How retailers can succeed in 2025

Let’s face it, 2024 was a real slog.

The weather, the economy, and an all too often bleak news agenda makes it one to forget.

However, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for retailers. Our data has revealed that Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) actually set new records – with sales of $11.5bn (£9.03bn) from Shopify merchants worldwide (up 24% from 2023).

In the UK, the number of consumers purchasing from Shopify merchants rose by 36%, marking a positive sign for retailers despite the economic headwinds.

This trend echoes our recent Holiday Retail report which forecasted a 21% rise in average spend per consumer in the UK compared to 2023. With retailers buoyed by a successful holiday shopping season so far, the challenge now is to ensure they build on progress in 2025. 

Optimise operational efficiencies

While the holiday shopping season is understandably a focus moment for retailers, it is important to keep a ‘year-round’ mindset to enable consistent growth. 2025 will bring its own challenges as consumer expectations for innovative shopping experiences grow, meaning retailers need the tools in place to seize every opportunity they can.

This approach formed the concept of our recently-launched Winter Edition.

Twice a year, we announce a new Shopify Edition – a fresh version of Shopify that celebrates our latest products and features. We take the responsibility of building great quality software seriously as millions of businesses globally depend on its platform integration, stability, and performance every single day. This Edition is about polishing our current solutions, optimising performance, and making sure every facet of Shopify works well together - covering everything across AI, shipping and checkout. 

Those outside of retail might think it’s uninspiring, but these are improvements made directly in response to what our merchants need and want. They’re vital to the future of all retail, anything but boring, and will help merchants large and small to scale their business in 2025.

Turning omnichannel into unified commerce

2024 taught us that connected commerce isn’t an optional strategy, it’s critical. Our Holiday Retail report revealed that a hybrid approach to shopping remains popular, with a growing trend for social media shopping also.

With consumers shopping anywhere and everywhere, and nearly two-thirds (65%) of UK shoppers saying it’s important brands offer a seamless experience online and offline, it is crucial for retailers to align customer experience across every selling surface in 2025.

Today, shopping experiences commonly begin and end on separate surfaces. Retailers already understand the need to have sight of customers across channels. Previously, that was called omnichannel, but now it’s important to explore how unified commerce can elevate their business by linking all sales channels and operational insight into a single, centralised platform.

Unified commerce can help retailers to gain one view of the customer, identify what drives them and ultimately improve loyalty, helping to reduce acquisition costs in the process. Further, it addresses the challenges of omnichannel in reconciling incomplete, conflicting, or duplicated customer data. It is no understatement to say that harnessing unified commerce should be every retailer’s priority in 2025.

After a challenging 2024, our BFCM data revealed unprecedented levels of shopping activity across all platforms.

With consumers closing the year with intentionality, it is important that retailers follow suit and set themselves up for success in 2025. The year ahead will no doubt bring fresh challenges, but by focusing on unified commerce and optimising efficiencies, retailers can continue to meet evolving consumer demands.