So what will 2025 bring?

There’s so much we could talk about that is shaking the retail market, from social commerce to 3P (third-party) commerce, from experiential virtual retail to the pre-loved revolution. 

We’re going to focus on a few trends that are key for physical stores going into the year ahead.


1. Pedal to the metal on Unified Commerce (Omnichannel) 

This is not new. In fact, it almost feels like old news.

But the truth is, while we’ve been talking about omnichannel (and now unified commerce) for years, very few can claim to have accomplished it. 

We are all living half-digital lives now, and the expectation for retailers to accommodate this will not slow down. The difference today is we are seeing technology catching up with demand, and the ability to realise this idea is more real than ever.

Omnichannel customers shop 1.7 times more than shoppers who use a single channel.
McKinsey

What does this mean for retailers? 

For most it means improving in-store tech to be able to seamlessly connect with customers’ online or app experience, including things like endless aisle, real-time inventory tracking, intelligent checkouts, and app integration.

A truly frictionless unified commerce system is not easy to accomplish. However, the technology does exist today to connect each part of the customer journey. Whether it is the research phase, browsing, order & pay, or loyalty – retailers will continue to think about how to bring their disparate systems together.

Our subsidiary company Flooid is on the front line of this revolution, with a platform that moves you away from siloed online and instore channels and seamlessly connects all your customer touchpoints with a powerful cloud-native unified commerce engine.

2.AIpowereddatadrivenhyperpersonalisation 

(like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, but for business)

AI powered, data driven, hyperpersonalisation (yes, we are aware that if we say it loud enough, we’ll always sound precocious).

Ultimately, consumers want to feel valued and understood. They don’t want to be incessantly peppered with irrelevant products and discounts. They don’t want to feel like a number on a spreadsheet. But personalisation on a mass scale for large retailers is a hard problem. 

Or it used to be. 

With the power of AI, the mountains of data that consumers produce in the digital era can actually be analysed and put to work, benefiting both the shopper and the retailer. 

71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions.
McKinsey

Consumers are aware of how much data they are handing over to businesses, and they want a return for it. That return looks like better service, accurate personalisation, and worthwhile loyalty perks.

The ability to do this rests on many of the same solutions from the point above. Systems need to be connected, with the right in-store tech linked to well-designed brand apps to ensure this data is not lost but used fruitfully to improve the customer experience. 

3. Embracing the Era of Choice

Today, shoppers are not only spoiled for choice; they are spoiled by choice. 

We’ve all become very used to getting what we want, when we want it, in the way we want it. We want to have all the information we need at our fingertips, wherever we are. We want to order and receive our goods in the way most convenient to us in that moment. We want to pay in the way that makes sense for us. 

80% of consumers consider it important for retailers to provide a choice of checkout options
Kantar

Today, it’s just too easy to walk away and find another retailer with the options and experience we prefer. Retailers who don’t cater to the freedom customers expect in their shopping experience will simply bleed customers to their more flexible competitors.

Some want staff assistance, others just want access to the information so that they can research for themselves. Some want the interaction of a manned checkout, others prefer the privacy of self-service. Some want to pay with their card or mobile phone, others still like to use cash. But whatever they want in that moment, they all want the freedom to choose.

There is a thread that runs through these three trends, and that thread is zero tolerance for friction at any stage of the customer journey. That’s a big challenge for retailers, but with the right solutions in place, it’s one you can meet. 

Chat with our team to discover how our full spectrum of retail solutions can help you meet the challenges of 2025. From payment automation to self-checkout, from multifunction touchscreens to a unified commerce platform to bring everything together – Glory has the solution.