Who Controls the Customer Journey? Retail, Platforms or AI?

The customer journey increasingly begins before a retailer even enters the picture. Search engines, comparison platforms and AI assistants such as ChatGPT influence which products become visible, how they are understood and which brands make it into the consideration set. Yet manufacturers often lack transparency into where demand begins, where it flows and where it is lost. Using a real-world refrigeration example featuring genuine 0°C technology, the session follows this journey across three levels: Demand, Shelf and System. Similarweb shows what consumers are searching for, how AI shapes product discovery and which retailers capture that demand. XPLN examines what customers actually find there: visibility, product presentation, availability, pricing and seller quality. terraalpine then shows how manufacturers can translate these insights into clear product standards, partner roles and governance mechanisms. At the centre is one key question: how can manufacturers move from simple AI Visibility to genuine AI Understanding and regain greater transparency and influence across retailers, channels and markets?