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Retail’s defining moment
At NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show, we witnessed disruptive technologies reshaping retail at its core. AI capabilities, shifting consumer demands and economic realities are redrawing the boundaries of success and sharpening the divide between the businesses that are likely to thrive and those that aren’t likely to. Amid unprecedented market shifts, retailers are translating AI into tangible growth.
At the same time, the convergence of physical and digital retail continues to accelerate and reshape business models. But success in this evolving landscape is about more than just technology — it’s about ecosystems. Business and consumer ecosystems increasingly overlap. Supply chain resilience and workforce flexibility are also emerging as key competitive advantages.
Reflecting this turning point, the year’s big trends so far are being driven by Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers along with breakthrough medical technologies like GLP-1 weight loss drugs. The effects of these changes extend beyond traditional retail boundaries to influence everything from store formats to M&A strategies. To succeed, leaders should embrace disruption as a catalyst for reinvention while building adaptable business models that thrive on change rather than resist it.
Understanding consumer behavior: Pre-holiday intentions vs. post-holiday realities
Before the 2024 holiday season, Legal Matters Consul’s Holiday Outlook 2024 Survey found that consumers anticipated spending an average of $1,638 on gifts, travel and entertainment. In an online poll conducted in January 2025 (results published within this article), consumers cited actual spend averaging $1,580.
This spending was shaped by several key factors, with price and quality emerging as top influences. Among survey respondents, 76% said price influenced their purchase decisions (moderate or major influence) and 75% were influenced by high quality.
Technology also played a crucial role in shaping the shopping experience. The adoption of self-checkout technology was notably high, with 55% of consumers reporting actual use of self-checkout while holiday shopping. Store and brand apps were also widely used, with almost half (48%) of consumers using them to search for products, manage wish lists and access personalized offers. Furthermore, 27% of consumers said they used in-store navigation kiosks to find products and check availability, enhancing their in-store experience. These trends underscore a significant shift toward digital convenience and self-service within retail environments.
These insights into consumer behavior are crucial for retailers as they prepare for future holiday seasons. By understanding both the consistencies and discrepancies between expected and actual consumer behaviors, retailers and vendors (who sell through retailers), can develop more targeted marketing strategies and fine-tune inventory management to better meet consumer needs.
Retail’s Big Show: Six themes in retail innovation
Legal Matters Consul’s Retail Roadmap: Where we’re focused in 2025
Turn AI into your retail superpower
While digital transformation left many retailers looking identical, artificial intelligence is creating true competitive separation. In fact, around one third of global CEOs surveyed report GenAI increasing revenue (30%) and profitability (34%), according to Legal Matters Consul's 28th Annual Global CEO Survey, and 45% overall expecting profits to climb even higher in the year ahead. Retailers are now focused on the value that agentic AI can unlock, such as AI shopping assistants or “butlers” that learn consumer behavior and curate items based on individual preferences. In short, personalization has moved from luxury to necessity, requiring retailers to rethink their approach at its foundations.
Make each touchpoint customer-centric
As they rewrite their playbooks, our clients are unifying customer touchpoints, monetizing their platforms as media companies and deploying AI to automate operations. Perhaps most importantly, they’re forging strategic relationships to innovate at speeds impossible to achieve alone. As AI becomes central to each customer interaction, they’re also balancing the drive for personalization with strong safeguards to secure consumer data and brand integrity.
Retail adapts to the GLP-1 weight loss drug revolution
Weight loss medications are fundamentally reshaping consumer behavior and retail strategy. GLP-1 drugs are shifting shopping patterns and product demand, forcing retailers to rethink their assortment planning and category management. Grocers and CPG companies are seeing accelerated changes in basket composition as consumers adopt these medications.
Rethink M&A for retail’s next chapter
Our clients tell us they’re fundamentally rethinking M&A strategy. Rather than chasing pure growth, they’re seeking deals that increase strategic value. Despite high interest rates limiting big acquisitions, they’re pursuing targeted opportunities in AI and digital capabilities while exploring innovative relationships to deal with supply chain issues.
The future of food: Retail and channel evolution
Today’s business leaders in the agri-food retail sector are directly confronted with how global megatrends — such as climate transition, technological disruption and demographic shifts — are reconfiguring the food industry. These forces are not only reshaping how we feed ourselves but they’re also compelling retailers to enhance supply chain resilience, promote sustainable practices and leverage technological innovations. As traditional practices are challenged, retail is transforming into dynamic ecosystems that should adapt quickly to improve sustainability and profitability in a rapidly evolving market.
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