smart content strategy, SEO that attracts, and marketing that converts. That’s why the real competitive edge is consolidation. When your commerce engine, CMS, and marketing tools operate in silos, you lose speed, insight, and synergy. But when everything works seamlessly together in one platform, that’s when you cut through the noise. Xperience by Kentico isn’t just a tool; it’s your digital Swiss Army knife. Sure, you could go looking for the sharpest standalone commerce blade. But why carry five separate tools when one does it all? It’s not about having the shiniest knife in the drawer. It’s about having the right one in your pocket.”
Jiří Barbořík from Bluesoft echoes this sentiment, underscoring the critical role of integration in delivering a trustworthy and seamless shopping experience.
“It is crucial to effectively connect all digital channels and internal systems so that the customer experiences a smooth, personalized, and trustworthy purchasing process. Xperience by Kentico provides an ideal foundation for this: it allows for easy integration with ERP, CRM, and other tools, while built-in marketing features such as automation and personalization help target customers at the right moment. All of this leads to higher conversion rates and long-term customer loyalty.”
Planning digital commerce for tomorrow
To maintain competitive advantage in digital commerce, brands should anticipate change. Whether expanding into new markets, adopting emerging technologies, or adjusting to consumer expectations; a flexible digital commerce solution provides the resilience needed for long-term success.
Alessio Farina of Exetera emphasizes how striking the right balance between standard features and extensibility enables businesses to evolve without compromise.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to commerce. Some businesses need a quick-to-launch, cost-effective platform with standard features, while others require scalability, deep customization, and seamless integration to support long-term growth and complex needs. In our view, a truly successful e-commerce strategy relies on a platform that strikes the right balance: a solid out-of-the-box foundation with the most common features and integrations already available, but also open and flexible enough to adapt to evolving business models, unique workflows, or advanced personalization. Scalability, extensibility, and the ability to integrate with best-of-breed tools are key to ensuring the platform grows with the business—not the other way around.”
Graeme Ashworth reinforces this point by tying scalability to the smart use of data and the ability to remain responsive in a fast-moving environment.
“Being smart with captured data and the use of technology is important for success. Using analytics, and now AI, can help you understand what customers actually want, helps you personalize offers, and keeps your marketing sharp. Plus, if you have flexible, scalable technology, this means you can adapt quickly to new trends or feedback. It’s for me all about putting the customer at the heart of everything, while staying agile and ready to evolve.”
Storytelling sells
Even in a landscape of automation and algorithms, storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools in digital commerce. The narrative that surrounds a product—its value, use case, and emotional appeal—drives brand affinity and builds lasting customer relationships. Creating a frictionless shopping experience that also reinforces brand identity is the hallmark of best-in-class digital retail.
Brian McGovern of iMedia shares why storytelling and ease of use are crucial to moving customers from consideration to conversion.
“The key to a successful commerce strategy is balancing the storytelling and value proposition of your products with transactional information like price options and configurations. The digital experience is often the first interaction a prospect has with the brand, so the product's story needs to be strong and consistent across channels. When customers move from consideration to conversion, the buying process should be clear and frictionless with easy product configuration options and multiple payment options. The execution of this strategy puts DXPs at the center of the conversation.”
Conclusion: unify strategy and expertise
The path to digital commerce success is all about how organizations orchestrate content, commerce, and customer data. With an integrated digital experience platform; brands can adapt faster, personalize more deeply, and scale more efficiently.
As Mandy Basra aptly puts it:
“Tech alone doesn’t drive results. Success lies in how well it’s connected to data, marketing automation, and performance insights. Brands that bring their CMS, CRM, and commerce stack into alignment are the ones that win.”
In an era of rising expectations, experience-first commerce is the way to go if you want to guarantee that customers keep coming back.
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