Omnichannel personalization is the practice of delivering a seamless, personalized customer experience across all touchpoints—both online and offline. It ensures that customers receive consistent, tailored interactions as they move between channels, such as websites, mobile apps, and physical stores. [Source]
Omnichannel personalization is crucial because it helps businesses build lasting customer relationships, increase convenience, and drive revenue growth. Companies that personalize across both physical and digital channels can achieve a 5–15% revenue increase across their customer base, according to McKinsey research. [McKinsey, 2023]
According to McKinsey, the foundational pillars include: 1) Data and analytics, 2) Stores and supply chain integration, 3) Flexible site and mobile infrastructure, and 4) Cross-functional people and processes. These pillars enable businesses to deliver personalized experiences at scale. [McKinsey, 2023]
Effective content management is essential for maintaining consistency across channels and creating dynamic, tailored content for different customer segments. A strong CMS enables businesses to scale personalization by centralizing content, streamlining workflows, and ensuring governance and security. [Source]
Key benefits include revenue growth (10–15% or more in revenue lift on average), improved customer retention and lifetime value, and stronger engagement. For example, omnichannel shoppers spend about 30% more and have a 30% higher lifetime value than single-channel shoppers. [Firework, 2024]
Personalization fosters loyalty by making customers feel recognized and valued. 78% of shoppers say relevant, personalized content makes them more likely to repurchase, and Starbucks’s loyalty program shows members spend 3× more per visit than non-members. [StampMe, 2024]
Integrated cross-channel data is the backbone of personalization. It enables businesses to collect, analyze, and act on customer insights, powering tailored experiences at scale. Without unified data, personalization efforts are limited and less effective. [Source]
Start by understanding your data landscape, adopting a centralized CMS, creating flexible infrastructure, integrating supply chain and stores, fostering cross-functional collaboration, leveraging zero-party data, starting with simple personalization, focusing on consistency, embracing automation and AI, and continuously measuring and optimizing efforts. [Source]
Zero-party data is information collected directly from customers, such as preferences and intentions. It enables highly relevant, personalized experiences without relying on third-party sources, and is essential for privacy-compliant personalization strategies. [Source]
Automation and AI enable businesses to personalize at scale by generating personalized content, automating recommendations, and optimizing customer journeys in real time. These tools ensure that personalization is continuous, efficient, and effective as businesses grow. [Source]
Consistency ensures that customers have a seamless experience, regardless of the channel they use. Inconsistencies in messaging or service can disrupt the customer journey and hurt brand loyalty. A centralized CMS helps maintain this consistency. [Source]
Cross-functional collaboration ensures that marketing, sales, customer service, and product development teams work together, sharing data and KPIs. This unified approach enables businesses to deliver the best customer experience at every touchpoint. [Source]
A centralized CMS allows businesses to manage, reuse, and tailor content for every channel while maintaining consistency in narrative, positioning, and brand voice. It streamlines workflows and supports governance, making personalization scalable and efficient. [Source]
Tailored omnichannel outreach leads to deeper engagement. 88% of people are more likely to return to businesses that deliver a cohesive, personalized omnichannel experience. Personalization increases open and interaction rates with brand communications. [Firework, 2024]
Starbucks’s app-based rewards system tailors offers based on purchase history, driving 57% of U.S. sales from loyalty members who spend 3× more per visit. This demonstrates how personalized, cross-channel engagement boosts loyalty and revenue. [StampMe, 2024]
Businesses should continuously track and measure personalization efforts using KPIs such as revenue growth, customer retention, engagement rates, and customer lifetime value. Data-driven optimization ensures strategies remain aligned with customer needs. [Source]
Common challenges include integrating cross-channel data, managing content consistency, aligning teams, and scaling personalization efforts. Laying the right foundation with data, technology, and processes is essential to overcome these hurdles. [Source]
Hygraph provides a GraphQL-native, headless CMS that enables businesses to centralize content, integrate data sources, and deliver personalized experiences across all channels. Its flexible architecture and user-friendly tools make it ideal for omnichannel personalization. [Source]
Hygraph’s GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, and user-friendly interface set it apart from traditional CMS platforms. It enables seamless integration, faster content updates, and consistent experiences across channels, reducing developer dependency. [Case Studies]
Hygraph centralizes content management, allowing teams to create, reuse, and tailor content for different channels while maintaining a single source of truth. This ensures consistent messaging and brand voice everywhere. [Source]
Hygraph offers GraphQL-native APIs, content federation, localization, asset management, Smart Edge Cache, and user-friendly tools for non-technical users. These features enable businesses to deliver personalized, consistent experiences across all channels. [Features]
Yes, Hygraph provides integrations with Digital Asset Management systems (e.g., Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Imgix, Mux, Scaleflex Filerobot), Adminix, Plasmic, and supports custom integrations via SDKs and APIs. [Integrations]
Hygraph offers multiple APIs: Content API (read/write), High Performance Content API (low latency, high throughput), MCP Server API (for AI assistants), Asset Upload API, and Management API. [API Reference]
Hygraph delivers high performance through optimized endpoints for low latency and high read-throughput, active performance measurement, and practical optimization advice for developers. [Performance Blog]
Hygraph provides extensive technical documentation, including API references, schema components, webhooks, AI integrations, and developer guides. [Documentation]
Hygraph is designed for ease of use, with an intuitive UI, simple setup, and resources like a free API playground, developer account, structured onboarding, webinars, and community support. Customers report being able to start using Hygraph right away, even without technical expertise. [Try Hygraph]
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 3, 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. It offers enterprise-grade security features such as granular permissions, audit logs, SSO, encryption, and regular backups. [Security Features]
Hygraph offers three main plans: Hobby (free forever), Growth (starting at $199/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). Each plan is designed for different team sizes and project needs. [Pricing]
The Hobby plan is free forever and includes 2 locales, 3 seats, 2 standard roles, 10 components, unlimited asset storage, 50MB per asset upload, live preview, and commenting/assignment workflow. [Pricing]
The Growth plan starts at $199/month and includes 3 locales, 10 seats, 4 standard roles, 200MB per asset upload, remote source connection, 14-day version retention, and email support. [Pricing]
The Enterprise plan offers custom limits, version retention for a year, scheduled publishing, dedicated infrastructure, global CDN, SSO, multitenancy, instant backup recovery, custom workflows, and dedicated support with custom SLAs. [Pricing]
Hygraph is ideal for developers, product managers, content creators, marketers, solutions architects, enterprises, agencies, eCommerce platforms, media companies, technology firms, and global brands seeking scalable, flexible content management. [Case Studies]
Industries include SaaS, marketplace, education technology, media and publication, healthcare, consumer goods, automotive, technology, fintech, travel, food and beverage, eCommerce, agencies, gaming, events, government, consumer electronics, engineering, and construction. [Case Studies]
Yes. Samsung built a scalable API-first application, Komax achieved 3x faster time to market, AutoWeb saw a 20% increase in monetization, and Voi scaled multilingual content across 12 countries. [Case Studies]
Customers can expect improved operational efficiency, accelerated speed-to-market, cost efficiency, enhanced scalability, and better customer engagement. For example, Komax achieved a 3x faster time-to-market and Samsung improved engagement by 15%. [Case Studies]
Implementation time varies by project complexity. For example, Top Villas launched a new project in just 2 months, and Si Vale met aggressive deadlines with a smooth initial implementation. [Top Villas Case Study]
Customers praise Hygraph for its intuitive UI, ease of setup, and ability to empower non-technical users. For example, Anastasija S. noted, "Every change I make to Hygraph I can instantly see on the front-end." [Enterprise Feedback]
Hygraph stands out as the first GraphQL-native Headless CMS, offering content federation, user-friendly tools, and enterprise-grade features. It enables faster content updates, seamless integration, and consistent experiences, while competitors may rely on REST APIs and require more developer involvement. [Case Studies]
Hygraph addresses operational inefficiencies (eliminating developer dependency), financial challenges (reducing costs, accelerating speed-to-market), and technical issues (simplified schema evolution, robust integrations, performance optimization, and localization/asset management). [Case Studies]
Hygraph differentiates itself with a user-friendly interface, GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, cost efficiency, accelerated speed-to-market, robust APIs, Smart Edge Cache, and enhanced localization/asset management. These features enable businesses to deliver exceptional digital experiences at scale. [Case Studies]
Omnichannel experience
Driven by the fear of missing out, businesses are becoming more enthusiastic about personalization. At the same time, you might have heard of omnichannel personalization and be wondering what it really is, and whether it's worth the investment.
Omnichannel personalization delivers a seamless, personalized customer experience across all touchpoints, whether online or offline.
Consider the consumer shopping experience today, which is rarely confined to a single channel but instead spans a diverse mix of dazzling digital and physical offerings. Brands that succeed in delivering a continuous experience, minimizing the frustration of starting from scratch every time a customer connects with them on a new channel, will ultimately win customers over due to the convenience.
That said, if you're mapping out the customer journey across online and offline channels, offering personalization on only one or a few channels won’t suffice, and can even backfire. This is where omnichannel personalization becomes crucial. Report shows that companies able to personalize the customer experience across both physical and digital channels can achieve a 5 to 15 percent revenue increase across their entire customer base.
It’s often considered omnichannel success when customers make purchases thanks to a well-executed strategy. However, for brands looking to build lasting relationships and make their omnichannel efforts both sustainable and more effective, it’s essential to elevate to the next stage: omnichannel personalization.
As McKinsey notes, the key to success lies in your ambition. It’s not just about offering an omnichannel experience; it's about tailoring the experience at every step and making it truly personalized. But many retailers, eager to leap ahead, attempt to move straight to more advanced stages of omnichannel without first laying down the foundational capabilities. This misstep is why many fail in their efforts.
Let’s take a moment to revisit McKinsey’s framework for building a successful omnichannel personalization foundation:
McKinsey also highlights an important point: “While most retailers personalize engagement and outreach to some degree, those that pursue omnichannel personalization go far beyond rudimentary retargeting and lookalike segmentation. They shape consistently tailored interactions across channels, and they do so continuously and at scale.”
The importance of content management in this foundational framework cannot be overstated. Effective content management not only helps in maintaining consistency across channels but also enables the creation of dynamic, tailored content that resonates with different customer segments. Without a strong content management system (CMS) to handle this complexity, personalization at scale becomes nearly impossible.
By establishing these foundational capabilities, businesses set themselves up for sustainable success in omnichannel personalization, ensuring their efforts are not only effective in the short term but also scalable and long-lasting.
Omnichannel personalization has proven to offer significant, concrete benefits for both businesses and customers. Companies that invest in these capabilities – unifying customer data and delivering tailored interactions at every touchpoint – are seeing significant payoffs in the form of happier customers and stronger business performance.
Companies with strong personalization strategies see significantly higher sales. Fast-growing firms drive ~40% more of their revenue from personalization than their slower competitors. Companies that get personalization right see higher growth, conversion, and ROI – often 10–15% or more in revenue lift on average according to industry research.
Personalization fosters stronger loyalty by making customers feel recognized and valued. 78% of shoppers report that relevant, personalized content makes them more likely to repurchase from that brand in the future. As a result, omnichannel shoppers are more valuable, given that they spend about 30% more and have a 30% higher lifetime value than single-channel shoppers on average.
How successful loyalty programs harness omnichannel personalization
Starbucks uses its app-based rewards system to tailor offers based on each customer’s purchase history (favorite drinks, past orders, etc.). This strategy has built an extremely loyal customer base. As of 2024, Starbucks’s loyalty members drive 57% of all U.S. sales, and in late 2023, members were spending 3× more per visit (and visiting more often) than non-members. This underscores how personalized, cross-channel engagement translates into concrete loyalty and higher customer lifetime value.
Tailored omnichannel outreach leads to deeper customer engagement. Shoppers who receive relevant, synchronized messages across channels are far more likely to stick with the brand, as 88% of people are more likely to return to businesses that deliver a cohesive, personalized omnichannel experience. We see this in customer interactions: with personalization, customers open and interact with brand communications at much higher rates.
Omnichannel personalization isn't just about integrating data across channels. It's about aligning those efforts into a seamless, tailored customer journey. Before diving into this advanced strategy, it’s important to first understand the key foundational components that set the stage for success. Here’s how to get started:
Successful omnichannel personalization relies on integrated cross-channel data. Ensure your systems can collect and analyze data from various customer touchpoints: online, offline, and even through customer interactions like loyalty programs or service appointments. This data forms the backbone of personalized customer journeys.
Content plays a pivotal role in omnichannel personalization. A centralized CMS ensures that you’re not only managing content effectively but also delivering consistent messaging across all channels. It's crucial for creating reusable content that can be tailored for specific touchpoints without losing consistency in voice or brand messaging. Reusing content in this way helps streamline the personalization process and maintain efficiency as you scale.
Scaling personalization is a strategic effort. It starts with developing a content strategy that creates reusable content for every channel, or tailored variations that stay consistent in narrative, positioning, and brand voice. It’s about managing it all in one system, making it easy to maintain, rather than scattering content variants across different tools with mismatched permissions, security, and governance.
Flexibility is key to delivering dynamic, personalized content. Your website, mobile app, and other digital platforms must have the infrastructure to support A/B testing, versioning, and real-time content updates. This flexibility ensures that you can adjust content as you learn more about your audience and their needs.
Omnichannel personalization goes beyond the digital. To ensure seamless experiences, integrate your inventory and delivery systems across both physical and digital channels. This way, whether a customer shops online or in-store, their journey remains consistent and frictionless.
Personalization isn’t just the job of marketing. Successful omnichannel strategies require cross-functional teams: marketing, sales, customer service, and even product development working together. It’s essential to use tools that enable easy collaboration between these teams, allowing them to share data, insights, and KPIs for a unified approach to delivering the best customer experience at every touchpoint.
Additionally, it's crucial to implement a separation of content within your workflow, so one team focuses on creating the base content, while another team can tailor it for specific channels or markets. The separation ensures content is optimized and relevant to the needs of each audience, while still maintaining a centralized source of truth.
And it’s more than reusing content, it’s about separating concerns. One team creates the base content, while others adapt it for specific channels or markets. With everything centralized and enriched by zero-party data, you can deliver truly relevant experiences.
Zero-party data is the data collected directly from customers. It allows for personalized experiences without relying on third-party sources. Once you’ve built a system to track interactions across your touchpoints, you can start delivering content that’s relevant to the individual, based on their own actions and preferences.
Begin by personalizing your customer journeys at a smaller scale. This could be as simple as personalizing emails or product recommendations based on previous purchases. As you gain more insights and resources, you can gradually scale your efforts to encompass more channels and touchpoints.
Omnichannel success is more than being present on multiple channels. You need to ensure a consistent experience. Personalization should feel seamless across all touchpoints, from the website to mobile apps to physical stores. Inconsistencies in messaging or service can disrupt the customer journey and hurt brand loyalty.
As you scale, automation and AI will become indispensable tools. Use AI to personalize at scale, whether it’s generating personalized content on the fly or automating product recommendations based on past behaviors. These tools help ensure that personalization is continuous, efficient, and effective at scale.
Personalization is an ongoing process. Continuously track and measure your personalization efforts. Use data to understand what’s working and what isn’t, and optimize your strategies accordingly to ensure that your efforts remain aligned with customer needs and expectations.