Creative Realities’ Top 5 Tech-Forward Trends Reshaping Retail in 2025

From AI to digital signs and displays, the latest innovations in technology are driving exciting changes for brick-and-mortar retailers. Consumers increasingly expect personalized experiences that transition seamlessly between channels, which is making the industry reconsider the entire shopping experience from the ground up. The top tech trends of 2025 — retail media networks, hyper-personalization, digital signage, and e-commerce integration — help retailers meet the challenge head-on.

Retail Media Networks: A New Revenue Stream

One trend helping reframe how brick-and-mortar retailers approach revenue growth is retail media networks — digital promotion platforms that are built into existing digital systems and leased to third-party brands for advertising. For the retailers that own and operate them, retail media networks are an opportunity to increase profits by capitalizing on assets they already own. For the third parties that pay to run their ads on these networks, they have a chance to market their products and services to captive, targeted audiences and boost sales.

Retail media networks have become a common fixture in brick-and-mortar stores of all sizes, from regional grocery stores to big-box retailers. Even Walmart, the world's largest retailer, has joined the trend, launching its own retail media network, Walmart Connect, in 2021. A rebrand of the chain's media group, Walmart Connect focuses on providing in-store advertising space on digital screens in check-out aisles, on display televisions in the electronic department, and built into end cap displays.

Retail media networks first emerged around 2012, originally from digital-first retailers like Amazon. Just over a decade later, they have become important players in the retail industry, valued at $20 billion in 2023. With a CAGR of 6.21%, the retail media network industry is expected to be worth more than $36 billion by 2033. Among the key factors powering growth are:

• High profit margin on ad sales: According to some projections, retail media ad sales will account for nearly a quarter of the total digital advertising spending in the U.S. by 2027. This represents roughly $106 billion in revenue for retailers that make these networks available. Although launching and running an RMN does require some IT investment — such as purchasing display screens and POE devices and updating and enhancing in-store networks — the net profit still has the potential to be very high.
• Precision targeting: Retail media networks are appealing to advertisers not merely because of the built-in audiences they deliver but also because of the consumer data they grant access to. When brands advertise on an RMN, they can leverage insights from the network operator's customer data to optimize their marketing strategies with even greater targeting and personalization.
• Omni-channel opportunities: RMNs run on all types of digital channels, from online stores and mobile apps to digital media screens in brick-and-mortar stores and gas stations. As such, RMNs support modern omnichannel marketing efforts and allow businesses to engage customers at various points along their journey.

Hyper-Personalization: Tailoring the Customer Journey

An increasing number of consumers are expressing a preference for personalized retail experiences. According to Google, 61% of consumers expect brands to offer tailored, relevant marketing. To meet the expectation of hyper-personalization, retailers turn to consumer data. In fact, 90% of retailers consider personalization efforts to be an essential component of customer retention, amplifying the importance of a strong digital signage CMS platform.

How are retailers reimagining the shopping experience from a hyper-personal angle? A sample of ways includes:

• AI-powered smart shelves: Image recognition and sensor technology help retailers track and maintain inventory levels, improve product placement, and offer real-time reviews and recommendations to consumers.
• Beacons and geo-fencing: Retailers use tools like Bluetooth technology, GPS, and RFID to target consumers based on their geographic location.
• Virtual and augmented reality experiences: Other retailers are harnessing the power of VR and AR to make in-store and online experiences even more immersive. For example, virtual try-on technology lets customers virtually test out clothes, cosmetics, and more for a realistic peek at what they'll look like.

Digital Signage and Emerging Display Technologies

In 2025, brick-and-mortar retailers have the opportunity to re-engage consumers who have long become accustomed to the ease, convenience, and customer-centric ways of online shopping. Doing that will require retailers to leverage the latest developments in digital signage and display technology to recreate physical stores in the image of e-commerce.

One place to begin that transformation is the product aisle. With the help of innovative new technologies, the store aisle becomes an interactive zone where shoppers can have immersive and personalized experiences just as they do on the internet.

• Dynamic and interactive digital signage: Developments in dynamic signage are poised to narrow the gap between online and in-store shopping. Innovative digital displays like smart shelves can respond to customers by displaying recommendations based on products that shoppers have interacted with. They can display variations on a product, suggest related products, and provide product availability information.
• Immersive experiences: By taking advantage of the immersive capabilities of cutting-edge display technologies, retailers can bring characteristic elements of e-commerce to physical stores. Digital kiosks can show information that customers are used to having at their fingertips, including customer reviews, product tutorials, and demonstrations.
• Personalized shopping: IoT sensors and AI tools for image recognition and data processing enable brick-and-mortar retailers to tailor in-store experiences to individual shoppers. For example, displays that incorporate sensor technology can read customer actions — approaching a display, handling products — and respond with display content inspired by the action. This elevates the experience for the shopper and enables retailers to capture data that can be applied to decision-making, real-time signage optimization, and more.

Integrating E-Commerce with Brick-and-Mortar Stores

In 2025, retailers continue to leverage e-commerce to optimize in-store operations and enhance the shopping experience for consumers. This is accomplished in part with cloud service management systems that enable retailers to fill, ship, and track sales, manage inventories, and perform bookkeeping tasks across channels.

Rather than making customers choose between shopping online or in-store, one way that retailers are balancing e-commerce growth with in-store sales by allowing consumers to move seamlessly between the two. Examples include:

• Endless aisles concept: In-store workers help shoppers order products that are unavailable or out of stock.
• BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store): Many retailers allow shoppers to place orders from their online store and pick them up in person, often at a savings over the in-store price. This enhances in-store foot traffic and presents opportunities for in-person cross-selling.
• QR Code Window Shopping: By placing scannable QR codes on products in physical window displays, retailers are freeing their business from the limitations of traditional business hours. Customers scan the attached QR codes and are directed to a product page where they can make a purchase.

Innovation Driving Retail Success

It's clear from these trends that in 2025, retailers need to embrace innovative technologies that boost business growth. Personalization is a driving force behind customer satisfaction and a critical aspect of sales online and in-store, but tailoring experiences to segmented consumer groups will be a challenge without a strong plan and network.

Creative Realities helps retailers stay ahead of the tech curve. We apply our end-to-end expertise to guide your digital strategy no matter where you are on your journey. From infrastructure and hardware to display devices and the content they show, we untangle the complexity of digitization to help you devise, design, and implement a digital strategy that brings you closer to your goals. Get in touch today to find out more.