The article breaks down the difference between the customer journey and the buyer lifecycle in ecommerce. It explains that the customer journey represents the complete set of interactions a customer experiences with a brand—from the initial awareness phase, through consideration, to the final decision—while the buyer lifecycle is a retailer-focused framework that categorizes customers into stages such as acquisition, conversion, loyalty, and advocacy. The article also discusses how mapping these processes can help optimize marketing and sales strategies by providing actionable insights to improve conversion rates, customer retention, and overall engagement.