Why We Built Our Own CDP—and Why That Changed Everything

Jasper from Schoenen Torfs shared how the Belgian retailer built its own composable CDP instead of relying on Salesforce’s costly and fragmented solution. Using their Azure data lake as the foundation, they integrated CRM, transactions, and website behavior data, then activated customer segments with Census, which mirrors data directly into marketing tools like Salesforce, Google, and Meta. While they faced challenges with sync management and data literacy, the shift empowered marketing to focus on customer strategy rather than technical requests. Ultimately, building their own CDP gave Torfs freedom, clarity, and a single trusted customer model—transforming both their technology and culture.