When I built my first brand, I saw it as my creation, something I would have full control over. But it did not take me long to realize how wrong I was. But I wasn’t the only one making that mistake: either online or offline, many brands aim for maximum control over every customer interaction. However, this model is becoming increasingly outdated.

Historically, a brand’s network of stores, physical locations, and merchant websites was a relatively controlled environment where the company could carefully control the messaging, customer service, and experience. The first touchpoint a customer had with a brand was typically something directly controlled by the brand, like a website, a retail store, or an ad.

In 2025, the e-commerce journey is a lot more complex. The ever-increasing diversity of online sales channels, digital platforms, but also consumer behavior and new technologies completely changed these dynamics. This leaves brands with significantly less direct control over customer touchpoints, and a strong need to adapt their strategies.

The Decentralization of the Customer Journey

One of the main reasons for brands’ diminishing control comes from the decentralization and fragmentation of the online customer journey, as well as the amplified voice of the consumer. The journey from awareness to purchase (all the way to advocacy) is no longer a linear path dictated by brands, but a multi-channel, multi-touchpoint process.

Gone are the days where DTC channels were the only options; the internet isn’t just an extension of physical retail stores anymore. The e-commerce world experienced over the last decade a massive expansion of viable sales channels and a fragmentation of the media landscape. The customer journey now spreads across many platforms, each with its own dynamics and influencers.

One of the most popular options today for online shopping are the horizontal marketplaces like Amazon or Walmart, which represent more than half of total US e-commerce purchases. As I have often said in previous blog posts, while these marketplaces offer a ton of visibility and access to a massive customer base, these come with a significant disadvantage for brands: the lack of control. Brands must comply with strict terms of service on product merchandising, customer service, shipping, and even pricing (which causes lawsuits, but that is a story for another day).

Not only that, but brands can’t offer strong, differentiated shopping experiences. Customers will say “I bought it on Amazon” over “I bought it from XYZ brand via Amazon.” They won’t get to try the unique unboxing that some DTC websites can provide, or have the chance to discover the brand’s heartwarming story. There are no customer loyalty rewards, no branded personalized recommendations, or expert chatbots. Look at a Samsung TV on Amazon and you’ll have a Sony recommended on the same product page. Finally, the marketplace, not the brand, owns the direct customer relationship and the associated data. This limits a brand’s ability to build a strong relationship with its customer base and to increase loyalty.

But this phenomenon is not limited to marketplaces; we are also seeing a similar loss of control across social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok, where customers are now making frequent purchases.

While these new channels offer new opportunities to generate sales, it means brands are operating within systems operated by external algorithms and platform-specific user interfaces, limiting their direct control over the customer experience. Additionally, the rise of retail media networks means brands are investing in media opportunities controlled by the retailers themselves, sometimes interfering with the brand message.

The Dominance of User-Generated Content (UGC) and Social Media Influence

The second, and maybe even most impactful, reason for brands’ loss of control comes from the rise of user-generated content (UGC) and the influence of social media, beyond just social commerce. These media have transformed how information flows and shifted customer trust from brand messaging to peer recommendations.

The explosion of UGC has definitely affected how brand perceptions are built and propagated. We are way past the times when brands had control over their public messaging through carefully crafted advertising and marketing materials, with maybe some outsider content in select newspapers and magazines. Today, every customer with a smartphone becomes a content creator, reviewer, or critic. And this is extremely effective in shaping the customer’s opinion: online reviews, testimonials, unboxing videos, social media posts, and detailed discussions on Reddit carry a ton of credibility and influence. How many of us start our purchasing journey not on Google or Amazon, but on TikTok or Reddit?

Consumers trust these authentic, unfiltered opinions from other people like them far more than traditional brand-generated content. A single viral negative review or a widely shared poor customer service experience can cause extensive damage to a brand’s reputation (and quite often a PR nightmare). While brands can encourage positive UGC and engage with feedback, they cannot censor or dictate what customers say about their products or services on social media. The brand’s official voice is now just one among many, and many times not the most influential. While brands can still maintain their presence and engage with customers, the message is now shaped by millions of individual users and data points, making it a much less predictable touchpoint.

How Can Brands Adapt to This New Reality?

Given this shift in control, brands need to be proactive and adapt their strategies to find success in this new e-commerce world. The focus has to move from rigid control to building engagement, trust, and adaptability across diverse touchpoints.

First, brands must understand the value of omnichannel, and the new dynamics this model brings. Instead of trying to force all customer interactions to their owned channels, brands need to be present and provide a consistent brand experience across all relevant platforms where their customers spend time. This means optimizing presence on marketplaces, engaging actively on various social media platforms, monitoring review sites, and ensuring consistent branding, messaging, and customer service quality across every digital touchpoint, whether the brands control it or not. The goal is to provide a cohesive customer experience, no matter where the customer chooses to interact. Not everything can be controlled by the brand, but each touchpoint can be influenced in some way.

Secondly, attracting authentic engagement and building a community becomes key. Since customers trust other customers or influencers’ recommendations over the brand message, brands should actively encourage and leverage positive user-generated content. This means creating easy ways for customers to leave reviews, share their experiences, and provide feedback. More importantly, it means engaging authentically with both positive and negative comments, addressing criticism when needed, and showing that brands truly care. Building online communities around a brand or its products can create loyalty and a strong system of advocates who organically promote the brand (The marketing funnel does not end after the purchase; it is only a milestone across the whole journey). The first thing that comes to mind for me is people posting their Harley Davidson tattoos on social media, but there are thousands of less dramatic examples. This also extends to strategic influencer marketing, where brands partner with people whose message resonates with target customer audiences.

Finally, even though it became more restricted and difficult to work with, brands must work with the limited data provided by these outside sales channels and media. They can still gather insights through social media, sentiment analysis of reviews, and direct customer service interactions across all channels. This data can help with adjustments to product offerings or marketing campaigns. Top-notch, personalized customer service across all touchpoints (email, live chat, social media DMs, phone) is becoming more and more important. In a world where negative experiences can go viral instantly, a proactive customer service approach can really help with critical situations. By providing quick responses and resolutions, brands can regain some influence over the customer journey even when the initial interaction was outside their direct control.

Conclusion

Over the past decades, we have experienced a dramatic shift regarding customer touchpoints. Brands are no longer the only entities in charge of their customers’ journeys. The proliferation of new sales channels, the diversification of the media landscape with the rise of social media, and the impact of user-generated content drastically decreased the control brands typically have over customer touchpoints.

I am not suggesting that brands are entirely powerless, but I want to show how important it is for brands to change their approach to customer engagement. In this more complex and less predictable environment, brands must go from the old “all about control” mindset to a habit of active listening, community building, and genuine engagement. Brands that understand and successfully navigate this new reality will be in a much better position to build loyalty and gain a competitive advantage over brands who can’t.