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Customer Journey Map

cjm · customer journey map · journey mapping · customer journey mapping · journey map · user journey map

Definition

A CJM describes the customer path along several dimensions: stages (awareness, consideration, purchase, loyalty), the channels at each stage, the customer's goals and expectations, the barriers and pain points, and the metrics used to measure them.

The structure of a CJM for e-commerce

A typical customer journey map in retail covers five stages:

Stage	Channels	Customer goal	Personalization
Awareness	Advertising, SEO, social	Find a solution to the problem	Audience targeting
Consideration	Site, search, comparison	Choose the best option	Recommendations, PLP sorting
Purchase	Cart, checkout	Order quickly and safely	Cross-sell, urgency triggers
Post-purchase	Email, support, delivery	Receive the goods without trouble	Personal emails, repeat recommendations
Loyalty	Email, app, offline	Feel recognised and valued	VIP personalization, loyalty programme

How a CJM helps prioritise personalization

A CJM combined with analytics data exposes the bottlenecks — the steps with the largest drop-off:

Awareness -> Site visit:   70% lost  (normal for most channels)
Homepage -> Category:      50% lost  <- priority: homepage personalization
Category -> PDP:           40% lost  <- priority: PLP sorting
PDP -> Cart:               75% lost  <- priority: recommendations on the PDP
Cart -> Order:             55% lost  <- priority: abandoned-cart triggers

CJM and omnichannel

A real customer path is not linear: saw an ad, arrived on desktop, left, came back on mobile, bought
in store. A modern CJM accounts for cross-device and cross-channel transitions. That is exactly why
a Single Customer View inside a CDP is critical for building an accurate map of the path.

Frequently asked questions

What is a CJM used for in e-commerce?

A CJM helps to: (1) locate the biggest drop-off points in the funnel and prioritise optimisation; (2) identify where personalization will have the largest effect; (3) align marketing, product and customer service around a shared understanding of the customer path.

How does a CJM differ from a conversion funnel?

A conversion funnel is a quantitative model: how many users move from step to step. A CJM is qualitative and quantitative at once — it describes not only how many but why: motives, barriers and the customer's emotions at each step. A CJM also covers offline channels and the post-purchase experience.

How is a CJM connected to personalization?

A CJM determines which kind of personalization is most valuable at which step of the path. For example: at the consideration stage — similar-product recommendations; at the purchase stage — cross-sell in the cart; at the post-purchase stage — a triggered email with companion products.

Customer Journey Map

The structure of a CJM for e-commerce

How a CJM helps prioritise personalization

CJM and omnichannel

Frequently asked questions

Related terms

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