GDS, in partnership with Wunderkind, recently brought together a group of digital, marketing, and technology leaders for a roundtable titled “Identity, Insight and Next Best Action: Turning Hidden eCommerce Potential Into Revenue.” The discussion surfaced a shared reality across industries: while brands are generating more data than ever, turning that data into meaningful, revenue-driving action remains a significant challenge.
At the center of the conversation was identity. Many organizations continue to operate with a large percentage of anonymous traffic, limiting their ability to personalize experiences or guide customers effectively through the funnel. While top-of-funnel volume remains important, its value diminishes when brands cannot connect interactions across sessions, devices, or channels. This fragmentation makes it difficult to move beyond broad engagement and toward deeper, more meaningful relationships that ultimately drive conversion.
Interestingly, the issue is not a lack of data. In fact, teams often feel overwhelmed by the volume of signals available to them. The real challenge lies in determining which signals actually indicate intent. A product view, a search, or even repeated visits may or may not reflect genuine interest. Without clarity, teams risk overinterpreting weak signals or missing stronger ones entirely. As a result, many organizations continue to rely on relatively simple, binary triggers rather than more nuanced, real-time decisioning.
Although real-time personalization is widely discussed, most teams acknowledged they are still early in their journey. Current approaches tend to rely on static rules, predefined journeys, or basic trigger-based messaging. While these tactics can be effective to a degree, they fall short of delivering the kind of dynamic, responsive experiences that customers increasingly expect. Resource constraints, fragmented technology stacks, and the complexity of integrating data across systems continue to slow progress in this area.
Cross-channel coordination has improved, but it is not yet seamless. Many organizations have implemented shared calendars and aligned messaging strategies across email, SMS, paid media, and onsite experiences. However, without a true single view of the customer, even well-coordinated campaigns can create friction. Customers may receive too many messages, conflicting offers, or communications that fail to reflect their most recent actions. The gap between coordination and true orchestration remains a key area for improvement.
AI is clearly shaping the direction of the industry, but its role is still evolving. Some organizations are experimenting with AI-driven content creation, conversational experiences, and predictive modeling to guide next best actions. Others are exploring how AI can help surface more meaningful signals or improve personalization. At the same time, there is a strong awareness that AI’s effectiveness depends heavily on the quality of underlying data and the ability to measure its impact. Questions around incrementality, governance, and trust continue to influence how quickly teams move forward.
Measurement emerged as one of the most significant constraints. Many teams expressed limited confidence in their ability to accurately assess performance, particularly in a privacy-first, multi-touch environment. Attribution models are becoming less reliable, and even foundational analytics are challenged by signal loss and evolving consumer behaviors. Without a clear understanding of what is truly driving results, it becomes difficult to prioritize investments or scale new strategies.
Despite these challenges, the conversation pointed to a clear opportunity. Rather than focusing solely on generating more traffic, organizations are beginning to shift their attention toward making better use of the traffic they already have. This means improving the ability to recognize users, connecting fragmented interactions, and focusing on behaviors that indicate genuine intent. It also requires acting on those insights in a timely and relevant way, rather than relying on delayed or disconnected follow-up.
Looking ahead, priorities are becoming more defined. Teams are working toward building a unified view of the customer, improving identity resolution across channels, and applying AI to decision-making rather than just content generation. At the same time, there is a growing emphasis on strengthening measurement frameworks to better understand incremental impact and long-term value.
What ultimately came through in the discussion is a shift in mindset. Success is no longer about collecting more data, but about using existing data more effectively. For organizations that can bridge the gap between identity, insight, and action, there is a meaningful opportunity to drive stronger engagement, better customer experiences, and measurable revenue growth.