A customer data platform (CDP) collects customer data from multiple sources to create a unified customer profile.

It centralizes information from websites, mobile apps, CRM systems, and point-of-sale to build a 360-degree view of each customer, helping marketing, sales, and service teams deliver personalized experiences.

CDPs focus on four core tasks: collecting data, harmonizing data, activating data, and pulling insights from data.

Do those well, and you get faster personalization, fewer data silos, and clearer measurement of customer-driven revenue.

The market’s growing fast: the CDP market was valued at about $7.39 billion and is forecast to reach roughly $23.98 billion by 2029.

Gartner analysis forecasts two trends emerging within the CDP market: data-sharing innovations like zero copy (which allows assessing data across multiple databases without needing to copy or reformat it) and embedding artificial intelligence to make predictive analytics more accessible.

Below we compare six leading CDPs used in retail tech stacks.

For each, we state what it does best, the features that matter, and the kinds of retailers that use it.

Salesforce Data 360

Salesforce Data 360 (formerly Data Cloud) unifies large enterprise data estates into the Salesforce ecosystem and makes that data actionable across Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, and Commerce Cloud.

Key features 

• Hyperscale data platform built into Salesforce with low-code/no-code tooling. 

• Zero-copy integrations to major data lakes and warehouses (Snowflake, Databricks), letting teams query data where it lives without wholesale copying. 

• Tight integration with Salesforce automation and AI tools, so you can turn unified profiles into journeys, offers, or agent workflows without heavy engineering.

Data processing 

Data stays in your existing systems (data lakes or warehouses) and is queried as needed. Updates happen near real-time, letting teams act across Salesforce tools without heavy data movement.

Customer profile 

Enterprise retailers with existing Salesforce investments, complex omnichannel operations, and a need to put data to work across many internal teams.

Some brands and retailers who use Data 360 include Pandora, PepsiCo, R.M.Williams, and Living Edge.

Adobe Real-Time CDP

Adobe Real-Time CDP creates real-time unified customer profiles across Adobe Experience Cloud for content-driven personalization and cross-channel campaigns.

Key features

• Built on Adobe Experience Platform, it unifies known and anonymous data to create real-time profiles for both B2Cs and B2Bs. 

• Native activation into Adobe Campaign, Target, and Experience Manager for tightly coordinated content and campaign delivery. 

• Expand and enrich first-party audiences with privacy-safe data collaborations to drive more effective acquisition, personalization, and loyalty across channels.

Data processing

Collects data continuously from multiple sources to create up-to-the-minute customer profiles. Profiles can be used instantly in Adobe campaigns and content.

Customer profile

Brands and retailers that prioritize owned content, digital experience management, and complex cross-channel personalization, for teams that already use Adobe for analytics, content, or campaign management.

Some retailers that use Adobe Real-Time CDP include Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Prada.

Tealium

Tealium connects data across sources to create cross-channel customer profiles in real time, helping businesses better understand and engage their customers.

Key features

• AudienceStream connects customer data from different sources, builds unified profiles in real time, and sends that data to marketing and analytics tools. 

• Broad tag and integration ecosystem that supports customer journeys across marketing, analytics, and commerce tools. 

• Activate machine learning insights from high volume customer data with AudienceStream and Tealium Predict ML.

Data processing 

Captures events and updates customer profiles in real time. Works with both streaming and batch data to feed analytics and predictive models.

Customer profile

Mid-size to large retailers that want a flexible, easy-to-connect platform for unifying customer data and working smoothly with their existing tech stack.

Retailers that use Tealium include Penfolds, Dunelm, and L’Oreal as well as businesses that require strict data governance, such as Bupa.

Twilio Segment

Twilio Segment is a composable platform that collects event data at scale and routes it to hundreds of integrations, making it a strong choice for teams that want a developer-friendly CDP and easy activation across tools.

Key features

• A single view of each customer with data from every touchpoint, including the data warehouse. 

• A composable framework with flexible APIs, developer tools, and hundreds of integrations that let teams customize, extend, and scale their customer data infrastructure. 

• AI-powered workflows bring predictive insights and automated personalization.

Data processing

Collects data from every touchpoint and sends it to multiple tools at once. Supports both real-time streaming and syncing with warehouses for analysis.

Customer profile

Retailers that operate microservices or third-party tools, and those that want to centralize event-level data.

Brands and retailers using Twilio include Coca-Cola, Philips, and Panera Bread as well as digital-first, platform-based businesses like Spotify, Lyft, and Uber.

Lexer

Lexer tailors CDP capabilities specifically for retail, combining customer insight, RFM-style models, and automation workflows aimed at trading and merchandising teams.

Key features

• Retail-focused metrics and models that predict customer behavior and lifetime value. 

• Consolidates years of transactional and profile data from multiple systems into a single, clean, de-duplicated customer record. 

• Using AI and marketing models like RFM, Lexer creates intelligent metrics and predicts what customers will do next.

Data processing

Focuses on purchase history and customer profiles. Combines past data in batch and applies predictive models for merchandising and retention insights.

Customer profile

Retailers and brands that need a CDP focused on merchandizing, promotions, and shopper behavior, rather than general marketing.

Brands using Lexer include Zimmermann, Rip Curl, O’Neill, and Cotton On.

Ometria

Ometria is a built-for-retail CDP that blends customer analytics with orchestration tools aimed at email, automation, and lifecycle marketing.

Key features

• Capabilities that include exclusion rules, frequency capping, and commerce data activation. 

• Supported by a single, consistent source of predictive insight that’s trained on retail data. 

• Adapts to existing tech stacks, integrating with current marketing tech and data sources.

Data processing

Merges real-time behavior with historical purchase data to power automated marketing campaigns and predictive insights.

Customer profile

Ometria is designed for retailers that want to turn customer data into meaningful marketing action without heavy technical lift. It’s ideal for CRM, marketing, and ecommerce teams focused on driving retention and revenue through personalized, data-led campaigns.

Brands that use Ometria include Sephora, Foot Locker, Fred Petty, Hotel Chocolat, and Whittard.

How to choose a CDP

Here are some key considerations when it comes to choosing the right CDP for your business.

1. Review your tech stack. Do you need a CDP that works within a specific ecosystem like Salesforce or Adobe, or a neutral platform that connects easily with all your tools?

2. Consider where your data lives. If most of it sits in your warehouse, choose a platform that connects directly without moving or duplicating data.

3. Check governance and privacy. You need a CDP that balances speed with consent, data retention, and clear compliance controls. 

4. Test AI features. Many CDPs include built-in predictive models, but you should see how they perform, how they’re updated, and whether they can be exported or adjusted.

Customer data platforms are at the heart of modern retail tech stacks.

Choosing the right CDP is the one that fits your data landscape, your activation needs, and the operations of your marketing and merchandizing teams.

If you’re looking into CDPs but not sure which is best, we can help identify the right fit for you.