The Future of Retail: Consumer Trends Shaping Design and Experience in 2025 and Beyond

As part of our mission to help both established and emerging brands navigate the ever-changing retail and customer landscape, Graphite’s Retail and Brand Experience Studio 6B has published its first annual Consumer Insights & Retail Futures Report—an in-depth review of global trends, influences, and emerging shifts shaping the future of brand engagement.

Disruption and Evolution

The past several years have brought significant changes for both consumers and brands. Global influences—such as economic uncertainty, rising costs of living, rapid advancements in technology and artificial intelligence, and growing health concerns linked to what the US Surgeon General identified as an “Epidemic of Loneliness”—are having a lasting impact on the future of retail experiences in 2025 and beyond.

Our research seeks to uncover how these forces are shaping consumer attitudes and how retailers can respond by engaging customers in more relevant, meaningful ways.

Consumer Attitude Highlights

• Lukewarm Mood: 74% of people say they feel like they are just waiting for something good to happen.
• Craving Personal Connections: Since the pandemic, 85% of young people globally value in-person connection more.
• Embracing Technology: Over half of global consumers express interest in using AI, AR and VR to improve their shopping experiences.
• Hyper-Personalization on the Rise: More than 80% of American consumers want AI to personalize product recommendations.
• Elevating Re-Commerce: 42% of American Gen Zers are less likely to purchase clothing that doesn’t have good resale value.
• Values-Driven Consumption: Over half of all consumers are prioritizing sustainable and ethical practices in their purchasing decisions.

A Look Toward an Optimistic Future

Based on our research, we believe that consumers have largely emerged from the past few tumultuous years with re-evaluated priorities and re-established values—self, community, sustainability, and an openness to leveraging advanced technology to better connect us with what matters. Retail experiences that prioritize joy, human-centered technology, and these evolving values will have the greatest impact on both customers and brands in the years to come.

These shifts are already influencing retail experiences, as consumers seek emotional engagement, human connection, and moments of unexpected delight. Brands are responding with everything from immersive tech like “brain massages” and reimagined social interactions to embracing nostalgia in surprising and joyful ways.

Beyond these feel-good spaces, innovative technology is helping remove physical and logistical obstacles, providing shoppers with more intuitive, human experiences. With AI-powered assistants and apps that personalize brand interactions, we are entering the “de-gimmicking” era—where technology seamlessly supports authentic customer engagement rather than overshadowing it.

Additionally, consumers are embracing strategic consumption and rethinking their relationship with material goods. This shift is evident as brands position repair as eco-activism, sell refurbished goods with compelling storytelling, and offer in-home "shop your closet" services. As a result, retailers are evolving from mere sellers to partners in the expanding re-commerce movement.

Rooted in an overall sense of optimism and opportunity, retail experiences in 2025 and beyond will be reflective of - and drivers for - betterment on an individual and collective scale.

Strategic Implications

Looking ahead, retailers, brands, and the designers and strategists who serve them, have an opportunity to meet and exceed these ever-evolving customer expectations. While we acknowledge uncertainty in the world remains, we are optimistic about what's next.

A deeper understanding of the trends explored in this report is key to success in the coming year. Dive in, and reach out to Alex Shapleigh if you're interested in learning more about Graphite Studio 6B or scheduling an in-person or virtual presentation.