2025: A year of opportunities for business (despite a few bumps along the way)

NRF and World Economic Forum point to trends for markets and consumers: there’s optimism, but attention to changes is advised

January hosted two major business and economic events that started 2025 under the sign of positive expectations – even with some apprehension about political uncertainties and regional instabilities. The Retail’s Big Show, by the National Retail Federation (NRF), in New York, US, and the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland, both pointed to the directions that countries, markets, companies, and consumers should take this and in the coming years.

Particularly, I believe that 2025 will be a year of great opportunities, but also even fiercer competition for consumer attention. Thus, in this first article of the year, I would like to bring some of the themes highlighted at these events (and in recent reports as well). Those topics should guide brand strategies and actions, such as technology and human interaction, consumer experience, trust and convenience, logistics, collectivity, and others.

More Holistic Retail

I’ll start by commenting on some of the retail predictions made by NRF’s Vice President of Education Strategy, Susan Reda. Although many of them are not new, their scale and feasibility are. And yes, AI will be even more present in 2025, but the ace in the hole will be its coherent use as a tool to empower both the customer and the employee, personalizing the relationship, streamlining steps, and making the shopping journey easier and more enjoyable:

A more holistic approach: Experts believe the industry will begin moving from conventional methods of evaluating financial performance to the «fifth wall,» that is, considering factors such as customer experience, brand loyalty, social media engagement, sustainability practices, and other qualitative aspects not captured in traditional profit and loss statements;

Where to be found: According to a survey from Forbes Advisor, 46% of Generation Z and 35% of Millennials prefer social media over traditional search engines. Besides, 44% of Gen Z discover new brands on social media daily. So, it’s necessary to be present where they are – remember that these two generations together represent 2/3 of the world’s population;

Experience Hubs: Both the physical store, with immersion, and the brand’s different online channels, including its social networks, should provide fluid experiences connected to each other, as if the consumer were constantly maintaining the same conversation – something that the customer expects and data processing now makes possible;

Supply Chain Challenges: Reda considers supply chains adaptable, efficient, and resilient. AI and machine learning not just track inventory but also predict and adapt to disruptions before they become crises. Nevertheless, she does not underestimate the risks looming for retailers (you name it, rising tariffs, conflicts, strikes, etc.).

Interconnectedness and Attention

Cassandra Napoli, futurist and head of marketing and events insight at WGSN, also brought food for thought to the NRF by addressing what will impact consumers until 2027. With an optimistic tone, she pointed out global drivers that will shape consumers and the business landscape across six pillars: society, technology, environmental, political, industry, and creativity.

Two points from Napoli’s talk deserve highlight, as they address how people, especially new generations, are rethinking consumption and relationships:

The idea of a shift from isolation to interconnectedness and the recognition that individual needs are inseparable from the collective;

Consumers, overwhelmed by technology, seek disconnection for the sake of their well-being («attention is the ultimate commodity,» she reminds us).

These aspirations also appear in recent research. The Top Global Consumer Trends 2025, by Euromonitor, for example, points out that 63% of consumers tried to have a positive impact on the environment through their everyday actions. Additionally, there is a desire to minimize informational overload: 67% of consumers looked for ways to simplify their lives in 2024. According to the report, «clear, concise communication meets this consumer demand for simplicity at every stage of the decision-making process».

Global Trade and Optimism

If at the individual level, futurist Cassandra Napoli sees humans seeking connectivity, the January report from the World Economic Forum indicates a resilient global trade, but with trends of fragmentation in its economic interconnectedness, in sectors such as trade in goods and services, labor mobility, technology, and data (here, I clearly see the need for more diversified supply chains via nearshoring, in the face of a possible tariff war, and also the use of staff augmentation as strategic options).

In general, however, the WEF’s global prospect is positive. As highlighted in the ebook that Loymark has just published with two dozen sources, Tendencias de Loyalty y CX 2025: El Futuro del Comportamiento del Consumidor, the forum’s directive is still one of «cautious optimism.» In a January report by WEF, 71% of its chief economists predicted moderate or strong growth for Latin America and the Caribbean, with 78% of them considering moderate or low inflation in 2025.

The fact is that, be it tailwind or headwind, brands must provide immersive shopping journeys and simple and relevant communications, focusing on Generation Z and Millennials, with technology at the right scope and time. It seems clear to me that there is a need for coordinated actions in CX, Loyalty, CRM, and performance media, in addition to a close look at logistics chains. As trends show, these factors will have increasing weight for customers and the companies’ own goals.

Let’s get to work and have a 2025 of great achievements!

José Coto – Loymark CEO. With over 20 years of experience in business development and management, he has built a successful portfolio that includes nearshore digital and content production companies, education, and technology. As the CEO of Loymark, a technology company specializing in delivering top-tier resources and cutting-edge solutions to its clients’ most pressing digital transformation challenges and opportunities, he leads a team of talented professionals who share his vision and passion for innovation and excellence.