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Retailers and brands are navigating a landscape shaped by rapid market shifts, emerging technological advancements, and evolving consumer expectations.

These forces are converging to create both significant challenges and immense opportunities in 2025.

With so many changes happening simultaneously, the question is: Where should brands and retailers prioritize their efforts to make the greatest impact? The key lies in understanding what truly matters to today’s consumers.

That’s the driving force behind our annual consumer study, aptly named What matters to today’s consumer. Now in its fourth year, this global survey of 12,000 shoppers offers brands and retailers crucial insights into consumer preferences and behaviors—helping them align their strategies to meet shifting demands.

This executive summary highlights the most important takeaways from our research and outlines actionable steps brands and retailers can take to adapt to the dynamic market, evolving technology, and changing consumer mindset.

In 2025, what once seemed like science fiction is now shaping the shopping experience. Generative AI is transforming search, social media is evolving into a transaction-driven space, and everyday individuals—better known as influencers—wield remarkable influence over consumer choices. In this shifting landscape, brands and retailers must recognize that the line between browsing and purchasing is increasingly blurred. The so-called “pre-shop” phase isn’t just where interest is sparked—it’s where buying decisions are made and customer loyalty is cultivated.

While influencers continue to gain prominence, our research shows that brands and retailers still play a crucial role in guiding the shopper’s journey. In fact, consumers are receptive to their input—53% express interest in personalized in-store ads, while more than two-thirds notice advertisements on retailer websites and apps when searching for products.

The key to both winning the pre-shop phase and maximizing the effectiveness of in-store and online retail media is data-driven personalization. Whether through tailored social campaigns, AI-driven recommendations, or highly targeted retail media network ads, brands and retailers must harness their data to anticipate customer needs and provide individualized shopping experiences.

This imbalance underscores the urgent need for retailers and brands to reduce operational costs. At the same time, they must rethink the supply chain not just as a cost-saving function, but as a competitive differentiator. In other words, supply chain innovations should not only streamline expenses but also enhance the customer experience and reinforce brand value.

Generative AI is emerging as a key tool to drive both cost reduction and experience improvements. For instance, our report highlights Amazon’s AI-powered real-time vehicle routing, which dynamically adjusts for traffic, load weight, and customer preferences. Meanwhile, Zara is using AI-driven algorithms to analyze trends and predict popular styles, helping them significantly shorten design and production cycles.

As the retail industry leans further into AI, it’s important not to overlook other cost-effective and widely available technologies. The price of RFID, for example, has dropped considerably, making it a viable solution for inventory management and production planning, even for lower-cost items like fresh groceries or household essentials. Additionally, advancements in computer vision and sensor technology offer retailers new ways to cut labor costs, enhance efficiency, and reduce waste and shrinkage.

The growing influence of the conscious consumer is evident across industries. For instance, our report highlights Carrefour’s use of dynamic pricing to combat food waste—a strategy that is increasingly being embraced by top grocers, making waste reduction a necessity rather than an option.

Beyond grocery, the push toward a circular economy is gaining traction. Retailers like IKEA are introducing upcycling programs to create resale opportunities for used furniture, while in the luxury sector, major fashion houses are acknowledging the shift toward second-hand shopping as a preferred choice for many consumers.

Conclusion

By 2025, simply selling products won’t be enough for brands and retailers. They must deliver engaging experiences—ones that align with consumer expectations, foster trust and loyalty, and respond to shifting market demands. In this evolving landscape, brands and retailers must meet consumers wherever they choose to engage—whether that’s on TikTok, in a virtual fitting room, inside a physical store, or within the metaverse—leveraging shopper behaviors and preferences to continuously refine their strategies. The challenge isn’t just to react to change, but to actively shape it by gaining a deep, data-driven understanding of who today’s consumers are and what truly matters to them.

About the research 

What matters to today’s consumer is an annual research report published by the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Research Institute (CRI) that tracks and analyzes evolving purchasing patterns and preferences based on a global survey of over 12,000 consumers aged 18+ across 11 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Now in its fourth edition, this report explores seven key consumer trends within the consumer products and retail industry: the impact of Generative AI on the shopper experience; consumers’ growing preference for sustainable products and changing food habits; the ongoing cost-of-living crisis; how social commerce is reshaping consumer behavior; the rise of personalized advertising powered by retail media networks; the criticality of delivery and fulfillment; and what drives consumers to switch brands. The report also offers practical and actionable insights for how retailers and consumer brands can adapt, evolve, and excel to capitalize on these trends and meet the needs of today’s shoppers.

For more information and insights, download the free report here.