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As part of our Market Navigator series, Coresight Research explores the US grocery market. Dive in today to understand how tariffs, demographics and digital disruption are reshaping the US grocery market in 2025 and beyond.

Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

How will weak demand and a fragile macroeconomic backdrop shape grocery growth in 2025?
Which grocery categories and supply chains are most at risk from tariffs?
Why is food-at-home inflation expected to accelerate in the second half of 2025?
How does the aging demographic profile of supermarket shoppers threaten traditional grocers?
What advantages allow non-traditional players like Walmart, Costco, and Amazon to dominate the US grocery landscape?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Ahold Delhaize, Albertsons, Aldi, Amazon, Costco, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Grocery Outlet, H-E-B, Kroger, Lidl, Natural Grocers, Publix, Save A Lot, Sprouts Farmers Market and Walmart.

Data in this report include: US grocery retail sales and growth; in-store CPG unit sales trends; grocery channel distribution; online grocery sales and e-commerce penetration; top food and beverage categories in online grocery; consumer grocery spending and inflation impacts; agricultural import values and sources; demographic shifts in household and shopper composition; food-at-home vs. food-away-from-home spending; retailer revenues, margins, and market share; store counts, gross square footage, sales per store and per square foot; and grocery store traffic patterns.

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Welcome to Analyst Corner! Every Sunday, a member of the Coresight Research team discusses upcoming or recent research and their thoughts on interesting topics in their area of expertise.

This week, Sujeet Naik, Analyst, explores grocery retailing in the US, including our growth projections for this year, current market factors and what we expect for the grocery sector moving forward.

Analyst Corner also highlights our key research from the past week and upcoming reports to look out for, so you don’t miss out.

Other relevant research:

US Grocery Retailing—Market Forecast and Competitive Landscape: Nontraditional Grocers To Gain Share Amid Weak Volume Demand and Tariff Pressures publishes on Monday, September 29.
Read previous Analyst Corner reports, including last week’s report, which explores highlights from our new US shopper profiles, covering several retailers, including Amazon and Walmart.
US Online Grocery Survey 2025: Full-Basket Orders Increase as Delivery Retains Its Dominance

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Understand the latest shifts in UK retail store networks as openings remain head of closures in 2025.

Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

Which retailers contributed most to the increase in store openings and closures this week—and why?
Which brands are continuing to expand, despite a challenging retail environment?
How do 2025 store openings and closures compare to 2024, and what are the key trends behind the year-over-year changes?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Amazon, Bodycare, Boux Avenue, Carmina, Deichmann, Dubarry, Footasylum, Holland & Barrett, Läderach, Manière De Voir, Michael Kors, Miniso, Odd Muse, Scribbler, Smyths, Superdry, Tala, The Entertainer, Vila, Wax London and Whole Foods Market.

Data in this report include: weekly totals of UK store closures and openings for 2025 and 2024; retailer-level breakdowns of announced versus confirmed closures/openings.

Other relevant research:

The full collection of Store Tracker reports, including our US-focused series
The US and UK Store Tracker Databank is the definitive resource for information on store openings and closures by sector in the US and UK retail industries.
The Corporate and Financial Developments Databank includes details of management changes, financial guidance updates, retail and tech layoffs and capital raised by major retail companies.
The Retail Bankruptcies Databank details bankruptcies of US and UK retail companies, restaurants and gyms since March 2020.

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Uncover which retailers are driving the surge in US store closures—and who’s still expanding.

Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

Which retailers led this week’s new openings across the US?
How do 2025 store closure and opening trends compare to 2024—and what does the data reveal about retail health?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Mega Mart, Moorer, Myrqvist, Skims and Toys“R”Us.

Data in this report include: weekly totals of US store closures and openings for 2025 and 2024; retailer-level breakdowns of announced versus confirmed closures/openings; total store counts by retailer; total US retail bankruptcies year to date.

Other relevant research:

Our new Store Intelligence Platform provides store-level tracking of US retail openings, closures and active store counts across 350+ retailers. Built on up-to-date, verified location data and guided by our deep sector expertise, the platform ensures accuracy in an area where information is often messy and unreliable. With easy-to-use dashboards featuring charts and filters by date, sector, retailer and location, you can quickly find and visualize the data you need. The platform will be available to premium subscribers on a trial basis through October 10.

The full collection of Store Tracker reports, including our UK-focused series
The US and UK Store Tracker Databank is the definitive resource for information on store openings and closures by sector in the US and UK retail industries.
The Corporate and Financial Developments Databank includes details of management changes, financial guidance updates, retail and tech layoffs and capital raised by major retail companies.
The Retail Bankruptcies Databank details bankruptcies of US and UK retail companies, restaurants and gyms since March 2020.

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Reasons to Read

Coresight Research is a research partner of Groceryshop 2025, which will take place during September 28–October 1, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

At the “Shark Reef” Startup Pitch competition, 12 innovators will compete for Judges’ Choice and Audience Choice awards. Our Innovator Profile series offers a sneak peek at the participating companies: BetterBasket, Buncha, Chimeable, Gain, GrocerAI, Kalder, MUSE.Inc, Palate, ReFiBuy, Relocalize, Scrollmark and Sotira.

From AI (artificial intelligence) to personalization to supply chain optimization, these startups are redefining retail with tech solutions that enhance the customer experience and drive business efficiencies.

Which innovators do you think will win Judges’ Choice and Audience Choice?

Other relevant research:

More research reports on AI in retail and digital commerce
Visit the Coresight Research Retail Technology Hub to explore reports, data and competitive landscapes on technology.
See all of our coverage of Groceryshop 2025, as well as previous Groceryshop events

Innovator Profiles
Download PDF Here

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Discover how Sotira is turning surplus inventory into revenue opportunities through AI-powered resale.

Read this report to uncover answers to these and other questions:

What challenges do retailers face in managing overstocks and surplus inventory?
How does Sotira’s AI-powered platform streamline liquidation and connect brands with vetted buyers?
In what ways does the platform help companies recover costs, unlock working capital, and reduce waste?
How does Sotira’s marketplace accelerate turnaround times compared with traditional liquidation methods?

Other relevant research:

See all of our coverage of Groceryshop 2025, as well as previous Groceryshop events

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Uncover how leading retailers are harnessing AI, agility and authenticity to navigate disruption and build future-ready strategies, with our insights from Shoptalk Fall 2025.

Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

How are retailers deploying AI to drive revenue growth, cut costs and accelerate decision-making?
In what ways are physical stores being reimagined as acquisition engines, insight platforms and innovation labs?
How are brands blending AI-powered personalization with human creativity to foster loyalty and cultural relevance?
What bold strategies are leaders adopting to thrive amid tariffs, shifting consumer behaviors and economic uncertainty?

Companies mentioned in this report include: American Eagle, Bain & Company, Best Buy, Coframe, Consortium Brands, CVS Health, Gap, H&M, Hydrow, Hy-Vee, Lowe’s, Lululemon, Merkle, Nutrabolt, REI, Sam’s Club, Shein, Simon Property Group, Target, U.S. Polo Association and Wayfair.

See our daily coverage of Shoptalk Fall 2025 and catch up on insights from previous Shoptalk events here. And look out for our coverage of Groceryshop 2025 in the week beginning September 29, 2025.

Executive Summary

Coresight Research is a research partner of Shoptalk Fall 2025, which took place during September 17–19 in Chicago, Illinois. We present our top insights from Shoptalk Spring 2025, centered around four key themes.

Coresight Research Analysis

1. Data-Driven and AI-Augmented Retail Intelligence

AI has moved from experimental to essential, delivering real results in personalization, customer acquisition and productivity. The key is connecting AI initiatives directly to business outcomes like revenue growth, cost reduction and time savings, rather than treating them as isolated technology experiments.
Smart retailers are using AI to accelerate testing and decision-making. Companies can now run experiments in hours instead of weeks, test more variations and quickly pivot based on real-time data.

2. Product Curation and Innovation Under Pressure

Physical stores are proving valuable—not just to sell products but to attract new customers and provide insights. Over half of in-store shoppers at Wayfair‘s new Chicago store had never engaged with the brand before, proving that brick-and-mortar remains one of the best ways to reach new customers that online advertising might never find.
Scaling innovation means more than launching pilots—it requires customer-first thinking, vendor collaboration and infrastructure that supports growth. Shein, Simon Property Group and Consortium Brands demonstrated that authenticity and cross-team collaboration are what turn experiments into lasting value.

3. Brand Identity, Loyalty and Customer Experience in a Shifting World

Winning brands combine AI precision with human creativity. Stitch Fix uses algorithms to match customers with clothes, but human stylists provide the trust and empathy that build lasting relationships—proving that human and AI combined create stronger connections than either approach alone.
Changes in culture and demographics are shaping what people want to buy. For example, aging populations and the growing influence of Latino consumers mean brands must adjust how they connect with people. Those that fail to adapt risk losing relevance and customer trust.

4. Leading Through Volatility and Change

Disruption is forcing retailers to get creative and move faster. Tariffs and economic pressure are actually giving companies “permission to try something totally new,” with boards pushing teams to experiment boldly and use AI to spread successful innovations quickly across their operations.

What We Think

The Shoptalk Fall 2025 conference outlined how retailers must rethink their playbooks to stay resilient in uncertain times. Success depends on blending human creativity with AI-driven tools, adapting fast to cultural and economic shifts, and leading decisively through disruption. Brands and retailers should align AI initiatives with specific business goals, ensuring every investment drives tangible results like increased revenue or efficiency. Retailers should start with quick wins in marketing and inventory management, where results can be seen in a short period, then scale successful pilots across operations.

Introduction

Coresight Research is a research partner of Shoptalk Fall 2025, which took place during September 17–19 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. It serves as a complementary, second-half-of-the-year counterpart to Shoptalk Spring—offering industry leaders another strategic touchpoint to connect, collaborate and act on fast-moving trends.

This year, Shoptalk Fall attracted more than 3,000 retail and brand leaders, technology innovators and decision-makers for an immersive experience built around the theme of “Retail Alchemy.” Featuring hands-on workshops, peer-led sessions, and insights from more than 130 industry luminaries, the event spotlighted key retail priorities, including AI-driven intelligence, product innovation, customer loyalty and executive leadership in a currently volatile environment.

At the event, the Coresight Research team presented at panels, attended conference sessions, met with clients and participated in one-to-one sessions.

In this report, we present our top insights from Shoptalk Fall 2025, centered around four key themes that align with Coresight Research’s predictions for retail in 2025 and beyond:

Data-Driven and AI-Augmented Retail Intelligence—Modern retail is moving beyond static dashboards and datasets, using machine learning (ML) and agentic AI to create intelligent, responsive systems for forecasting, planning and operations. These tools help brands anticipate disruption, navigate inflation and tariffs, and fine-tune supply chain, inventory and omnichannel performance in real time.
Product Curation and Innovation Under Pressure—With supply chains in flux and consumer preferences shifting rapidly, merchandising teams are piloting new categories, reallocating inventory across formats and making bold assortment decisions to stay competitive.
Brand Identity, Loyalty and Customer Experience in a Shifting World—Brand building today is about staying relevant, resilient and resonant in the face of cultural shifts, generational divides and algorithm-driven discovery. Marketers and customer experience leaders are focusing on personalization, loyalty and emotional connection to strengthen relationships across channels, platforms and regions.
Leading Through Volatility and Change—Today’s leaders must act decisively in uncertainty while planning for what’s next. By balancing stability and innovation, cost control and expansion and unity with decentralization, forward-thinking brands are reshaping organizational culture and empowering teams at every level.

Shoptalk Fall 2025 Wrap-Up: Coresight Research Analysis

A recurring theme at Shoptalk Fall 2025 was how AI, tariffs and market volatility are driving the need for resilience and agility. Speakers stressed that successful strategies involve pivoting when needed, keeping supply chains flexible and using AI thoughtfully as a tool rather than pursuing it without a clear purpose. At the same time, the human element remains critical: associates play a key role, and maintaining clear communication with all stakeholders—brands, retailers, vendors and logistics partners—is essential to navigating change effectively.

1. Data-Driven and AI-Augmented Retail Intelligence

AI As a Driver of Retail Reinvention

Across the sessions, speakers highlighted that AI is now a practical tool helping retailers stay resilient and make smarter decisions in uncertain times. It is already proving its value in areas like personalization, customer acquisition and productivity. But the real impact comes only when AI projects are directly linked to clear business goals—such as revenue growth, cutting costs and saving time—rather than being pursued as isolated technology pilots. Collectively, the success depends on disciplined adoption: aligning solutions with customer needs, building internal know-how and viewing AI as an enabler, not a magic fix.

Neelima Sharma, SVP, Omnichannel & Ecommerce Technology, Lowe’s, outlined three areas of AI focus for the company:

How we shop: Style Your Space, shopping assistant, personalization
How we sell: Inventory planning, assortment planning
How we work: How to automate store teams and associates’ workflows

She described innovations, such as “Style Your Space,” a GenAI tool that allows customers to upload a photo of their home and receive personalized design recommendations. Lowe’s has also deployed semantic search capabilities to respond to problem-based queries (“show me patio furniture that fits my balcony”) and launched shopper assistants to provide design inspiration and answer product questions. Internally, AI is being used for inventory and assortment planning, as well as to streamline workflows for associates.

Sharma highlighted that the goal is to empower associates to be more productive and better equipped to solve customer issues. “Human connection will always be there, but AI will help them drive productivity,” she added.

Manju Kuruvilla, Founder & CEO, Spangle, noted that traditional brand websites are no longer built for how consumers shop today and suggested that the future may move beyond conventional websites entirely. Instead, personal digital agents, integrated with individual calendars and preferences, could become the main way people discover and buy products.

Many speakers highlighted how AI can accelerate experimentation and testing. Josh Payne, Co-Founder & CEO of Coframe, pointed out that 95% of website traffic never converts. Traditional conversion optimization is slow and resource-intensive, with experiments taking weeks to launch. Coframe uses advanced AI to design and run experiments in hours, allowing companies to test at ten times the previous volume while cutting time-to-market and costs. Partnering with OpenAI, Coframe has already delivered double-digit ROI for clients by boosting conversion rates, saving team effort and reducing operational expenses.

Neelima Sharma, SVP, Omnichannel & Ecommerce Technology, Lowe’s
Source: Shoptalk Fall

Strategic Pivots Enabled by Intelligence

Every company eventually reaches a point where the old way of doing things no longer works. Retail leaders noted that real pivots are not just about chasing big new ideas, but about making tough, disciplined choices—often deciding what to stop. They emphasized that associates play a vital role in guiding customers through these changes, and that true transformation is only real when it shows up in the customer experience, not just in company announcements.

Bruce Smith, Founder & Chairman of the Board, Hydrow, described pivoting as “a euphemism for near death.” Hydrow’s breaking point came after the pandemic, when rising interest rates and soaring customer acquisition costs undermined its growth model. The company responded with drastic cuts—halving the workforce, reducing marketing and scaling back technology investment. Though painful, these decisions restored profitability and sharpened focus. He emphasized that leadership in crisis means knowing where to compromise, such as in the supply chain, and where to double down, such as investing in AI to strengthen new growth areas. Hydrow also used acquisitions to move into broader wellness, positioning itself as a multi-modal health platform. For Smith, transparency—even about bad news—was key to maintaining trust with both employees and investors.

Nicole Parry, Head of Merchandising at H&M Americas, highlighted the discipline pivots demand in environments with finite resources. With 600 stores and fixed space, H&M must constantly decide what to prioritize and what to cut. She explained that merchandising is about making “small pivots,” but today’s rapid trend cycles require faster and sharper decisions. By narrowing Key Process Indicators (KPIs) to just sales, profit and speed, H&M ensures pivots are clear, actionable and measurable organization-wide. Parry added that celebrating even small wins helps teams stay motivated and aligned, ensuring pivots translate into progress.

Supply chain leaders emphasized that true agility is not just about being lean, but about having options and backups to navigate disruptions. Jennifer Kobus, DVP of Global Supply Chain at REI, described agility as moving beyond reactive responses to fostering a culture of continuous improvement through test-and-learn initiatives. REI experiments with small-scale pilots that can be scaled when they prove valuable, maintaining flexibility without compromising operational stability. Derek Geiss, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Nutrabolt, described agility as “optionality”—keeping multiple sourcing and logistics pathways open so the business can adapt quickly when conditions change.

Bruce Smith, Founder & Chairman of the Board, Hydrow
Source: Shoptalk Fall

2. Product Curation and Innovation Under Pressure

Physical Retail As Customer Acquisition and Insight Engine

Digital-first retailers are discovering that physical stores can be a strong engine for customer acquisition. Kate Gulliver, CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Wayfair, shared that the company’s first Chicago store, which opened a year ago, revealed important results—over half the shoppers had never engaged with the Wayfair brand before, proving the reach of brick-and-mortar stores. Certain categories like gift items and storage solutions are performing better in-store than online, highlighting the importance of tailoring product assortment to each channel.

Gulliver also pointed to the importance of shipping speed in the furniture category, where most shoppers do not leave the store with a product in hand. Wayfair leverages its nearby Chicago fulfillment centers to deliver items within one to three days—an experience that, in Gulliver’s words, left customers “impressed with how quickly and conveniently our delivery experience was.” The physical channel move also benefits suppliers, who see the store as another valuable channel for customer exposure.

For U.S. Polo Association, physical retail remains a critical insight engine. Jose Nino, VP, Global Digital & Ecommerce, U.S. Polo Association, noted, “bricks drive clicks,” and the brand’s global network of 1,200 stores provides invaluable signals that inform adjustments to both direct-to-consumer channels and marketplaces.

Sam’s Club executives explained that they view each store as a vast sensory network, equipped with cameras, RFID readers and app telemetry. AI turns this stream of information into practical insights that improve the member experience. For example, floor scrubbers are outfitted with cameras, capturing 24 million images a day to monitor aisles. AI models analyze these images to flag inventory gaps or pricing errors and instantly send next-best-action alerts to associates’ handheld devices—like restocking shelves or fixing a sign. The scrubbers also carry Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers that scan 180 million tags daily, providing real-time visibility into product location and availability. Together, these tools enable associates to act faster and keep operations running smoothly.

Kate Gulliver, CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Wayfair
Source: Shoptalk Fall

Scaling Beyond Pilots

Many retailers can launch pilots, but few succeed in scaling them into programs that deliver lasting value. True success comes from being agile enough to adjust quickly, staying authentic to maintain customer trust and building the right infrastructure to support growth. Putting the customer first, actively involving vendors and fostering cross-team collaboration are essential to turning pilots into sustainable engines of growth.

George Chang, General Manager, Shein USA Marketplace, shared Shein’s experience building and growing its third-party marketplace. Launched two years ago, the initiative was designed with speed, agility and execution in mind. “It’s a different muscle,” from the traditional business, he explained. Chang said, “we have two customers: our end customer and our merchants. We are very intentional about how we get merchant feedback.” To strengthen those relationships, Shein hosts five annual events and regular workshops to engage directly with sellers.

Michael Jacobs, Chief Growth Officer, Consortium Brands, warned that after years of investment in building a brand story, it would be reckless to “hand over the keys” to influencers who lack authenticity. Instead, Consortium Brands seeks creators who are genuine customers, using tools like Yotpo to identify reviewers whose voices resonate. He emphasized that ROI comes from “brand love and connection,” not paid promotion. To ensure alignment, the Consortium established a cross-functional structure linking affiliate and influencer teams across its portfolio brands. This coordination ensures that workflows are consistent with brand positioning before scaling user-generated content (UGC) programs.

Enna Allen, SVP Marketing, Simon Property Group, shared the journey behind Simon+, a loyalty program over two decades in the making. Allen explained that creating a program valuable to both shoppers and retailers required first laying a foundation through earlier initiatives: the VIP Shopper Club built a database of engaged customers, the Mall Insider Program drove awareness of events, Shop Simon extended the mall experience online and Simon Search enabled shoppers to check local product availability. These programs cultivated consumer behaviors and infrastructure that ultimately supported Simon+. Building Simon+ demanded extensive cross-functional collaboration, involving operations, leasing, product development and digital teams. The program launched in beta in August, with early results showing strong engagement from consumers and retailers alike.

The Next Frontier in Search

Search is no longer about keywords—it is becoming the central nervous system of retail, acting as both a cultural radar and a transactional bridge between shoppers and retailers. The future of search is moving to conversational, context-aware and agent-mediated experiences that will redefine how consumers discover products and how retailers must structure their data and content.

Ranjeet Bhosale, VP, Digital Product Management, Target, underscored the fundamental shift from keyword-based search to conversational queries. He noted that traditional two-word searches are giving way to natural language prompts like, “What’s a good gift for a 9-year-old?” To prepare for this, Target is investing heavily in foundational data infrastructure, ensuring that product details—price, promotions, availability and policies—are machine-readable. This is essential for the emerging model of “agent-to-agent commerce,” where customer assistants (like Alexa and Google) directly interact with retailer systems. He stressed that the best search experience is the one that feels invisible: reducing guest friction so effectively that shoppers no longer reformulate queries.

Ranjeet Bhosale, VP, Digital Product Management, Target
Source: Shoptalk Fall

Retail Media’s Expanding Horizons

Retail media is not only the fastest-growing advertising channel but also one of the most versatile, ready to benefit from AI advancements. For brands, digital endcaps are high-impact yet underutilized spaces, while performance TV and in-store experiential activations can drive additional sales. The real opportunity lies in using AI to connect inspiration with conversion, creating personalized, native experiences that enhance the customer journey rather than interrupt it.

Andrew Lipsman, Founder & Chief Analyst, Media, Ads + Commerce, highlighted the physical store as the next major frontier for retail media. Currently representing just 0.1% of ad spend, in-store retail media has enormous untapped potential. With in-store audiences twice the size of digital audiences, retailers such as CVS, Best Buy and Hy-Vee, are already investing in digital signage and endcaps. “Whether a static or digital endcap, it drives significant sales,” Lipsman said, describing the digital endcap as one of the most valuable but undervalued pieces of retail real estate. Experiential activations in-store are also a powerful tool for driving incremental sales and lifetime value.

Unified Commerce: Breaking Down the Walls

Speakers noted that unified commerce goes beyond linking transactions—it connects the entire customer journey before, during and after a purchase. Achieving this means breaking down data and operational silos so that online and physical channels work together seamlessly, informing and enhancing each other.

Spencer Hewett, Founder & CEO, Radar, said the “missing ingredient in omnichannel has been the ability to measure the physical store.” He explained that while distribution centers offer high accuracy, most retailers still lack clear visibility into what customers are picking up, trying on or putting down in stores. Hewett said American Eagle now conducts 24 billion RFID counts per day across its stores, giving real-time instrumentation comparable to e-commerce. He emphasized that stockouts should no longer happen in 2025: “If you can find the product for the customer, you can sell more product.”

Hewett gave an example of linking marketing to in-store behavior, pointing to a Sidney Sweeney campaign that led to a major spike in store traffic over a weekend. With real-time measurement, the company was able to quickly see conversion rates and tie campaign performance directly to sales. He also predicted that agentic AI and AR glasses will make the world itself a shopping environment, with recommendations surfacing automatically as customers interact with products.

Creativity, Joy and Storytelling

Creative leaders reminded audiences that retail is at its best when it delivers originality, bold ideas and authentic stories—not just promotions or tech upgrades. Jonathan Adler, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Jonathan Adler, explained that stores should spark joy and feel like “mini vacations,” filled with surprise, swagger and theatricality. He warned that copying the same bland format across all locations drains retail of its magic and emotional pull.

Emerging brands showed how fresh thinking can break through crowded categories. Fiona Simmonds, Co-Founder, Pinkie, said that the company tapped into overlooked needs around puberty products, winning shelf space at Amazon, Target, Walmart and CVS by positioning itself as a go-to solution for moms shopping for daughters. She stressed the importance of knowing both the purchaser and the end-user and using humor and education to reach them in the right spaces online. Similarly, Carly Bigi, Founder & CEO, Laws of Motion, explained how AI-powered apparel sizing—built on billions of data points and proven in its own DTC business—can hit 99% accuracy and slash returns to just 1%.

3. Brand Identity, Loyalty and Customer Experience in a Shifting World

Creativity That Connects

Earning loyalty in today’s fragmented market takes more than smart algorithms. It requires stories that feel real, messages that resonate with culture and a balance between digital precision and human connection. The brands that win are those that fuse AI-powered insights with creativity—solving practical needs while also building an emotional bond with consumers.

Debbie Woloshin, Chief Marketing Officer, Stitch Fix, described how her company embodies this hybrid approach. Stitch Fix leverages AI for data-driven personalization, matching customers with clothing that suits their size, preferences and lifestyle. But Woloshin emphasized that it is the human stylists who deliver trust and empathy, making customers feel understood. She cited the mantra: “We are powered by AI, but styled by humans.” Programs, such as Retail Therapy and Unscripted, use client stories as content, bringing community and authenticity into the brand narrative. Meanwhile, Stitch Fix is piloting new tools, including virtual try-ons, conversational commerce and Stylist Notes to deepen engagement. These tools are designed not to replace stylists but to augment their creativity and efficiency, demonstrating how AI and human intuition can work hand-in-hand to create stronger customer relationships.

Cultural Relevance and Heritage

As consumer demographics shift and social norms evolve, brands must balance heritage with adaptability. Staying relevant means meeting people where they are—across cultures, life stages and new channels. Brands that overlook these cultural and demographic shifts risk losing their place in consumers’ lives.

Leah Johns, Head of Global Consumer Lab at Bain & Company, highlighted key shifts shaping today’s consumers: aging populations, changing family structures and rising loneliness. She divided seniors into two groups—“Gold,” who travel and spend, and “Old,” facing health declines. Single-person households are growing fastest globally, and family structures are more fluid, with pets often replacing children and plants replacing pets. She also noted that consumers are transferring expectations across categories—demanding the same convenience in apparel as they do from Spotify or Netflix.

Brands must recognize that culture increasingly shapes buying decisions. Latino content is proliferating, and products and experiences inspired by Latino culture are gaining popularity. Young, bilingual Latinos are driving growth in content consumption and online shopping, often using digital channels as a substitute for in-store visits. Personalization is valued, but shoppers also want transparency and control. Social media and online reviews remain key drivers of brand discovery.

4. Leading Through Volatility and Change

Retail leader discussed that disruptions are creating both pressure and opportunity: tariffs create permission to innovate, AI is maturing from hype to board-level action, Gen Z is redefining the role of stores, and loyalty and media are undergoing fundamental reinvention. Constraints and complexity are forcing retailers to act faster, rethink what creates value and make bold bets on AI and new customer engagement models.

Deborah Weinswig, CEO & Founder, Coresight Research, explained that tariffs, which cut into margins at companies, such as Gap and Lululemon, have paradoxically given leaders “permission to try something totally new.” She said boards are now urging teams to move faster, supported by tools like AI to quickly disseminate critical information.

Weinswig highlighted the rise of private label as a structural response to margin pressure, noting that in some cases it has grown from 10% to 30% of mix, giving retailers flexibility and higher margins. On AI, she saw marketing and inventory as the two most immediate opportunities: marketing pilots can deliver results in as little as 3–4 months, while inventory applications like sizing, allocation and forecasting can reduce waste and even extend back into materials sourcing.

Joe Laszlo, Global Head of Insights, Shoptalk, observed that constraints often unlock creativity. He said the physical store, once considered “old-fashioned,” is returning to relevance, with malls becoming newly important. Holden Bale, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Merkle, supported this, citing Merkle research showing that 81% of Gen Z prefer in-store shopping, higher than any other generation. He called the physical–digital divide a “false dichotomy” and described stores as a force multiplier.

Ben Miller, VP of Original Content & Strategy at Shoptalk, described retail as part of the larger attention economy. He highlighted the rising power of creators and influencers, noting that as platforms like Google Gemini surface more influencer-driven content, they will play a bigger role in product discovery. Miller stressed that retailers must prepare for a future where earned media is just as important as paid advertising.

Deborah Weinswig, Founder & CEO, Coresight Research
Source: Shoptalk Fall

What We Think

The Coresight Research View on AI

We stand at the cusp of a new revolution in AI with the advent of agentic AI.

The first generation of AI/ML (machine learning) centers on the ability of AI to find relationships—even hidden ones—among large amounts of data, and ML excels at prediction and optimization. The steady improvement in computing power, driven by Moore’s Law, and the resulting decrease in the cost of computing, aided by cloud computing, have served to enable greater capabilities of AI/ML. Today, AI/ML still offers productivity gains and optimization benefits for retailers and other enterprises.

The advent of GenAI, the second generation of AI, adds the ability to communicate in natural human language to handle unstructured data, such as text, audio and video. Early GenAI applications were the creation and summarization of text and chatbots with natural language interfaces. Multimodal models enable the analysis and creation of voice and video, as well as synthetic data and computer code. We have also seen the creation of applications that manage multiple language models as well as the formation of businesses with new business models that are entirely built on GenAI technology. Combining AI/ML for making predictions with GenAI for its ability to generate multiple media outputs offers many powerful new capabilities.

Agentic AI builds upon GenAI’s ability to understand natural human language, which is used to create the instructions that agents follow. Agents take action, activating other software, following instruction or acting proactively on behalf of humans. We are in the early stages of the agentic AI revolution, with major cloud computing platforms offering developer tools and a few enterprises just beginning to roll out agents. The future promises AI agents everywhere and their value could increase even further from agent-to-agent communication.

Agentic AI is just one of the AI trends that Coresight Research predicts for retail in 2026 and beyond. We expect 2026 to be a pivotal year for the development of AI, with many GenAI projects seeing deployment. These projects will likely come in a variety of forms, including direct tests with language models; AI models offered by major cloud-service and enterprise software providers; and enterprise applications that control and monitor AI models. Healthy investments in AI and research into new AI technologies will likely result in new models that dramatically leapfrog the technology currently available.

Implications from This Report

Implications for Brands/Retailers

Align AI initiatives with specific business goals, ensuring every investment drives tangible results like increased revenue or efficiency. Brands and retailers should start with quick wins in marketing and inventory management, where results can be seen in a short period, then scale successful pilots across operations.
Treat physical stores as more than sales floors—they are key customer acquisition hubs, insight generators and media platforms.
Prepare for conversational commerce by making all product data machine-readable. The future of retail search will be natural language queries handled by AI agents, requiring retailers to structure their information clearly so algorithms can easily understand and recommend the right products.

Implications for Technology Vendors

Develop platforms that can rapidly test and scale innovations across multiple channels. Technology vendors who can help retailers move from pilot to full deployment in months rather than years will have a significant competitive advantage.
Create measurement and analytics tools that connect online behavior to in-store actions. The ability to track customer journeys across all touchpoints and provide real-time insights will be crucial as unified commerce becomes the standard.
As search evolves from keywords to conversational queries, vendors should offer solutions that help retailers organize their data to be machine-readable and compatible with emerging “agent-to-agent commerce”. There is also a significant opportunity to provide tools for in-store retail media and experiential activations.

Notes

Data in this report are as of September 24, 2025.

Companies mentioned in this report include: American Eagle (NYSE: AEO), Bain & Company, Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Coframe, Consortium Brands, CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), Gap (NYSE: GPS), H&M (STO: HM-B), Hydrow, Hy-Vee, LON: WPP), Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), Lululemon (NASDAQ: LULU), Merkle (owned by Dentsu, TYO: 4324), Nutrabolt, REI, Sam’s Club (Walmart, NYSE: WMT), Shein, Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG), Target (NYSE: TGT), U.S. Polo Association and Wayfair (NYSE: W).

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Executive Summary

Coresight Research Analysis

1. Data-Driven and AI-Augmented Retail Intelligence

2. Product Curation and Innovation Under Pressure

3. Brand Identity, Loyalty and Customer Experience in a Shifting World

4. Leading Through Volatility and Change

What We Think

Introduction

Shoptalk Fall 2025 Wrap-Up: Coresight Research Analysis

1. Data-Driven and AI-Augmented Retail Intelligence

AI As a Driver of Retail Reinvention

Neelima Sharma, SVP, Omnichannel & Ecommerce Technology, Lowe’s Source: Shoptalk Fall

Strategic Pivots Enabled by Intelligence

Bruce Smith, Founder & Chairman of the Board, Hydrow Source: Shoptalk Fall

2. Product Curation and Innovation Under Pressure

Physical Retail As Customer Acquisition and Insight Engine

Kate Gulliver, CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Wayfair Source: Shoptalk Fall

Scaling Beyond Pilots

The Next Frontier in Search

Ranjeet Bhosale, VP, Digital Product Management, Target Source: Shoptalk Fall

Retail Media’s Expanding Horizons

Unified Commerce: Breaking Down the Walls

Creativity, Joy and Storytelling

3. Brand Identity, Loyalty and Customer Experience in a Shifting World

Creativity That Connects

Cultural Relevance and Heritage

4. Leading Through Volatility and Change

Deborah Weinswig, Founder & CEO, Coresight Research Source: Shoptalk Fall

What We Think

The Coresight Research View on AI

Implications from This Report

Implications for Brands/Retailers

Implications for Technology Vendors

Notes

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Neelima Sharma, SVP, Omnichannel & Ecommerce Technology, Lowe’s
Source: Shoptalk Fall

Bruce Smith, Founder & Chairman of the Board, Hydrow
Source: Shoptalk Fall

Kate Gulliver, CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Wayfair
Source: Shoptalk Fall

Ranjeet Bhosale, VP, Digital Product Management, Target
Source: Shoptalk Fall

Deborah Weinswig, Founder & CEO, Coresight Research
Source: Shoptalk Fall