It’s that time of year again when we can sit down, pour ourselves a little (or indeed large) glass of something, and reminisce about the year that was. It is fair to say that retail has had its ups and down in 2024, with plenty of challenges accompanying the good times.
While certain trends that were apparent this year may not be as key in 2025, others will continue into the next year and beyond, playing a major role in shaping customer demand. We will also see other trends emerge as we progress though the next 12 months and responding to these will be crucially important to the success of retailers large and small.
With this in mind, we caught up with several industry members to get their take on what the next year might have in store for the industry and retailers can prepare to ensure they make the most of new opportunities and demands.
Steven Ubsdell, chief creative officer, Checkland Kindleysides
Checkland Kindleysides, a global retail design agency, sees 2024 as something of a cultural reset for retailers. Ubsdell explained: “Across the board we’ve seen investment heavily geared towards international expansion and brand elevation. On the flip side, we have also witnessed an increasing level of standardisation emerge across retail design, which is resulting in a lack of differentiation and slow growth for many brands, in multiple sectors.
“With brands having to work harder than ever to maintain attention, loyalty and consumer spend, powering authenticity with imagination – have driven impressive commercial results through dynamic retail design.”
So, what can we expect in 2025 and how can Checkland Kindleysides help retailers? Ubsdell said: “For a lot of brands 2024 was about recalibration – whereas 2025 will be about re-ignition. Retail will see a renewed energy and new creative directions brought to life. Translating their new brand vision into a holistic retail experience, so that there isn’t a disconnect between brand and retail, will be key.
“Authenticity over novelty will also be the mantra for 2025. Consumers are increasingly investing in timeless classics and iconic pieces over short-term fads and trend-based, impulse purchases. Paired with the evolution of the ‘Buy Less, Buy Better’ mindset – more conscious and considered consumerism will mean brands will have to work harder to bring their brand and product stories to life, in ever more immersive and enticing ways.
“As the widespread, algorithmic-homogeneity becomes more pervasive – we also believe experiential retail will undergo a major reimagining, refocusing on design differentiation, visual artistry and amplifying the emotion of shopping. Three strategies for success, will be offering Sensorial #IRL Escapism, creating Disruptive Spatial Narratives and strengthening brand loyalty through Connected Experience.”
Chris Newell, creative partner, Syn
As a marketing agency working within the retail sector, Syn has seen several trends emerge in 2024. Newell explained: “From a technology point of view, we’ve seen a bigger shift in the power of AI, data-driven experiences and brand personalisation. Enabling brands to ‘hyperpersonalise’ the right comms or content to the right people at the right time based on analysing date and learnt behaviours.
“In bricks and mortar, the key take-outs have seen an increase in retailers delivering visually rich digital content to blur the lines between the experiences customers are getting on a device and replicating on a larger scale at the store. Personalised IRL experiences have also taken a big focus with brands becoming more of a high street platform to connect fans and communities with creators. Brands have had to change their strategies when it comes to disruptive retail and reset the way in which they segment spend to in how they show up on high streets.
Looking to 2025, Newell said stores will need to continue to level up their offering when it comes to pulling customers in and connecting with them on a deeper and more emotional level at bricks and mortar.
“The desire of instant gratification of purchase is a thing of the past thanks to convenience-driven AI technologies and data-driven operations that can get products in hand effortlessly and quickly,” he said. “2025 will see brands continue to invest in exclusivity and community.
“For online retail, more of a shift-change in brand partnerships and influencer marketing; moving further away from creator content models for entertainment to driving online sales. Also, with the continual rise of ‘omnichannel retail’, there is a focus on delivering cohesive, convenience-driven behaviours and the flexibility to shop between channels seamlessly.”
Newell also picked up on the rise of second-hand shopping, with retailers like Vinted and Depop fuelling and fulfilling this movement. He said: “Retailers will need to consider how they can be part of this with innovative thinking of product inventories.”
James Barnes, business director and co-founder at Backlash
Another marketing agency, Backlash, has noted similar trends in 2024, with Barnes picking out digital saturation and the need for physical connection, smarter and more efficient budgets, and ensuring omni-channel experiences as standard.
On this latter point, Barnes said that successful experiential campaigns no longer exist in isolation; they must be integrated into the broader omni-channel marketing ecosystem. He expanded: “With increasingly tight budgets, brands are looking for ways to amplify the impact of their physical events across multiple channels. From user-generated content (UGC) and live streaming to influencer collaborations and social selling, event concepts now need to serve multiple purposes, both in the real world and online.”
As for 2025, Barnes said trends seen take shape in 2024 are poised to deepen and evolve throughout the next year. On this, he said experiential marketing will continue to thrive, offering innovative ways for brands to engage consumers in meaningful, real-life interactions.
Meanwhile, with the global economic climate remaining volatile, consumers and businesses alike will be looking for more value-driven experiences. He said: “Retailers and brands will need to dig deeper to demonstrate the true worth of their offerings. In 2025, this focus on value will be crucial.”
Finally, on omni-channel marketing, Barnes said complexity here will continue to evolve, but physical experiences will increasingly be viewed as a vital, human-centric solution in engaging consumers. He added: “As digital channels grow more fragmented, in-person brand activations will offer a unique opportunity to forge deeper connections with customers, creating memorable, immersive experiences difficult to replicate online.”
James Breaks, associate director of design, rpa:group
rpa:group, which works with retail partners across design, architecture and project and cost management services, is in agreement about the increasing and evolving role of AI within the industry.
Breaks explained: “AI has really started to come into its own to capture and utilise customer data, to deliver an increasingly personalised service and experience. Social media also continues to influence purchasers and provides a channel to deliver their increasing demand for authenticity in storytelling.
“This is especially important for Gen Z shoppers, who are far more likely to trust a live-streamer’s review than traditional advertisements. Transparency and honesty have become paramount and will continue to be an important part of brand storytelling, influencing the entire customer journey.”
Breaks added that AI is going to be increasingly used to help enable retailers to hone the personalised experience that customers are progressively coming to expect, both in 2025 and beyond.
“AI will move closer to completing the 360-degree experience in collaboration with the human face of the brand, as well as the seamless operational delivery,” he said.
Aside from this, Breaks is predicting a stronger focus on how a product was sourced and made, with consumers making their purchasing decisions based on this. He said: “Savvy retailers can turn their supply chain transparency into a competitive advantage, ensuring that their sourcing and sustainability practices are both virtuous and transparent.
“’Vintage’’ will continue to gain popularity. No longer seen as something only utilised by those who are financially strained, it is now being embraced by the “middle classes”, with many retail giants launching their own resale platforms to cater for them. This also links to the increasingly visible conscientious and sustainable decision making of their customers.”
Brandon Kiffer, managing director, user-generated gontent, PowerReviews, a 1WorldSync company
Casting the net further still and 1WorldSync specialises in product content orchestration, enabling more than 17,000 brands and retailers in over 60 countries. Like others in the market, Kiffer, who works at 1WorldSync-owned PowerReviews, also backs AI, as well as digital in general, to shape the industry for the better moving forward.
“Brands are adopting a strategic dual approach to AI content verification, maintaining strict human oversight for critical product data like allergen claims and measurements, while allowing more flexibility with subjective marketing content,” Kiffer said. “This nuanced implementation demonstrates how companies are pragmatically balancing AI’s efficiency with consumer safety and brand integrity.
“In 2025, we will also witness a dramatic shift from static to ‘evolutionary QR codes’ that dynamically adapt based on real-time context. The intelligent codes will serve personalised content depending on factors like time of day, store location and consumer behaviour patterns.
“Finally, video content will dominate product detail pages, becoming essential for driving purchases. Static images and text can’t compete with the depth and authenticity that user-generated video reviews offer.”
Jaime Bettencourt, senior vice president, global account management and marketing, Mood Media
Providing in-store media solutions, Mood Media has valuable insight into what is happening in shops around the world. Bettencourt said 2025 will see successful retailers master the “art” of balancing novel experiences with the predictability that customers crave.
“Consumers want the thrill of discovery — new products, experiences and even new music content in-store — but they also crave the comfort of consistency,” Bettencourt said. “Smart retailers will create spaces that cater to both needs. It’s about giving customers a reason to come back and explore while ensuring they can always find their go-to items. This balance will be crucial in keeping brick-and-mortar retail relevant and exciting in an increasingly digital world.”
Bettencourt also predicted a shift in the role of store associates, saying they will transition from salespeople to empowered brand ambassadors, armed with technology that gives them real-time access to customer preferences, purchase history, and product information.
“Imagine walking into a store and having an associate immediately know which size jeans you typically wear or that you’ve returned similar styles in the past,” she said. “This level of insight allows them to offer truly personalized service, making recommendations based on data rather than guesswork and using technology to enhance human interaction, not replace it.”
Paul Brenner, senior vice president of global retail media and partnerships, Vibenomics
Part of Mood Media is Vibenomics, an in-store digital advertising provider that connects retailers with customers via display, audio and experiential channels. Brenner picks out EMEA as an area that will become a “hotbed” for retail media innovation in 2025, with growth potential enormous.
“As retailers digitise operations, in-store media will emerge as a powerful tool to engage shoppers, with programmatic buying accelerating precision in targeting and measurement,” Brenner said. “Standardised frameworks will provide valuable insights into campaign performance, and cross-border collaborations between brands, retailers, and retail media networks will be crucial for expanding market reach.”
He also touched on the subject of omni-channel, saying retail media networks will face the major challenge proving how omni-channel touchpoints contribute to a unified view of performance.
“Retailers, which are rapidly transforming into media agencies and measurement companies, will need to demonstrate how these touchpoints drive true incrementality and attributable sales,” he said. “Success will depend on how well they integrate these channels to show the real impact of their efforts.”
Ravi Pratap, co-founder and chief technology officer, Uniqode
Concluding our preview is Uniqode, which offers a complete QR Code lifecycle management and analytics solution to partners. Pratap expects a QR data revolution, with organisations to accelerate their use of QR codes for first-party data collection in physical spaces, which will in turn transform how brick-and-mortar businesses gather customer insights.
“This trend will be particularly prominent in retail, where businesses will use QR codes to collect real-time feedback, reviews and customer data directly from store locations,” Pratap said. “This approach offers higher relevance and response rates than traditional email outreach, as it captures customer input during their actual store experience rather than hours or days later.”
Alongside this will be what Pratap described as an “enterprise standardisation wave”, which, over the next five years, will see major retail and restaurant chains will roll out enterprise-wide policies for digital tools that streamline customer engagement and enhance securities.
“This evolution will replace the fragmented, store-level tech choices with centrally managed platforms that support a seamless customer journey, secure access controls, and consistent data protocols,” Pratap said. “The move will create a new category of enterprise tools focused on multi-location businesses, providing granular insights and flexibility for both corporate and local store teams.”
Clearly, there is plenty to prepare for and get excited about for 2025 and beyond. While the clear stand-out trends will focus on AI and digital technologies, there is clear demand for more customer-centric strategies that connect retailers to consumers and help influence their buying decision across online and physical retail.
