Orlando Martins, an executive recruiter and founder of the Growth Index, shares the retail and consumer trends he predicts will shape 2025. Four trends in the retail and consumer industries have become clear in recent months, as leaders prepare for the second half of the decade. These will shape how boards and CEOs approach 2025.

Streamlined leadership teams and boards

Boards and executive committees are beginning to take a ‘less-is-more’ approach to hiring C-suites. 

Technology will continue to revolutionize retail in 2025. From cashier-less stores to AI-driven inventory management, tech innovations will streamline operations and enhance customer satisfaction. With evolving consumer expectations, technology advancements, and a growing focus on experience, the landscape is rapidly changing. From AI-driven personalization to sustainable practices, retailers face new challenges and opportunities to stay ahead.

This playbook explores consumer data insights, hyper-personalization, omnichannel tactics, loyalty strategies, and CPG brand success examples.

To win in a highly competitive and cost-conscious market, today’s CPG brands must deliver hyper-personalized campaigns that resonate with shoppers and align with their ever-changing preferences. But how can brands accomplish this successfully? By learning how to collect and understand the right consumer data.

We know that AI is everywhere, but it’s still worth taking a moment to think about what the year ahead has in store for us. We present our thoughts on the most meaningful forces driving changes for performance marketers in 2024. 

1. AI Transforms Supply

Artificial intelligence is redefining how we find and access information information, which means the surfaces for advertising will continue to evolve. AI-driven Search, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Perplexity, and even Google Gemini, is better than a page full of links.

A new report suggests retail is now in a ‘post-omnichannel’ era, with customer context and understanding behaviours now key. The increased costs of running online retail operations in the ‘post-omnichannel’ era mean the in-store channel is becoming more competitive and offers an opportunity for retailers, according to a new report.

In the 2024 edition of its Omnichannel report, GlobalData states: “We now believe that online has moved into a post-omnichannel era,” which it suggests was prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Retailers and brands have faced a challenging 2024, making a successful holiday season more crucial than ever. According to Adobe Analytics, online shoppers spent a record-breaking $10.8 billion this Black Friday. The biggest retail event of the year gave Listrak’s savvy clients an opportunity to outperform the competition and win consumer dollars with AI-powered, hyper-targeted, omnichannel messaging. Our experts have crunched the numbers and analyzed retailer strategy and results in order to bring you an informative recap of our Black Friday retail marketing data.

Retailers are challenged to deliver connected customer experiences across touchpoints, but they often lack data integration from these channels and cohesive communication across teams. This results in missed opportunities to provide a cohesive and personalized shopper journey. With disconnected data management, retailers risk delivering inconsistent messaging, confusing promotions, and disjointed experiences that deter customers from converting and becoming loyal brand advocates.

In today’s competitive retail landscape, where 84% of retail sales continue to occur in-store, engaging consumers at the point of purchase is more critical than ever (Emarketer, May 2024). Vibenomics recognizes that in-store advertising gives brands and advertisers a unique opportunity to influence shopper behavior at the moment of purchase decisions.

To better understand this dynamic, Vibenomics conducted a comprehensive survey with Suzy Market Research that gathered insights from 1,070 shoppers between the ages of 18 and 73. These participants, all of whom identified as primary or shared shoppers of their household, provided valuable perspectives on the shopping journey and the impact of in-store advertising on purchase decisions. The findings of this survey offer a deep dive into the power of in-store advertising and its pivotal role in influencing shopper behavior in today’s retail environment.