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customer-journey
Customer journey: definition, stages and touchpoints, differences between funnel and customer experience, Shopify mapping, and advice.
Updated on
June 4, 2026
The customer journey describes the entirety of the steps and touchpoints that a customer goes through, from discovering the brand to making a purchase, followed by retention and advocacy. In e-commerce, it merges the website, ads, emails, customer service, packaging, and sometimes the physical store. Understanding this journey allows you to align marketing, UX, and support with the moments when the customer hesitates, buys, or returns.
Summary
Definition of the customer journey in e-commerce
To fully understand this term, we must first place it within the concrete functioning of an online store.
The customer journey is not just a single web page: it is the lived experience of the customer across all channels.
The main components are as follows:
Stages: discovery, consideration, purchase, delivery, post-purchase, loyalty. Touchpoints: Meta ad, Google, newsletter, product page, chat, tracking email, packaging.
Customer actions: click, comparison, add to cart, payment, review, repurchase. Emotions and friction: size doubt, fear of scam, delivery impatience, unboxing satisfaction.
Journey map: diagram that aligns stages, touchpoints, merchant goals, and pain points.
Common DTC model (simplified):
Awareness: the customer discovers the brand (SEO, ads, word of mouth). Consideration: they compare, read reviews, consult FAQ.
Purchase: order on the site or social channel. Retention: emails, loyalty program, repurchase.
Advocacy: reviews, UGC, referral.
It is useful to distinguish this term from related concepts:
Customer journey vs conversion funnel: the funnel measures rates per web stage; the journey includes all channels and the customer's feeling. Customer journey vs checkout funnel: the funnel focuses on the path to the order; the journey also covers after-sales.
Customer journey vs customer experience (CX): the journey maps the path; the experience describes the perceived quality at each stage. Customer journey vs UX: UX focuses on the website/app interface; the journey is broader (email, package, customer service).
Customer journey vs customer acquisition: acquisition aims for the first purchase; the journey includes retention and repeat purchase.
Why the customer journey influences conversion and loyalty
The stakes go beyond simple definition: this topic directly influences trust, operational efficiency, and commercial performance.
Customers do not experience your shop in silos: an Instagram ad, an email the next day, a doubt resolved via chat, and then a package received five days later.
Consistency: the same promise, tone, and visuals from the ad click to the post-purchase email. Conversion: identify where visitors drop off (cart abandonment, insufficient FAQ).
CLV: a seamless post-purchase journey encourages repeat purchases (customer lifetime value). Retention: it is cheaper to retain than to acquire (recurring customer).
Support: anticipate questions before they become tickets. Omnichannel: site, social, POS, marketplace: one single perceived journey from the customer's side.
Ignoring the post-purchase phase (unclear delivery times, cold email, complicated returns) breaks trust even if the online purchase went well. The journey rarely ends at payment.
The stages of the customer journey and the main friction points
In practice, the subject is understood especially through the situations encountered by merchants and customers.
Frequent frictions by stage:
Discovery: vague ad message, off-topic landing page. Consideration: missing reviews, sizing guide nowhere to be found, external comparison tool.
Purchase: shipping fees shown late, long checkout, missing payment methods. Delivery: no tracking, damaged package.
Post-purchase: no clear confirmation email, opaque return process. Loyalty: generic follow-ups, no added value.
Build a journey map (90-min workshop):
List the stages on the customer side. Associate each touchpoint (channel, page, email).
Note the merchant's objective and customer emotion. Identify break points (e.g., mobile ad → non-responsive desktop site).
Prioritize 2 to 3 measurable corrective actions.
Use case: DTC phone accessories brand. Typical journey: discovery via TikTok → Shopify mobile product page → model compatibility question via FAQ + chat → add to cart → Shop Pay → confirmation email + tracking link → delivery D+3 → D+7 email review request with case care guide → CRM segment "2nd purchase" with cross-sell charger suggestion. The merchant aligns the ad script ("compatible with iPhone 15"), the product page, and the chat response on the same information. Compatibility and delivery time frictions are addressed before the purchase CTA, which limits customer service returns for "wrong model".
The customer journey with Shopify
On Shopify, this logic translates into settings, pages, reports, or integrations that vary depending on the maturity of the store.
Shopify is the hub for many journey steps for a DTC store:
Storefront: home, collections, product pages, SEO blog (organic discovery). Sales channels: Instagram Shop, Google, marketplaces.
Checkout and Shop Pay: mobile-optimized purchase step. Notifications: order confirmation, shipping, delivery.
Customer account: order history, self-service returns. Shopify Email / Klaviyo: lifecycle flows (marketing automation).
Shopify Inbox / helpdesk: pre- and post-purchase customer service touchpoint.
Typical journey flows on Shopify + CRM:
Welcome (newsletter signup). Browse abandonment / abandoned cart.
Post-purchase: thank you, follow-up, review, cross-sell. Inactive customer win-back.
Measurement: Shopify Analytics (sessions, conversion), GA4 (paths, attribution), CRM reports (repurchase by cohort). Cross-reference quantitative data (checkout abandonment rate) and qualitative feedback (reasons for customer service tickets) to prioritize steps to correct (Shopify Help Center, Reports).
An e-commerce CRM synchronized with Shopify allows you to orchestrate the post-first-purchase journey without sending the wrong message at the wrong time.
Best practices and common mistakes
Map out before stacking tactics: a pop-up without a journey vision sometimes worsens the experience.
End-to-end mobile: the majority of journeys start on a smartphone.
Delivery/returns transparency before payment.
Align teams: marketing, product, and customer service read the same journey map.
Light personas: 1 to 3 customer profiles are enough for an SME.
Measure by stage, not just overall revenue.
Iterate: the journey evolves with new channels (TikTok Shop, live shopping).
Classic mistakes:
Optimizing only ad acquisition while neglecting post-purchase.
Ad promise differing from the website (price, delivery time, stock).
Confusing a decorative journey map with concrete actions.
Reactive customer service only: no FAQ or chat in the consideration phase.
Generic post-purchase emails unrelated to the product ordered.
Forgetting the physical touchpoint (packaging, thank you note).
The key takeaways about the customer journey
In summary, a few simple ideas should be kept in mind to use this concept correctly.
Customer journey = steps and touchpoints from the first contact to loyalty. Distinct from the web funnel, the purchase tunnel alone, and customer experience (CX). Challenges: omnichannel consistency, conversion, CLV, retention, after-sales service. Shopify: storefront, checkout, emails, customer account, CRM, analytics. Journey map, friction by step, measurement, and continuous improvement.
Associated terms, frequently asked questions, and useful resources
Related terms
Conversion funnel: metric view of web stages.
Customer experience: perceived quality of the journey.
E-commerce CRM: post-purchase orchestration.
CLV: result of a well-thought-out journey.
Conversion: key goal at the purchase stage.
FAQ
Customer journey and user journey: same thing?
Yes. Customer journey is the common English term in e-commerce marketing; parcours client is the equivalent French translation.
Customer journey and conversion funnel: what's the difference?
The funnel primarily models measurable stages on the website (visit → cart → purchase) using rates. The customer journey also includes emails, customer service, social networks, physical stores, and customer perception outside of web analytics.
How many stages in a customer journey?
There is no fixed number. A simple 5-phase model (discovery, consideration, purchase, retention, advocacy) is often enough for an SMB Shopify store. Adapt it to the channels actually used.
How to improve the customer journey on Shopify?
Map touchpoints, fix high-priority friction points (mobile, shipping, FAQ), connect Shopify to a CRM for post-purchase flows, and align ads, website, and customer service on the same promise.
Going further
Sources: Shopify Help Center (Reports), e-commerce lifecycle marketing tips.
Enzo
June 4, 2026
