From the expanding definition of value shopping to the channel-less retail experiences 
Worries over tariffs and a shaky macro outlook are dragging on consumer confidence heading into the holidays, nudging more shoppers toward value hunts, thrifted finds, and trade-in credits. At the same time, younger buyers are skipping traditional gift guides and turning to TikTok and ChatGPT for shopping inspiration and research.
Look a beat ahead and the picture snaps into focus: generative AI and immersive 3D platforms are converging to erase the last seams between online and in-store — where discovery, try-on, and checkout live on the same canvas, and “channel strategy” becomes simply “experience design.”
Value First — But the Definition of Value is Expanding
The upcoming holiday demand looks softer than usual thanks to the low consumer confidence. Surveys point to broad belt-tightening. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers say that high prices will impact their holiday spending, while a small chunk of consumers plan to delay holiday season celebrations, per a new survey by Invoice Home. This is echoed by latest stats from a PwC report, which forecast a 5% drop in average holiday spend, 11% drop in average gift spend, led by a 23% drop in holiday spend for Gen Z.
As a result, retailers will see a shift toward value-driven shopping, as consumers actively seek discounts, promotions, and lower-cost alternatives for holiday gifts.
Source: PwC
Even beyond holiday shopping, the low-cost retailers have been thriving. Dollar General, Five Below, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Walmart, Burlington Stores, and TJX Cos. all reported better sales than expected for the July quarter. Meanwhile, companies that typically cater to middle- and higher-income shoppers, such as Target, had a more difficult quarter.
At the same time, value is being redefined beyond discounts to include convenience and social values. 62% of U.S. consumers say faster shipping is the deciding factor in making a holiday purchase, aside from price, per a survey by Radial. In addition, two-thirds of respondents say they would give up a 5% discount to guarantee their delivery window. Among younger respondents, nearly one-in-three surveyed would still choose delivery certainty even over a 20% discount.
This preference is reflected in the kinds of offers that resonate. Walmart’s $8-per-person Game Day Basket, paired with a one-click option to add for pickup or delivery, illustrates how bundled savings plus frictionless fulfillment meet shoppers where they are. Increasingly, the winning formula is not just about low prices, but about giving consumers confidence and control over when — and how — they get their purchases.
Even during belt-rightening times, there are still certain categories where consumers are willing to splurge a little on. Unsurprisingly, each generation of consumers likes to splurge on different categories of purchases, a recent survey by Qualtrics found, tied to both their spending power and what they value the most: Everyone likes to splurge on dining out, but gen Z splurge more on beauty and wellness, while Millennials splurge on fashion more than other generations.
Resale as a Major Community-Building Loyalty Tactic
Resale, once a sustainability-driven niche market, is becoming a community strategy for some retailers. The surge in secondhand shopping reflects a broader hunt for value, trust, and belonging.
The secondhand apparel market is accelerating, with 58% of U.S. consumers purchasing preowned items last year, up six percentage points from 2023. Younger generations lead the charge: 68% of Millennials and Gen Z bought secondhand, a 3% increase year over year, according to ThredUp’s 2025 report.
Striking while it’s hot, resale platforms are moving beyond their Gen Z core. Depop launched its largest U.S. campaign, “Where Taste Recognizes Taste,” to broaden appeal past early adopters. The creative leans into the emotional connections of buying and selling secondhand, running across out of home, streaming audio, connected TV, and social. The timing tracks with performance: Depop’s U.S. sales climbed 54% year over year in Q2 2025, making it the fastest growing online resale platform in Etsy’s portfolio.
Curation and social signaling are the new resale experience. Pinterest’s Thrift Shop aggregates boards from more than 30 global vintage retailers, which makes discovery feel like browsing a well edited boutique online. Social commerce now functions as a primary secondhand channel for Gen Z, with 39% buying preloved items via social in the past year. Half of those shoppers also posted their finds, turning purchases into content and community signals. In resale, the flex is not just the price; it is the taste.
Local communities are the original resale engine, and they are thriving. Hyperlocal groups such as Buy Nothing now count more than 11 million participants, which proves that neighborhood scale swapping works because it is social first. Community-based platforms, like Cues in Bed Stuy and NYU’s swap shop, show how small, trust based networks keep goods circulating while strengthening local ties.
Meanwhile, online resale platforms are borrowing from local thrifting playbooks to build community gravity. Poshmark’s in person gatherings, such as PoshFest and meetups, correlate with roughly a 30% lift in sellers who host live Posh Shows afterward. Depop’s New York City block party stitched together local sellers, music, and timed drops, which shows how pop ups can galvanize city by city scenes and convert casual browsers into repeat participants. The imperative is to create shared experiences among core customers to fuel retention and sales.
Therefore, brand run resale works best when it plugs into loyalty and member culture. REI Re Supply is gated to co-op members and tied to classes and events, which turns resale into a membership perk and a reason to engage. Trading in gently used outdoor gear, not limited to REI brands, for gift cards is a benefit exclusive to REI Co op Members, and membership costs thirty dollars for life.
Growing Efforts to Build Channel-Less Retail Experiences
Retailers are starting to bridge the online and IRL experiences, bringing hyper-personalization and convenience of online shop to physical stores, while enhancing online shopping with more immersive, social, and gamified experiences typically seen in stores.
Today’s road from discovery to purchase is far from a straight line. That means your digital presence isn’t just about ecommerce, it’s influencing what happens in the physical world, too. 71.4% of shoppers find products online but buy in-store, and 68% buy something online after seeing it in a store, a joint study by Locala and eMarketer found. Overall, 81% say they research online before any purchase. The future is channel-less commerce: seamless, personalized experiences that connect digital discovery with in-store immediacy.
Retailers have spent the past decade revamping their in-store experiences, to make it a showroom, a hub for branded experiences, and sometimes even a mini-fulfilment center. In contrast, the online shopping experience has stayed rather stagnant, with convenience-driven grid interfaces, filled with algorithmic recommendation, dominating online shops. More than 3 in 4 consumers say that while e-commerce is “functional,” it’s just not fun anymore, a new study by Criteo found. In fact, 61% of those surveyed said that shopping was simply a means of convenience for them, while 29% viewed it as a chore and 36% said they missed the fun of “unexpected finds.”
Partly this is because a lot of ecommerce sites, especially those of smaller brands, are built on the handful dominant ecommerce cloud infrastructure providers (e.g. Shopify, Squarespace, etc.), and uses similar website templates, resulting in similar layouts and homogenizing aesthetics.
To remedy this, some online retailers are borrowing elements from offline retail, such as gamified drops and personal feedbacks, to drive online engagement and purchases. For example, Nike’s SNKRS is now deploying SNKRS Link (exclusive links via partners/QRs) to bring queueing, scarcity, and community into the brand’s app.
Similarly, retailers are also leaning into social commerce tactics to make online shopping more interactive and fun. For instance., eBay’s 2025 Livestream Shopping Tour featured broadcasts from hobby shops and conventions so collectors can bid and chat like they would at in-person breaks. Shoppers can attend in-person or online at the eBay Live Tour channel. Meanwhile, Walmart is partnering with TalkShopLive and WeTheHobby, a sports card and collectibles hub, to host a weekly live shopping series titled “Collector’s Night,” the companies announced Wednesday.
New AI-powered try-on features will bring next-level personalized browsing to online and offline retail, truly blurring the lines between experiential retail channels.The new Gemini-powered virtual try-on tool, rolled out in June in the US, allows shoppers to see what clothes look like on themselves by uploading a photo, essentially leveraging deepfake tech for a good use case. There’s also a plan to generate videos so shoppers can see themselves in motion while wearing them.
Meanwhile, retail tech such as smart mirrors, digital mannequins, and AR experiences will likely become a staple of physical retail in the future of shopping, allowing brands and retailers to provide guided digital journeys through brick-and-mortar stores. For example, when a shopper who has previously “liked” an item on a brand’s website enters the store, in-store stylists will get an alert on their tablet or smartphone the moment they arrive.
Want to learn more?
At the Lab, we’re always keeping a close eye on the future of retail. If you wish to dive deeper into this report, or simply start a conversation around the holiday shopping trends, including everything we mentioned in this article, plus the impact of generative AI on the travel sector, please reach out to Ryan Miller, our Director of Partnerships, at ryan.miller@ipglab.com.
The Future of Retail: The Biggest Trends of 2025 was originally published in IPG Media Lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
