Placer.ai picks 7 retail trends to watch in 2025

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Placer.ai, which specializes in location intelligence and foot traffic data analytics, identified seven key retail trends to watch as the calendar turns to 2025.

It noted that 2024 has been another challenging year for retailers, and many consumers traded down and cut back on discretionary buys. While value was a key consideration, it wasn’t the only factor in play. Speed and convenience played a role in decision making, and consumers remained willing to pay for specialty items, legacy brands and fun experiences as long as they didn’t break the bank.

So what are other key trends it identified for 2025? Here are four highlights from the full report.

1. Placer.ai believes discount and dollar stores might have reached a growth ceiling, as slower foot traffic indicates that consumers might be returning to the middle.
2. Convenience is still key but only to a point. Placer.ai noted that shoppers are making shorter trips to grocery stores, but they’re traveling more for specialty items and visiting more chains, which it suggested means they’re willing to go the extra mile to find what they’re looking for.
3. Smaller footprint and larger footprint stores are popping up, allowing brands to meet customers where they are. It cited more weekday traffic for smaller Macy’s stores to reinforce the point.
4. Younger consumers are being targeted with convenient, value-oriented shopping experiences. It noted between the third quarter of 2019 and Q3 2024, Sam’s Club’s share of “singles and starters” grew from 6% above the national baseline to 15% higher than average.

See also:

• Strategy behind Big Lots’ store closing choices? Placer.ai sees trends
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