In the rapidly shifting landscape of modern retail, the line between digital and in-store experiences is becoming increasingly blurred. Today’s consumers expect continuity — their preferences, purchase history, and brand interactions to move seamlessly with them, whether they’re browsing online or speaking with a store associate. At the intersection of this transformation stands Leigh Sevin, Co-founder and CEO of Endear, a retail CRM and clienteling platform that’s helping brands reimagine what customer relationships can be.
Leigh’s journey began in the world of luxury retail, where she experienced firsthand how brand loyalty stemmed not merely from products but from relationships — the trust built between a customer and the associate who truly understood them. With Endear, she set out to bring that level of personalized connection into the digital era, giving every store team the tools and insights to deliver exceptional, data-informed service.
From powering global names like Glossier, Allbirds, and Reformation, to enabling mid-sized brands to thrive across channels, Endear is on a mission to turn every store into a performance channel and every interaction into measurable ROI. In this CXQuest exclusive, Leigh shares her views on humanizing data, designing scalable personalization, and helping brands grow by keeping customers at the heart of every touchpoint.
Inspiration Behind the Creation of Endear
Q1. Leigh, let’s start with a bit of backstory — what first inspired the creation of Endear, and how did your retail experience shape its foundation?
LS: When we started Endear in 2016, there was a lot of talk about e-commerce making physical stores less relevant, but that wasn’t what we were seeing on the ground. Most sales were still happening in stores, even as acquiring customers online was getting more competitive and more expensive. It was unsustainable for brands to just keep buying growth. The real opportunity was in building stronger relationships with the customers who were already walking through the door.
When we spent time with store teams, the gap was clear. Associates were driving the majority of a brand’s revenue, but the only technology they had was a POS. There was no real way to follow up after a visit, stay in touch, or connect what was happening online with what was happening in the store. A lot of people were still relying on notebooks or their own phones. That’s where Endear came from — the idea that if you give store teams the right tools, they can build genuine relationships at scale, with every customer, not just the top spenders. And when you do that, loyalty stops being this abstract idea and starts becoming something you can actually measure and grow.
Clienteling For the Modern Brand
Q2. Endear has been described as “clienteling for the modern brand.” In your own words, how do you define clienteling today, and what does it mean for retail growth?
LS: Clienteling today is about knowing your customer. It’s understanding who a customer is, what they care about, and where they are in their journey, and then engaging them thoughtfully before, during, and after a store visit. For retail growth, that shift is critical because brands that invest in relationship-driven engagement see stronger loyalty, higher lifetime value, and more consistent repeat business across channels.
Unifying In-store and Online Data
Q3. Many retailers struggle to unify their in-store and online data. How does Endear bridge that gap while keeping the human touch that customers still crave?
LS: Endear creates a single, unified customer profile by syncing in-store and online data in real time, so associates can see purchase history, preferences, and engagement all in one place. The technology is designed to support human connection, not replace it. Associates can add qualitative notes, follow up in their own voice, and tailor outreach based on real conversations. The data provides context, and the associate delivers the relationship.
Q4. You’ve often highlighted the importance of empowering store teams. What do you think brands often overlook about the associate’s role in building loyalty?
LS: Many brands underestimate how much weight store associates carry. They’re driving the majority of a brand’s revenue and shaping how customers experience the brand — yet for a long time, they could only influence customers who decided on their own to visit the store; they had no way to drive traffic. That means they’re expected to build loyalty without having real tools to follow up, stay connected, or influence whether a customer comes back through the door.
Store associates don’t just close sales; they remember preferences, milestones, and motivations. They are the brand in the eyes of the customer. What’s often overlooked is that, with the right tools and visibility, associates can proactively nurture those relationships over time, reaching out in a way that feels personal, not promotional. When you empower them to do that, stores stop being just points of sale and start becoming true relationship hubs.
Efficiency Risk Hurts
Q5. With the rise of AI tools and automation, personalization is being scaled faster than ever — but at what point does efficiency risk hurting authenticity?
LS: Efficiency becomes a problem when automation replaces judgment instead of supporting it. AI should surface insights, suggest next steps, and save time, but the associate should always decide how and when to engage. At Endear, the goal isn’t to automate relationships, but to make meaningful engagement scalable. When messages come from the associate who actually helped the customer, personalization feels authentic rather than automated.
Q6. How does Endear balance quantitative outcomes (like sales metrics) with qualitative ones (like relationship depth and brand advocacy)?
LS: We don’t balance them—we’ve learned they’re the same thing. When a store associate texts a customer to ask how their daughter’s soccer tournament went, or suggests a dress for an upcoming vacation they mentioned during their last visit, that customer doesn’t just feel good. They spend more. They come back more often. In addition, they tell their friends.
The data backs this up. Customers who receive personalized outreach from their store associate have significantly higher repeat purchase rates and lifetime value. The relationship isn’t separate from the revenue—it’s what drives it. Brands that treat associates like order-takers leave money on the table. Brands that empower them to build real connections? They create loyalty that shows up in every metric that matters, including AOV, frequency and lifetime value.
Emerging Retail Startups Must Find Their CX Niche
Q7. What have you learned from working with brands like Glossier and Allbirds that could guide emerging retail startups in finding their CX niche?
LS: Four things stand out:
1. Every customer wants to feel like a VIP. And you don’t need to be an A-level associate at an A-level brand to deliver that kind of experience. You just need the right tools at your disposal – and AI is one of them. AI isn’t the enemy; it’s a store associate’s sidekick.
2. A brand’s success begins and ends with its store associates. Store associates make or break a brand. They don’t want to spend their days on admin work—they want to build relationships. AI done right takes the busywork off their plate so they can focus on what customers actually remember: personalized attention. Equip them with tools to capture insights during visits, follow up meaningfully, and turn transactions into loyalty.
3. Brands also need to unify data silos to create cohesive customer experiences. Too many brands still treat online and in-store as separate channels – but customers don’t think that way. Unifying customer data allows brands to meet customers wherever they are, with the personalization they deserve.
4. Finally, attribution needs to work both ways. We’ve spent the last decade optimizing for online attribution – knowing what email drove what sale. But what about the in-store visit that happened because of an SMS? Or the online order that followed a great conversation with a store associate? True omnichannel attribution means understanding how every touchpoint contributes – and rewarding teams accordingly.
Ethically Managing and Interpreting Data
Q8. Data is becoming the new currency of customer experience. How should retailers ethically manage, interpret, and apply this data to enhance trust?
LS: The rule is simple: use data to be helpful, not creepy. Shoppers want personalization. Platforms like Endear help brands collect and use customer data with transparency and accountability built in. CX leaders can see what associates are sending, how customers are engaging, and what’s actually working. That visibility makes it easier to measure ROI while also protecting both the brand and the customer, creating an experience everyone feels good about.
Next Frontier of CRM Innovation
Q9. Looking at the future of retail, where do you see the next frontier of CRM innovation — and what role will CX leaders play in shaping it?
LS: The next frontier is already here: turning stores into relationship engines, not just transaction points. The best brands are giving their store teams the data and tools to deliver the kind of personalized experience that used to be reserved for luxury retail—but at scale, for every customer.
Here’s what’s changed: customers don’t think in channels anymore. They don’t care if they bought online or in-store last time. They care whether you remember them, understand what they like, and show up like a human—even when there’s technology behind it.
CX leaders are the ones who’ll make or break this shift. They’re responsible for tearing down the walls between online and offline, redefining success beyond daily sales numbers, and making sure the CRM builds trust instead of just extracting data. The brands that nail this won’t just see a revenue bump—they’ll own customer loyalty in a way competitors can’t replicate.
Blending Technology and Empathy
Q10. If you could give one piece of advice to retail executives trying to design customer experiences that blend technology and empathy, what would it be?
LS: Don’t lose the human touch. AI is a tool to empower store associates, but the most important experience a customer can have is with the store associate themselves. If a customer feels like just another number – one of thousands receiving the same generic message – they’re not likely to return to your store. That’s why human touch matters so much. Knowing about a customer’s upcoming vacation and reaching out to suggest pieces for the trip, or reaching out to wish them a Happy Birthday, goes a long way.
Relationship building in retail is irreplaceable and no technology can replicate the personal connection.
Omnichannel is the Future
As the retail industry accelerates into an increasingly omnichannel future, voices like Leigh Sevin’s remind us that the core of great CX isn’t in automation alone, but in empathy — understanding the customer’s journey as an ongoing relationship, not a one-time transaction. Endear represents that vision at scale: where data empowers, not replaces, human connection.
By enabling store associates to act as trusted advisors armed with real-time insights, Leigh and her team are redefining what modern clienteling can deliver — measurable outcomes rooted in emotional resonance. It’s not just about driving sales; it’s about cultivating loyalty that outlasts trends and translates across every channel.
At CXQuest, we believe that’s the future of experience leadership: when technology amplifies human understanding, and every touchpoint becomes a moment of genuine connection.
