Consumer spending at retail has remained steady this year and NRF predicts a 2.5-3.5% year-over-year growth in holiday spend. As retailers head into 2025, their outlooks hint at cautious optimism with the expectation of steady growth.
In 2025, expect retailers to focus on the omnichannel customer experience, innovations in personalization, as well as cultivating relationships with Gen Z.
“At American Eagle, we feel the need, the need for speed,” says Craig Brommers, chief marketing officer at American Eagle Outfitters. “Customer trends are moving faster than ever. External events are happening to us faster than ever. Therefore, we continue to rewire our resources to move at the speed of Gen Z.”
For Lowe’s, the in-store experience is top-of-mind as customers look for hands-on expertise and real life shopping. “Gen Z in particular wants to return to in real life,” says Jennifer Wilson, chief marketing officer of Lowe’s. “There’s been so much tablet and phone time. They’ve grown up in this digital native space that they are welcoming in-person connectivity especially in the home improvement category. I think having brick-and-mortar stores and having people they can actually speak to will be more critical than ever as a future trend.”
As physical stores offer consumers a place to go out into the world, expect unique experiences in stores to help draw people in, as well as digital integration to make the shopping experience smoother.
“In 2025, we will continue to connect with our customers both physically and digitally, as we know our in-store experience—from visual to styling to service—is something Anthropologie is famous for. We will continue to show up in unexpected ways, especially to deliver unique experiences through partnerships, pop-ups, and community programming,” says Elizabeth Preis, global chief marketing officer, at Anthropologie Group. “At Anthropologie, our dedication to the trifecta of product, creative, and marketing strategy has delivered impressive results in attracting and engaging both new and existing audiences across generations.”
Lee Sterling, chief marketing officer of Simon Property Group, expects “companies continue to invest in the overall customer experience and focus on reaching consumers where they are with the right product, as well as the right message in the right location at the right time,” she says. “At Simon, this means adding to our retail, dining and entertainment offering, continuing to evolve our properties to be the live, work, play and shop destinations for their local communities, and then sharing each property’s unique story via our owned, earned and paid media efforts. At the same time, you will see us continue to innovate in the omnichannel space to ensure the 360 shopping experience is seamless and as convenient as possible for consumers.”
AI adoption will continue to grow and 2025, as retailers look at ways to use the technology to enhance personalization and the customer experience.
“2025 is going to be the year that not just several but all retailers will be focused on personalization and loyalty as a means to drive increased value from their existing customers,” says Carolyn Pollock, chief marketing officer of Tailored Brands. “With AI tools starting to live up to their initial promise, we’ll be able to supercharge our ability to hyper-personalize – based on data that goes beyond the transaction (including all the unstructured data we could potentially capture from in-store interactions and conversations). The use of AI agents will start to gain hold but, even ahead of that, our ability to harness greater amounts of first-party data will enable us to connect with customers with more relevant content in their preferred channels. This will foster increasingly trusted brand relationships and ultimately help us stabilize revenue in what could otherwise be a more challenging year.”
Jeanniey Walden, chief marketing and customer officer at Rite Aid and executive leader at Thrifty Ice Cream agrees that “creating personalized experiences will be a top priority for every retail marketer.”
“We’re starting to see a significant shift in wealth from Baby Boomers and Gen X to Gen Z and Alpha, and with that shift comes a growing demand for tailored experiences from retailers,” adds Walden. “This means everything—from how brands introduce themselves to consumers to the shopping experience itself—needs to cater to buyers’ needs right at the moment they’re ready to purchase. This reinvention in the buying patterns and behaviors is going to be an exciting time for every retail marketer. The demand for personalization is only going to continue to grow, pushing retailers to embrace AI in every part of their business—whether it’s process, strategy, or even creative efforts.”
Crate and Barrel’s vice president of marketing Megan Bernstein, stresses the importance of testing and learning to optimize this personalization journey when using AI.
“We’ll continue to see different innovation and testing across different marketing channels of how to break through. And I think continuing to leverage AI in a way that is impactful to our business, operationally how we build that into processes but then how we lean into that from a marketing perspective for the benefit of our consumer,” says Bernstein. “Like any technology, it’s not for the sake of using it, but it’s for the sake of really driving the most personalized relevant experience that we can.”
