THE OMNICHANNEL INDEX 2026 by IMPACT Commerce and Google
Insights from 74 touchpoints across 373 brands and retailers in six markets.
Europe’s leading omnichannel benchmark
– now in its 5th edition
We’re proud to launch the fifth edition of the Omnichannel Index, developed in close collaboration with Google.
What started as an ambitious benchmarking initiative has grown into Europe’s leading omnichannel analysis – and in 2026, it’s sharper and more relevant than ever.
It provides a clear, comparable view of how brands and retailers perform across the entire customer journey, identifying leaders, performance gaps and the biggest strategic opportunities.
markets
brands & retailers
industries
disciplines
phases of the customer journey
omnichannel touchpoints
Together, this amounts to more than 27,000 structured data points, analysed and transformed into a strategic benchmark that brings clarity to omnichannel performance.
The Omnichannel Index is built for leaders who need clear direction in a complex commerce landscape. It shows where performance drives competitive advantage, where gaps hold organisations back, and where to focus next.
Get your copy of the Omnichannel Index 2026
Inside, you’ll find:
· Where performance is won and lost across the customer journey
· The biggest gaps across markets, industries and disciplines
· What top-performing brands do differently in practice
· How AI is reshaping how customers discover and decide
· Where to focus next to turn capabilities into real impact
The Omnichannel Index 2026 in detail
The Omnichannel Index 2026 is the fifth edition of Europe’s leading omnichannel benchmark.
It’s based on a tested framework developed in close collaboration with Google and analyses more than 370 brands and multibrand retailers across six markets and 74 carefully selected touchpoints.
Why? To shed light on top-performers, key learnings and strategic opportunities in omnichannel commerce.
What’s new in this year’s index?
The 2026 edition reflects changes in customer behaviour and market maturity. Key updates include:
AI now shapes discovery, evaluation and service across the customer journey.
This year, we measure how effectively brands integrate AI into real customer-facing experiences.
Selected touchpoints from previous editions have been consolidated or removed. New, more relevant touchpoints have been added to reflect current market realities.
Two industries have been removed to sharpen focus on sectors with comparable customer journeys and higher omnichannel impact.
AI in the Omnichannel Index 2026
AI has become a core layer of the customer journey, influencing how customers discover, evaluate and interact with brands.
To reflect this shift, the Omnichannel Index 2026 introduces AI as a dedicated discipline, designed to assess how well brands are prepared for AI-mediated commerce.
What we assess
The AI discipline focuses on observable, customer-facing capabilities, including:
- AI visibility and content accessibility for LLMs and AI agents
- Natural language understanding in search and support
- Visual and multimodal search capabilities
- AI-powered service and conversational support
- Guided selling and AI-assisted product discovery
It’s closely aligned with IMPACT Commerce’s work within AI Visibility and Agentic Commerce, helping organisations move from assessment to implementation.
Want to understand how ready your commerce stack is for an AI-led buying journey?
5 phases, 74 touchpoints
In today’s retail landscape, customers expect a seamless journey whenever they interact with a brand. That’s why we’ve evaluated 74 carefully selected touchpoints across 5 phases of the customer journey, ensuring a holistic and structured assessment of omnichannel performance.
6 markets
The Omnichannel Index 2026 covers six European markets, including The Netherlands, Belgium and Finland. This enables both regional comparison and local market insight.
11 industries
The index benchmarks performance across 11 industries, which ensures both cross-industry comparison and category-specific insight.
9 Disciplines
To make the insights more actionable and easier to anchor within organisations, the Omnichannel Index 2026 is structured around nine disciplines.
This structure enables comparison against best practices within specific functional areas and supports internal ownership of improvement initiatives.
Nuancing the data in this way adds depth to the benchmark by highlighting where organisations may be underperforming – and empowering leaders to identify where, how and what action to take based on the findings.
+27,000 data points
All of the above amounts to more than 27,000 data points, which we’ve assessed against predefined criteria essential for delivering a best-in-class omnichannel experience.
We’ve gathered all these data points by employing a comprehensive methodology that includes:
Assessing businesses in-store service from a customer perspective.
A deep dive into businesses social media and website effectiveness.
An all-encompassing review from multiple omnichannel perspectives.
