Retailers: What's in store for 2025

What do retail experts predict for the new year? We asked retailers, brand strategists and operations veterans about trends they expect to see in 2025, as well as their favorite trend from this year (and ones they hope will disappear). Pop the champagne, 2024 is coming to a close.

On everyone’s hit list: brick-and-mortar stores, experiences and personalization, while meaningless collaborations, greenwashing and inflation topped their Retail Don’ts. - Marcy Medina

The answers below have been edited for brevity and clarity.

[ THE EXPERTS ]

Donny Salazar- Retail operations expert, entrepreneur and Founder/CEO of MasonHub, an end-to-end omnichannel fulfillment provider for fast-growing beauty, fashion and wellness brands.

Louis Senofonte- President, Natalie Martin, and seasoned retail leader in the better consumer goods space, including fine jewelry and kids’ apparel.

Alisa Greenspan- Founder, Loop New York, strategic branding, sales and marketing in the luxury and contemporary sector of the fashion and design industry.

Lilly Liu Minkove-  Founder and managing partner, ArtLogica Group, a boutique business, brand and digital strategy consultancy for consumer-focused verticals. 

Katie Irving- Founder, MOONSHOT, and former head of fashion at WGSN Mindset and head of concept at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Chris Danton- Co-founder, IN GOOD CO, a brand consultancy creating challenger brands, and author of GOOD THINKING, a newsletter on culture, trends and marketing.

What was your favorite trend of 2024?

Salazar: That there are still people launching businesses despite funding drying up. You’re still seeing cool brands launch, which is very encouraging. You’re likely set up for success if you are coming out of an environment like this, where you can’t light it up with digital marketing because of the high cost, and all the venture capital and private equity funding has dried up. 

Senofonte: I’ve been impressed with smaller brands taking on the concept of a pop-up and handling that themselves. Rather than go through all the hoops for a department store, they put those assets into their own spaces and used guerrilla marketing. With retail spaces available, small brands that can put a brick-and-mortar presence together for three or four months can really tell their story. And it behooves landlords not to sit empty. Retail and shopping are not dead. People want to walk around and engage in their community. A pop-up brings a different set of eyes into the neighborhood and helps counter the narrative that everything is shifting away from retail when it really isn’t. 

Greenspan: One trend I loved seeing continue in 2024 is the resale and secondhand shopping trend. It not only helps the environment, but it helps people carve out their own distinctive style when they wear their own vintage combinations or pair vintage with their newly purchased favorites. 

Liu Minkove: The boom in resale and second-hand shopping. Fueled by sustainability concerns and a desire for affordable luxury, this trend saw major players like Arc'teryx, Athleta, Nike, Madewell and Canada Goose doubling down on recommerce initiatives. It’s a win-win for consumers and the planet.

Irving: Redefining value. One of the trends I've been tracking in 2024 is how consumers are redefining value, with some equating it to price, while others prioritize quality and longevity. We’re seeing a shift away from fast-fashion trends toward investments in timeless, durable pieces. This redefined sense of value will continue to shape consumer behavior in 2025. For small to mid-size retailers, investing in consumer insights to understand your customer's evolving perception of value will be critical in 2025.

Danton: Experiential retail making a comeback. It hasn’t fully trickled into stores, but it’s regained momentum this year. In large part, this is because performance marketing has become so costly and doesn’t necessarily deliver the customers brands want. Experiential is different now because TikTok/Reels have made it ultra-shareable. It has legs beyond the physical pop-up itself. The reach is way bigger. And people love it.

 What retail trends do you predict for 2025? 

Salazar: Top of my mind is what happens if the TikTok ban goes into effect on January 19.  A lot of brands have obviously penetrated the channel, and you see a lot of commerce happening in TikTok Shop. It’s been a fairly effective channel for lower price point products, and brands in general struggle to find new channels to market to, so if it goes away, that will be hard. All this begs truly understanding the most effective channel for your brand, whether that’s retail, direct-to-consumer, wholesale, your own store, Amazon, etc. 

Senofonte: A shift in B2B partnerships. Brands do it to captivate each other’s audiences and customer acquisition. We’ll see this continue as brands partner with other industries, but I think the shift is that consumers are becoming smart and realizing it’s a sales tactic. They’ll start looking for true connection between the brands. It needs to be more than just a shared marketplace for it to succeed. Make sure as you align with other companies that connection doesn’t feel forced.

Experiences.  I think the call back to brick-and-mortar will continue to go strong and we’ll see more and more brands creating experiences and inviting the customer inside their world, inside the design of clothes or products. We will see more experiential retail pop-ups, but even retailers who already have stores are elevating the design. It’s the perfect way to ‘let yourself out.’ With Natalie’s store, it’s not trying to be anything Natalie isn’t. That’s why people love it and it’s become a community center and a collective highlighting other artists and makers. Our goal every month is to have activations and art openings, and it’s been so nice to have people who’ve attended our events reach out to tell us about their friend that we should partner with. 

Diversification. We’re always thinking about our product and what does it solve in the market and how do we integrate ourselves more into the lives of our customers. When I worked in the kids’ apparel industry we thought a lot about going from newborn to toddler to child. In women’s apparel, it’s about how we interact with our customer in the different spaces of her life. Because Natalie is a print designer, we have expanded into home with wallpaper and ceramics launches. If you acquire customers, you want to keep and expand the lifetime value for both of you. 

Greenspan: Consumers 50+ will be extremely important for the fashion industry to prioritize. Brands need to shift their young cohort focus and learn who has the real spending power. Brick-and-mortar stores will make an even greater comeback in 2025. Experience and customer service combined with AI technology will also be prioritized in-store. Excellent customer service that adds value to the in-store shopping experience will be a must. E-commerce and marketplace shopping will continue to be sluggish. Established brands in the Sportswear category will continue to be disrupted by challengers in 2025. Consumers are looking forward to that disruption and are less loyal to the market leaders in Sportswear.

Liu Minkove:  The resale market for premium goods is set to thrive in 2025 as sustainability continues to dominate consumer priorities. Digital platforms, AI-driven authentication tools and seamless logistics networks are making it easier than ever for consumers to buy and sell pre-loved luxury items with confidence. Meanwhile, brands are stepping into the recommerce space, reclaiming control of their product lifecycle by launching in-house resale programs. From luxury handbags to high-performance outdoor gear, consumers are seeing resale as a smart, sustainable way to access premium goods at more accessible price points. As recommerce gains traction, expect to see more collaborations between brands and marketplaces, a rise in "circular economy" certifications and a growing emphasis on transparency and traceability in the second-hand space.  Recommerce isn’t just a trend —it’s a movement that underscores a fundamental shift in how we perceive ownership, value and responsibility.

Irving: AI-driven personalization. As shopping choices grow overwhelming, brands that leverage AI to deliver curated, hyper-personalized recommendations will stand out, offering simplicity and relevance in a crowded market. Use this tech to drive loyalty with existing customers by positioning your store as calm in the midst of a sea of choices.

Danton:  Experiential will come in-store. Experiential was huge in 2024, but most retailers haven’t managed to make permanent locations live up to these one-offs. Experiential doesn’t actually have to be expensive, especially if it’s in your own brick-and-mortar. Susan Alexandra is a great example. She hosts "parties" for groups to make their own necklaces in-store. Clare V does monogramming on the weekends. Tailor to your business but the point is: involve the customer.

What’s one trend you wish would go away in the New Year? 

Salazar: I want inflation to end and interest rates to go down. 

Senofonte: Thoughtless collabs. Let brands coming together mean something. Let there be a statement to be made, art or human touch or two founders who authentically love each other’s products. I want to stop opening Instagram or going into a store and seeing forced partnerships. 

Greenspan: Brand “greenwashing." Greenwashing erodes consumer trust and dilutes the very real dangers of both climate change and fast fashion waste within the fashion supply chain. 

Liu Minokove: This might ruffle some feathers, but I’d love to see frictionless delivery take a back seat. It’s unsustainable and only drives overconsumption. For retail to truly embrace sustainability, we need to pause and reflect — literally. A little friction, like waiting for a product, can encourage consumers to consider whether they genuinely need it. My dream? A cultural shift from instant gratification through physical goods to a deeper appreciation for experiences and community.

Irving: Ultra-fast fashion: I’d love to see the trend of brands trying to mimic Shein and Temu, like Amazon’s Haul concept, disappear in 2025. It’s bad for the planet, bad for consumers and ultimately unsustainable for the industry. There are far more innovative, responsible retail models to explore that prioritize longevity, quality and meaningful consumer relationships. Don't be tempted to compete by selling higher volumes of cheaper products. It's a short-term strategy that will likely create long-term problems and loss of brand equity.

Danton: Not thinking through the small stuff. If you bring something out from the back in a plastic bag for me to open — you’ve lost me already. Brands like Officine Buly that really deliver experiences on every level, down to the gift card options, will win. In a world of AI, people will begin to crave high-touch experiences more and more.

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The SKUpe is curated and written  by Marcy Medina and edited by Bianca Prieto