“If we look at the way consumer purchase behavior was back in the day, it was: You see an ad, you go to the store, you make a purchase,” said Bryant. “Now, it’s not as linear, and marketers really need to think about things more fluidly. Consumers also aren’t waking up in the morning and thinking, ‘today I’m [exclusively] a digital shopper.’” 

To go even deeper, we also consulted with Georgie Haig, global strategy and partnerships director at MiQ, to explore AI’s role in these new dynamics across discovery, personalization and loyalty — as well as how MiQ Sigma (an AI-powered advertising technology built to unify the fragmented media ecosystem and unlock better marketing outcomes) is helping marketers navigate this new, non-linear path to purchase. 

As Haig notes later, this fluidity is “exactly what MiQ Sigma was designed to interpret, bringing order to the chaos of signals from search, social, retail media and CTV.”

Consumers today don’t move in a straight line. The discovery phase alone often mirrors the infinite scroll of our most popular apps — and it’s spread across numerous channels, devices and media types. 

“I discover new products everywhere,” Bryant said, speaking as a consumer herself. “It could be TikTok, it could be late-night scrolling on Instagram, it could be a recommendation from a friend or something I’m seeing someone else doing, eating or wearing. I’m always very curious, and I want to know what it is that they have, how they got it or what other people think about it. So, I spend a lot of time searching online before I set foot in a store.”

Always-on discovery and ‘see now, buy now’ 

For many consumers, the discovery stage has in large part merged with the consideration stage — and in some cases, even the ultimate purchase. It’s not just about encountering products; it’s about understanding how others are using them and wearing them. Consumers are using TikTok, Instagram and other visual social apps, for example, to dig into how new products work before making purchases. 

And while reviews and ratings are certainly still a huge aspect of the research consumers conduct before deciding to buy, Bryant notes that not all expect to see 10,000 five-star reviews. Instead, it’s about more immediately understanding that people are actually using and liking that product — and that it works — by seeing it in the hands of their peers or influencers. 

The process is far from all-digital. Consumers may see something on their commute to work where an OOH ad could alert them to a new product or offering. And the store itself isn’t just a point of purchase, but a discovery powerhouse in its own right. “I might start online, and then I want to go into the store and see it, touch it, feel it,” said Bryant. Even after that physical experience, with checkout only a few steps away, the consumer might still decide to make the purchase online. 

“For marketers, the challenge is connecting those in-store and online signals by linking upper-funnel discovery data to measurable outcomes, both online and offline,” Haig said.  

Another common scenario involves text messages about brands that consumers have signed up for, pushing the brand or one of its products top-of-mind again, out of the blue. And increasingly, on platforms like YouTube or social media, shopping can flow directly from — or take place within — the media in which it’s featured. 

Experiments in personalization — and the high value of data

“If I could give a tip to marketers, I would say to balance focus with experimentation,” Bryant said. “It’s not about being everything, everywhere, all at once; it’s about being relevant and making sure that you’re showing up in the right places.” 

But determining where to place your bets gets tricky when the customer journey is long and circular. “Marketers need to balance focus and experimentation, but this is really hard to do with so many different channels and platforms,” said Haig. “MiQ Sigma does that hard work for you. It balances agnostic access to all the biggest platforms and retailers, with the data to know where your experimentation is going to drive impact rather than guesswork.” 

One example of thoughtful experimentation Bryant has seen comes in the form of a scent quiz, where consumers can fill out the notes they’re typically drawn to in a fragrance product, and the brand will recommend what they should purchase based on those preferences. 

“There are beauty brands that do this as well, where you can get your face scanned and it’ll tell you the types of products that fit your skin tone,” said Bryant. “I love that there are so many ways that we can use tech to get closer to the things that really fit our personality and our needs, and I’m really excited to see where things go.” 

And there’s an additional advantage: “That kind of data-rich, opt-in engagement is exactly the type of first-party signal Sigma enriches,” noted Haig. By further combining these signals with over 300 data feeds, MiQ is able to avoid a siloed approach and produce scalable personalization.

While these types of front-end personalization tactics help consumers find the right products, they can offer brand marketers the ability to leverage this first-party data to help identify similar consumers through retargeting, lookalike targeting and beyond.

The path to loyalty may run through AI

Marketers might be tempted to assume that the more data employed along the journey, the better. And that’s true to a point — as long as it’s the right data applied in the right way. 

“There’s a ton of shopper data available to marketers,” Bryant said. “MiQ, in particular, has an incredible platform that will provide us with a ton of knowledge that helps us get to know what is making consumers click: Is this someone who likes to take a bit longer down the path of discovery, or someone who’s super impulsive and sees something and has to get it? Oftentimes, it’s those little nuggets that are overlooked that end up being the secret sauce that’s going to drive them to do the thing you want them to do.” 

And AI can be a powerful distiller of those most valuable data points and enabler of more tailored experiences — so long as it doesn’t feel creepy. “Most consumers are looking for experiences with brands that feel personal,” said Bryant. “One caution that I have is that we just have to make sure that AI feels human, and that people aren’t feeling like they’re being chased by an algorithm. As long as the technology that they’re engaging with feels helpful and human, it’s amazing, because people want something that feels like it was made for them.”

AI-driven recommendation engines that can help target someone across multichannel shopper intent signals without leaning on PII can go a long way in making consumers comfortable with the convenience while being confident in the maintenance of their privacy. 

Which brings us to loyalty — something marketers should be thinking about early and often, planting the seeds for long-term customer value throughout a consumer’s experience with a brand. 

“The biggest measure of success is really loyalty,” said Bryant. “Are you able to get them to come back into your world and truly make your brand a part of who they are? When your brand becomes a part of their lifestyle, becomes core to who they are and becomes part of their personality, I think that’s when you’ve got them.”  

With a consumer journey as sprawling as the one marketers grapple with today, AI can help zero in on those areas that are fostering it; for example, across a brand’s many retail partners. “MiQ Sigma’s unified reporting can tell brands which retailer is driving repeat purchases or new purchases — so they can start to get a picture of who their brand loyalists are — and they can feed all that information and insights into their campaign decisions,” said Haig. “We can also layer on additional data so brands can understand the brand loyalists versus one-time buyers and start to target those people very differently.”

And in this new ecosystem, loyalty isn’t just about retention; it’s a growth driver. “When your brand becomes more than a brand to a consumer, you’ve got them for life,” said Bryant. “You’ve created a loyal fan that will hopefully evangelize your brand and bring more people into your ecosystem.”