How Omnichannel Shifts Are Rewiring Grocery and Retail Habits 

By Monica Belmaña, Director, Growth at Material

We’re in our “connected shopper era”. 

Shoppers don’t see channels, they see choices; and they use them interchangeably to get what they need. They move seamlessly between in-store, online, mobile and delivery. It happens across an array of purchases, and sometimes even within one single purchase journey. A grocery shopper might research ingredients on her phone, buy online for pickup and then add forgotten items in-store. This is the new normal. 

For grocery and retail brands, the implications are clear: the future of loyalty will not be won by responding to purchases after the fact. It will be earned by anticipating deeper shopper needs, removing friction across touchpoints and making every interaction feel personal. 

Too many businesses still treat channels as separate silos with e-commerce over here, stores over there and media somewhere in between. But customers don’t see those walls. “Empowered customers expect seamless cross-channel experiences. B2C marketers must understand customers and create value exchanges in their individual moments of need,” said Rusty Warner, VP, Principal Analyst at Forrester, in a recent blog.  

Omnichannel is not simply about “more channels.” That’s multichannel. The difference is that omnichannel connects them all. When systems and teams work in harmony, shoppers can browse, buy, return and re-order without ever feeling like they’ve switched lanes. The goal is consistency, service, selection and flexibility regardless of where or how the customer engages. 

Personalization, evolutionized. 

Personalization used to mean a basic recommendation: “You bought milk, here’s eggs.” But even grocery shoppers’ expectations have evolved. Today’s consumers want brands to anticipate their needs, rather than just react. That requires moving from transactional personalization to empathetic personalization. 

AI and advanced analytics are now making that possible. By uncovering hidden triggers like time of day, promotional offers or even mood, brands can deliver hyper-personalized offers, dynamic pricing and tailored experiences. Done well, these not only create sales lifts – they foster emotional loyalty. When customers feel “understood,” they return, advocate and forgive. 

Consider Target. By transforming its stores into local fulfillment hubs, the retailer now ships more than 80% of online orders from nearby stores. That shift unlocked same-day options like Drive Up and Order Pickup while lowering last-mile costs. The payoff? Aligning speed, convenience and customer satisfaction all at once. 

The lesson for insights leaders is clear: investments in technology, process redesign and employee training aren’t just operational decisions. They are shopper experience decisions that directly affect loyalty and share of wallet. 

Retail media is another force reshaping habits. Giants like Amazon, Apple and Nike don’t just advertise, they integrate. Ads can guide shoppers into digital storefronts, set expectations that carry into physical stores and create cohesive brand ecosystems. 

For brands, retail media isn’t just about impressions; it’s about influence. When an online campaign leads to in-store traffic and a seamless purchase, conversion rates rise. The lines between awareness, consideration and purchase grow tighter, and omnichannel strategies become growth engines. 

Illuminating new habits 

Beneath all this is habit formation. Behavioral science shows that routines form quickly when experiences are easy, rewarding, and repeatable. Omnichannel doesn’t just capture transactions, it shapes new shopping habits. 

By analyzing data across journeys, retailers can identify subconscious routines. Like the grocery shopper who always orders snacks on Tuesdays, or the one who defaults to curbside for weekly staples. With the right nudges, brands can reinforce these positive loops, or disrupt costly ones, to build what we call “share of life” connections. 

For insights leaders, this is an opportunity. Understanding habits at a behavioral level moves you from reporting what happened to shaping what will happen next. 

Five Actionable Steps for Insights Teams 

So, how can insights teams translate these shifts into action? Here are five ways to lead the conversation inside your organization. 

1. Map the omnichannel journey with depth. Use behavioral science frameworks to uncover the moments that matter most, like researching online before buying in-store or defaulting to curbside for weekly staples. 
2. Unify data to personalize at scale. Connect disparate streams (CRM, loyalty, inventory, media) and layer in predictive models to deliver experiences that feel timely, relevant and consistent. 
3. Harmonize Customer and Employee Experience (CX/EX). Ensure shoppers and staff are aligned for frictionless fulfillment by integrating measurement. Seamless journeys rely on both sides of the counter.
4. Optimize media and creative impact. Target high-value segments, link campaigns across channels and measure not just conversion but authentic advocacy and long-term brand lift. 
5. Infuse cultural intelligence into innovation. Monitor cultural trends and online conversations to anticipate shifts in shopper expectations and adapt before friction emerges. 

Use omnichannel to your advantage. 

The shifts reshaping grocery and retail aren’t just about convenience, they’re about competitive advantage. Shoppers expect fluid, flexible journeys; they expect personalization that feels human; they expect habits to be supported, not frustrated. 

For insights buyers, this is the mandate: illuminate these expectations, decode the habits beneath them and guide your stakeholders toward decisions that don’t just respond to shopper behavior but actively shape it. 

By combining behavioral science, cultural intelligence and AI-powered analytics, you can help your organization design omnichannel ecosystems that grow with customers instead of chasing them. That’s not just adapting to the connected shopper era. That’s leading it.