Long a laggard in online sales, the Swedish retailer Ikea, which is privately held, has finally recognized the need for a more robust e-commerce presence.

For years, marketers have had two goals. They wanted to truly be able to engage with customers uniquely, based on both their interests and their value to the retail brand. They have also wanted to manage that conversation across every digital marketing channel, unifying email, web/mobile sites, display ad, and social efforts. While widely viewed as two separate goals, they were innately connected – how can you have cross-channel marketing without knowing who, specifically, you are communicating with? 2015 is the year when the promise of cross-channel marketing nirvana is fulfilled, finally.