In 2015, the customer experience will be the major differentiator between brands, the Internet of Things will enhance the customer experience, and we will see the union of brick-and-mortar and mobile. This is all according to Darren Guarnaccia, Chief Strategy Officer at Sitecore Corporation, a provider of customer experience management software.

Guarnaccia’s predictions about emerging technologies are all part of our second annual Technology Predictions series in which industry experts share their predictions with us about the hot tech trends that they think will take center stage in 2015. We’ll be sharing all of their predictions with you over the next several days. Read on for more from Guarnaccia.

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Prediction No. 1: Customer experience will be the major differentiator

In 2015, the customer experience will be the major differentiator between brands. Consumers can always find a better price but if you can use all the data at your disposal to create a unique, personalized customer experience, then you’ll win.

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Prediction No. 2: Humanity will return to marketing

Experience platforms will harness data as a means for marketers to more easily engage customers in creative and meaningful ways. The art and science of marketing will be rebalanced, restoring humanity to this storied craft.

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Prediction No. 3: The Internet of Things will enhance the customer experience

This has been a hot topic for a while but few are translating it into great customer experiences. In 2015, the systems that collect the massive data output from connected devices will finally sync with customer experience management platforms. For example, we’ll see smart devices in the home trigger mobile couponing.

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Prediction No. 4: We will see the union of brick-and-mortar and mobile

We will see even more connected experiences between physical stores and mobile to create a seamless customer experience. Brick-and-mortar stores will adopt emerging mobile technologies such as beacons to offer onsite offers, interactive content, and location-based targeting.

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Prediction No. 5: The content marketer will be disguised as the merchandiser

The job of the merchandiser will continue to look more and more like content marketing–providing everything someone needs to know to make a purchasing decision. This started getting traction about a year ago and the intersection will only continue in 2015. Successful merchandisers must also be expert content marketers.

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2015 Technology Predictions graphic courtesy of SiliconANGLE