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What Does the Retail Landscape of 2025 Look Like?

Designed for retail leaders and lovers alike, Retail Refined explores the in-store technology of the future, challenges the industry’s preconceived notions, and brings together retail’s biggest names to understand the brand strategies that will define the next decade in retail.   The past year has been a deeply transformative one for the retail industry, which saw already…

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Designed for retail leaders and lovers alike, Retail Refined explores the in-store technology of the future, challenges the industry’s preconceived notions, and brings together retail’s biggest names to understand the brand strategies that will define the next decade in retail.

The past year has been a deeply transformative one for the retail industry, which saw already emerging trends in online shopping, curbside pickup and more accelerated in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, even with vaccines continuing to roll out and a true reopening commencing, retail isn’t going backward. In fact, the evolution could be just beginning.

On this episode of MarketScale’s Retail Refined with Melissa Gonzalez, Gonzalez welcomed fashion and design icon Rebecca Minkoff to explore another of her areas of expertise – retail’s digital landscape. In fact, she’s a pioneer with a history of integrating innovative technology, such as “magic mirrors” and self-checkout, into her label’s physical stores.

“Now, the customer is so used to the online experience that, if she doesn’t get that in the store, she’ll be like, ‘Ugh, I’m just going to order online’” -Rebecca Minkoff

That experience makes her uniquely qualified to assess how the retail industry might respond to mounting pressures for more innovation, integration and interaction in the months and years after the pandemic draws to a close.

“Now, the customer is so used to the online experience that, if she doesn’t get that in the store, she’ll be like, ‘Ugh, I’m just going to order online,’” Minkoff said.

It’s those raised expectations that retailers are now competing against, though there are exciting new technologies, data tools and more emerging to help them do it.

Click here to pre-order or to read more Rebecca Minkoff’s new book, Fearless.

To hear more, listen to the entirety of this episode of Retail Refined.

Listen to Previous Episodes of Retail Refined Right Here!

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More Retail Insights

Tencent puts its retail AI agents inside the chat apps store staff already use

Tencent puts its retail AI agents inside the chat apps store staff already use

Tencent Smart Retail presented five AI tools, including WorkBuddy and Miora, at World Retail Lab Asia 2026 in Hong Kong. Retail News Asia reports that the system links back offices to sales staff on WeCom and shoppers on Weixin. That could ease store adoption, but it ties data to one ecosystem.

  • 01Tencent's retail AI advantage could come from where the tools sit. Retail News Asia reports that the system links merchant back offices to front-line sales teams on WeCom and to shoppers on Weixin.
  • 02Chains whose sales lean heavily on loyalty members could gain the most from chat-based clienteling agents. Tencent cites Chow Tai Fook as applying AI to customer and store operations.

Oct 23, 2026

Walmart opens its store to AI shopping agents with spending limits while Amazon shuts them out

Walmart opens its store to AI shopping agents with spending limits while Amazon shuts them out

Walmart announced on October 21 that it will let AI shopping agents buy on a customer's behalf through separate Agent Profiles, due within a month, with purchase approval by default or a spending cap the customer sets. Agents never see card details and cannot change payment methods. The Walmart Agent Gateway, an MCP server, is in beta for developers. Amazon blocked Meta's Muse agent in September.

  • 01Agent Profiles let customers set spending caps ($50, $100, $200) or require approval on every purchase, with agents unable to access card details or payment methods.
  • 02Walmart’s Agent Gateway runs on the Model Context Protocol, letting AI agents search, build carts and check out without browser automation.
  • 03Amazon blocked third-party agents citing lack of authorization to access customer accounts, scrape data, or process transactions.

Oct 23, 2026

Retail security tech that only counts catches quietly erodes shopper trust

Retail security tech that only counts catches quietly erodes shopper trust

AI-enabled security systems can rack up detections yet still erode shopper trust and harm the brand. Mike Mitchell of Telaid says retailers should align deployments to customer expectations, back privacy answers with real controls, involve more departments in planning, test against real shopping behavior, and require human review before any action affecting customers or employees.

  • 01Retail security technology should balance theft detection with maintaining customer trust.
  • 02Overemphasis on detection capabilities can negatively impact the shopper experience.
  • 03Considering customer perception is essential for effective retail security systems.

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