Abstract
Retailers increasingly deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) across omnichannel journeys, yet customers still expect continuity across touchpoints. This paper examines how AI reshapes customer experience in omni-retail through cross-touchpoint orchestration and where this orchestration breaks. Prior research has advanced omnichannel integration and AI-mediated service encounters, but it offers limited process explanation of how AI-enabled touchpoints connect across the end-to-end journey. We address this gap through a qualitative sectoral analysis using a multi-case study design across three retail sub-sectors. Cases are conceptualized as sets of AI initiatives that jointly shape journey coherence, rather than as firms alone. Data collection combines systematic secondary sources with planned interviews for triangulation. Analysis follows an inductive Gioia approach to build a grounded process model linking orchestration mechanisms, experience outcomes, and breakdown points. Preliminary evidence suggests distinct orchestration logics across fashion-beauty and grocery retail, highlighting both operational and psychological discontinuities.