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Four 2025 Retail Trends That Might Surprise You

Last month, Incisiv released its 2025 State of the Industry: Store Innovation report in partnership with Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions. With the retail industry “at a crucial inflection point,” they noted, “the future belongs to those who can reimagine how they build and deliver solutions.” 

Indeed, if technology has been a defining term of the past several years in retail, “imagination” should be the keyword for 2025. Creativity will be a paramount factor in which brands succeed. Here are four trends I’ll be watching in the industry this year:

Ad Fatigue 

Advertising fatigue is real, and brands are taking note. 

Ad fatigue occurs when customers become overwhelmed or disengaged after excessive exposure to ads. Sometimes, they start to develop negative associations with brands as a result. For example, a 2024 study found that ​​people who saw an ad 6-10 times were 4.1% less likely to buy a product than those who saw the ad 2-5 times.

This phenomenon has become more common with the rise of digital advertising, where users encounter ads across a dizzying number of platforms, from social media and search engines to streaming services. As a result, consumers have become more experience-driven and seek person-to-person, memorable interactions. Basically, experiences may have more staying power than ads. 

Companies are responding in unique ways. One example in the apparel sector is House of Vans, “a place where imagination lets loose over concrete bowls, art installations, workshops and concert stages, inspiring every person who runs, rolls, or stomps through its door.” Currently, House of Vans has opened in London, Chicago and Mexico City, and is launching pop-ups around the world. In London, for example, the 30,000-square-foot building houses a cinema, a café, a live music venue, an art gallery and a skating ramp – complementing Vans’ history as skateboard shoes. 

In November, Meta announced its Meta Lab, a pop-up experiential retail space for its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses in Los Angeles. The store allows customers to try out the wearable tech glasses, customize their glasses cases and experience local events with stand-up comedians, live podcasts, cooking classes and more.

Community Building

Retailers should no longer just focus on selling products; they should sell connection. Community building is about more than Instagrammable experiences for customers; it’s about bringing customers together to interact in unique ways. As loneliness skyrockets, retailers can create spaces – both digital and physical – where customers can engage with like-minded people through in-store events, workshops and online events. 

Brands like Lululemon and REI have pioneered this approach, offering yoga classes, outdoor excursions and wellness programs in their key geographic markets. Apple was also an early adopter with in-person classes like iPhone photography in its stores. So was Harley Davison, which has long organized large-scale motorcycle rallies around its brand. 

Other brands see the value in advancing community. GoPro, for example, organizes extreme sports challenges where participants can test out their GoPro cameras and share their experiences with each other. Adobe also launched Behance, a unique social media platform for creatives, which hosts portfolio review sessions and design competitions that allow them to showcase their work and network with peers. 

Retailers also encourage consumers to build community by contributing to their own. This fall, Albertsons launched its Million Hour Volunteer Rally, encouraging customers to join the company’s Nourishing Neighbors charitable program by collectively contributing one million volunteer hours to various nonprofit organizations across the country. 

The Mall Comeback 

Malls are redefining themselves, evolving from traditional shopping destinations into vibrant hubs for experiences, entertainment and community interaction. Around the world, they are integrating attractions like concerts, virtual-reality gaming zones, fitness studios, coworking spaces, art installations, pop-up shops and food halls that feature local and artisanal vendors. A white paper by Placer.ai, “The Comeback of the Mall in 2024,” noted that traffic in malls has improved significantly from initial post-pandemic levels.  

Nirzar Jain, chief leasing officer of Nexus Select Malls, which revives malls in India, explained, “Once brands reach a certain threshold, offline strategies become key to sustaining growth.” India is seeing a growing demand for mall spaces, with more than 50 million square feet expected to be required by 2027.

Meanwhile, American malls are reconsidering their identities. The American Dream Mall in New Jersey calls itself “an entertainment and retail center”, which features an indoor Nickelodeon theme park, water park, ski slope and high-end luxury stores. The Arcade Providence – America’s first shopping mall – now has 48 micro-apartments on its top two floors, providing an innovative, mixed-use model for living.

Pop-ups are another powerful tool to drive traffic. IKEA has introduced mall pop-ups, including a six-month pop-up in 2024 at the Rosedale Center in Roseville, Montana. And Rent the Runway hosted a pop-up at Mall of America this fall and winter.  

The Rise of the Subscription

A recent PYMNTS Intelligence study found that nearly four in ten Millennials seek out retail subscriptions for shopping. The subscription retail market has grown by 435% in the last decade, and subscription customers spend more annually than non-subscription customers. 

Subscriptions are booming as consumers choose them at higher rates for valuable deals and greater convenience, especially for shoppers buying particular goods regularly. Businesses benefit from subscriptions’ predictable income stream and increased customer loyalty. 

Major retailers like Amazon have had membership programs for years, and subscription companies like Dollar Shave Club and Ipsy (makeup) are well known. Retailers like Target (Target Circle 360) and Walmart (Walmart+) have also launched programs to compete and serve customers via a membership model. 

Consumer demand is inspiring other retailers to consider new types of subscriptions as well. Urban Outfitters launched Nuuly, a subscription service that allows customers to rent trendy clothes for a monthly fee—a kind of down market version of Rent the Runway. Vivrelle is tackling the luxury market with a subscription to rent luxury handbags and jewelry from brands like Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. 

Subscriptions are also becoming more common in grocery shopping. Businesses like Good Ranchers specialize in delivering high-quality, American-made meat, chicken and seafood straight to your doorstep via a monthly subscription service. Other companies, like Thrive Market, give members exclusive access to their online store filled with organic and non-GMO groceries, personal care, household essentials and more. 

Subscription-based retail models will see continued growth across various categories, from fashion and beauty to meal kits and pet supplies. 

Conclusion

Retail is poised to have a successful year in 2025. The industry will be defined by imagination: creativity in products, personalization, events, brand presentation and customer engagement. Brands that prioritize meaningful connections with their customers will thrive.

The key to success lies in embracing change quickly and staying on top of consumer needs and expectations.