The news: Consumers’ path to purchase is fragmenting as their digital behavior switches between devices and platforms.

• 88% of US consumers switch between digital activities in an hour’s time, per MiQ’s From Funnel to Flexibility report.
• That includes 62% who jump from buying to watching within an hour, and 54% who flip from browsing to buying. A smaller 23% are switching from watching to buying.

Consumers also say they have an average of 3.6 tabs open while doing product research, splintering their attention, and 46% call their path to purchase “random.”

What it means: The marketing funnel is breaking down into a series of unpredictable micro-moments where consumers are second-screening or bouncing around—shopping, streaming, browsing, and comparing—in real time across multiple tabs and devices.

That behavior creates three immediate implications:

• Timing and context matter more than channel. Almost two-thirds of users are shifting from shopping to entertainment within an hour, indicating that influence doesn’t just happen in retail or search environments anymore.
• Attribution is getting murkier. Consumers’ journeys are becoming random, making conversion efforts harder to track and credit.
• Adaptive creative is crucial. Messaging needs to be more flexible. Assume consumers are distracted, and focus on quick reengagement.

Recommendations for marketers: Find a balance of omnipresence and channel prioritization—determine where consumers are most likely to spot your products or click through to buy and diversify placements.

• Media plans should follow attention and coordinate messaging across retail media, connected TV (CTV), social, and open web so brands remain visible as consumers jump between activities.
• Align teams and budgets to ensure everyone knows what others are working on to avoid ad fatigue.

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