Barring major macroeconomic or geopolitical shocks,
Retail sales projections for 2025 come with an exceptionally high level of risk. The forecasts: US retail sales are set to climb 3.1% YoY this year, driven in part by a 4.7% increase in durable goods spending, per Deloitte.
In five years, what will the role of stores be and how will brick-and-mortar locations change? Fran Horowitz, Abercrombie & Fitch CEO: The future of retail is small, efficient, omni stores, and they're located where the customer tells us.
In ten years, the retail model will be fully unified across all shopping channels. Digital technologies will increase their presence in physical stores. Consumers will instantly be able to find the products they seek inside a physical store using smartphones connected to RFID-enabled consumer products.
The retail industry will continue to undergo structural changes and further disruption towards 2030. Changes will be driven by new technologies, changing consumer behaviour, and a challenging economic environment as cost-of-living pressures unfold.
If we look 20 years ahead, new retail technologies, not yet invented, will be helping to make shopping experiences more convenient and compelling. The physical and digital worlds will merge to offer new services that we can only imagine today.
According to Gartner, by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and potential customers will happen online.
According to Swiftly (2024), personalization nets retail businesses a 40% increase in revenue. The Salesforce “State of the Connected Customer Report” (2022) found that 56% of customers expect all retail offers to be personalized, making AI-recommendation engines more important than ever.
By 2027, global e-commerce growth is expected to sustain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9%, almost double the 4% CAGR forecasted for physical retail. Notably, growth in e-commerce is outpacing traditional retail, though it may not fully match pre-pandemic growth expectations of 12% to 14%.
Brick and mortar sales continued to rise throughout most of 2021. And 46 percent of consumers still say they prefer to shop in person rather than online. However, while brick and mortar may not be dead, it is undergoing a transformation: the merger of the physical and the digital.
In 2024, successful retailers are seamlessly integrating their physical and digital channels, offering customers a cohesive experience by leveraging advanced inventory management systems, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, and sophisticated analytics to synchronise operations across all touchpoints.
The National Company Law Tribunal on Monday allowed the liquidation of Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail as the maximum period of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) has expired with no resolution plan approved by the lenders.
Technology-Driven In-Store Experiences
The future of retail will be tech-driven, and the global smart retail market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.1% by 2030. The pandemic spurred many retailers to invest in technologies like buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPUS) and self-checkout.
Retail sales are expected to continue to benefit from a growing economy. The United States has outpaced its advanced-economy peers in its post-pandemic recovery. We expect this to continue, with real GDP rising by 2.8% in 2024 and by 2.4% in 2025, according to our baseline forecasts.
Nominal consumer spending is expected to normalize near its prior expansion trend growing 4.8 percent YoY in 2025, down from an estimated 5.2 percent pace in 2024 (see fig.
As we step into 2025, artificial intelligence and [+] digital innovation are revolutionizing the retail landscape in unprecedented ways, from hyper-personalized shopping experiences to sustainable second-hand luxury. The retail industry is on the cusp of its most dramatic transformation yet.
By 2025, the retail landscape will be marked by major changes encompassing technological advancement, consumer-centric innovations, and a renewed focus on sustainability. Retail decision-makers must consider these shifts as opportunities for growth and differentiation.
ANALOGY OF FLOWERS Spring / Summer 2026
Clothes will be crafted from the shapes of botanical beauty and coloured from its shades, becoming excessive pieces of highly desirable design, alongside florals that inspire the hues of accessories, make-up and textiles.
Omnichannel retail is a strategy in which retailers engage customers through multiple digital and physical touchpoints. As customers move across these channels, applications and data move with them. This creates a consistent, on-brand experience from start to finish.
Eco-friendly and sustainable products
78% say that a sustainable lifestyle is important to them, millennials and Gen Z consumers especially. No matter if it's for cleaning products (as mentioned above) or household goods, consumers are seeking out consumer packaged goods (CPG) that are more eco-friendly.
Growth in key retail categories
Discretionary categories, particularly computer and consumer electronics and toys and hobbies, will be the fastest-growing sectors through 2028, per EMARKETER's forecast. As inflation stabilizes, consumers will likely redirect their spending toward these non-essential items.
Shoppers are finding their way back to brick-and-mortar stores. Despite the higher growth rate of e-commerce sales, Forrester forecasts that physical retail will make up almost 80% of global retail sales in 2025.
More and more, customers expect brands to understand their preferences and offer unique experiences. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes into play, allowing your customer to receive precise and personalized suggestions in real-time, whether browsing an online store or interacting with a self-service kiosk.
A sales forecast is an estimate of expected sales revenue within a specific time frame, such as quarterly, monthly, or yearly. It expresses how much a company plans to sell. Forecasters analyze economic conditions, consumer trends, past purchases, and competitors to make accurate predictions.
In 2025, we'll see more companies invest in breaking down data silos, creating data-driven cultures, and, ultimately, preparing their data for AI tools. This will empower marketers to holistically look at data, quickly analyze performance and trends, and make data integral to their everyday work and business decisions.