Peak season starts before purchase: Signals marketers can’t ignore

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It’s a journey: Planning for every shopping season takes the whole funnel, not just the lower funnel. StackAdapt helps marketers identify intent signals and separate meaningful insights from the noise. Learn how a full-funnel measurement strategy can help.*

On June 3 at Retail Brew's Clicks, Bricks, & Everything In-Between event in New York City, industry leaders gathered to discuss how brands can navigate an increasingly complex retail landscape. One key theme emerged throughout the day, which is that understanding customer intent has never been more important.

For one of many insightful segments, StackAdapt E-commerce Sales Leader Katie DeNero joined Morning Brew Inc. Chief of Staff to the CEO Kyle Hagge to share what it could take to win commerce at key moments when shopping’s at an all-time high. We’re recapping their segment, Retail Moments are Everywhere: What it Takes to Win Commerce this Peak Season.

Here are some takeaways and highlights from their discussion.

*Quotes have been condensed and edited for clarity.

The customer journey: No longer a straight line

The traditional marketing funnel hasn’t disappeared, but the customer journey has become far more complex. New social platforms, digital touchpoints, and blended online-to-offline experiences have created countless paths to purchase, making it harder for marketers to understand how consumers move from discovery to conversion.

On why this journey isn’t quite so linear anymore and how consumers are shopping today, StackAdapt’s Katie DeNero noted that while elements of the traditional funnel still exist, marketers have lost much of the visibility they once had into how consumers move through it.

“Discovery is happening across so many different media touchpoints, even being in New York City is just like media overload,” DeNero explained. “As marketers, it’s hard for us to see what that funnel looks like and make intelligent choices off of it.”

As customer journeys become more fragmented, marketers are being challenged to rethink how they approach channel strategy. Success is increasingly less about managing individual channels and more about understanding where audiences spend their time, how they move between touchpoints, and how brands can deliver a consistent message throughout the journey.

Choices, choices: Customer decision-making

With all the options at a customer’s fingertips, Hagge asked DeNero if there are any surprises that have arisen from the current customer journey and what it looks like. DeNero noted that her surprises come more from the marketing perspective.

“I have been surprised by how few marketers are really embracing the multichannel approach,” she said. “I think it’s very important for us to be where our customers are.”

She noted that it feels like some marketers have become myopic in terms of solely focusing on the lower-channel funnel where purchases happen. This likely stems from ongoing economic pressures, with customers being understandably purchase-sensitive.

However, that doesn’t mean marketers should ignore opportunities to build awareness and intent earlier in the customer journey.

In that vein, Hagge asked DeNero how marketers can separate signals that matter from all the noise of peak season—and what the risks are of focusing too heavily on lower funnel performance.

DeNero noted that while it’s natural to focus on conversion, especially in Q4 when it brings in such significant revenue, we also have to remember that going into the holidays, consumers are very much in exploration and research mode, and thus there’s a lot of intent volume to tap into.

“How can I use this signal to decide what’s next?” she added.

Hagge asked if there are any signals marketers can look out for that would indicate they’re overindexing on the lower funnel.

“We put business growth at risk when we’re only focusing on those lower signals,” DeNero said.

Drawing from her experience working with performance advertisers, DeNero noted that she has often seen 80% to 90% of budgets allocated to lower-funnel tactics, leaving little room for upper- and mid-funnel investment.

While there’s often strong performance right away and up front, over time, not paying attention to what’s happening upstream leaves a huge gap for where intent signals are being built and captured.

Intent signals: Finding the human/AI balance

Hagge asked how intent signals should be considered as peak seasons approach.

“Multichannel is more important than ever,” DeNero answered. “We need to be thinking about where we’re actioning and engaging with our audiences [in the] mid and upper funnel as well. But multichannel doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be everywhere.”

It’s important to meet consumers where they are throughout their journey and build meaningful connections at every touchpoint. Consistency across channels helps strengthen intent and drive purchases over time.

StackAdapt’s tools were noted as an example to help track these journeys and make moves based on insight as peak seasons arrive. It’s about making quick decisions based on reporting to prepare for velocity proactively.

And when it comes to approaching all of this data using a tool like AI, capturing intent signals is something for which AI could really become a key differentiator when utilized. For example, StackAdapt’s browsing audiences leverage AI to analyze browsing behavior and intent signals, helping marketers build more relevant audience segments throughout the funnel.

In terms of measurement, AI is powerful for analysis. It can be utilized to make faster decisions, but as marketers, DeNero highlighted the importance of trusting your gut and expertise. The human element remains critical for maintaining authenticity and ensuring brands connect with customers in meaningful ways.

“As the user journey gets more complex, it’s really important for us to think about moving toward not just a single measurement tool that we’re going to base all of our decisions off of, but moreso, what does our measurement portfolio look like and what questions are we asking each of those tools we have in our toolbox,” DeNero said.

There’s an art and a science to marketing, and while the science aspect (i.e., data) is perhaps leaned on more often, that human aspect of creativity, connection, and instinct can’t be overlooked.

A common mistake brands make heading into peak season: not planning early enough to make these moments happen. It’s not always about who’s going to buy right now; it’s also about who’s going to buy when the time is right.

Learn how StackAdapt helps marketers identify intent signals, connect customer journeys across channels, and build a stronger full-funnel strategy ahead of peak season.