Retail’s future is not a choice between checkout and connection. Checkout remains essential, but retailers are increasingly urged to build value across the wider relationship: helping people discover, evaluate, buy, receive, use, and return to products through useful services and connected experiences.
What does “connection” mean in retail?
Connection is not simply more personalization or a longer visit in a store. It is the practical ability to be useful at multiple points in a customer’s relationship with a retailer: offering relevant advice, inspiration, services, content, and fulfillment, while still selling products.
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McKinsey’s 2023 analysis describes this as owning more of the consumer relationship and measuring “share of life” alongside share of wallet. It recommends thinking of product sales as part of a broader ecosystem, with stores potentially serving as showrooms, service centers, and fulfillment hubs. These are strategic recommendations, not guarantees that every retailer can or should adopt every role. McKinsey’s retail playbook
Why the journey cannot be reduced to a single channel
Physical and digital shopping coexist. In a global consumer study published by NRF and IBM in January 2026, nearly three-quarters of surveyed consumers said they still shop in stores. The same study found that consumers use AI assistants during digital discovery: 41% use them to research products, 33% to look for reviews, and 31% to search for deals. These are survey responses, not evidence that one channel or tool is replacing another. NRF and IBM’s study
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That mix makes continuity a more useful goal than declaring one channel the future. A customer might encounter a product through social content, compare it online, ask an assistant for information, visit a store to see it, and complete the purchase through a different route. The strategic question is whether each interaction helps the customer move forward without losing relevant context.
What retail leaders are prioritizing—and what the figures do not prove
Deloitte’s January 2025 Retail Industry Outlook reports priorities among 75 US-based retail executives surveyed in October and November 2024. Respondents identified strengthening loyalty programs, digital commerce offerings, and omnichannel experiences as potential growth opportunities:
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- 【Sturdy Structure】- Crafted from high-density fiberboard, this receptionist desk boasts a sturdy and durable structure. Its sturdy construction can withstand everyday use, providing excellent weather resistance and water resistance for long-term use. This desk is not only practical but also a cost-effective investment for your business.
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| Executive-reported opportunity | Share of surveyed executives |
|---|---|
| Strengthen loyalty programs | 46% |
| Strengthen digital commerce offerings | 45% |
| Enhance omnichannel experiences | 44% |
The survey captures executive views, not customer behavior or proof that any initiative will cause growth. Deloitte says 80% of surveyed executives came from companies with annual revenue of at least US$10 billion, so the sample should not be treated as representative of retailers of every size. Deloitte’s 2025 Retail Industry Outlook
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Where stores can add value beyond the transaction
Stores can make a brand tangible: customers can see products, speak with staff, get help, and take part in experiences that are difficult to reproduce on a screen. They can also support services and fulfillment. NRF’s 2025 predictions describe immersive stores as an opportunity to express brand identity and foster trust, personal interaction, and community. Because these are predictions, they should be read as an industry outlook, not as proof that immersive retail reliably increases sales or retention. NRF’s 2025 retail predictions
For some retailers, a store-led strategy may be strongest when products benefit from demonstration, fitting, expert advice, or hands-on service. For others, stores may be more valuable as convenient service or pickup locations. The relevant test is whether the store solves a real customer need and supports a distinctive brand promise—not whether it adds activity for its own sake.
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Personalization needs a trust boundary
Personalization can make discovery and service more relevant, but customers may not welcome every use of their information. NRF and IBM’s January 2026 study reports that 52% of surveyed consumers are comfortable sharing their data, while 83% report overlapping concerns about privacy, misuse, and unwanted marketing. The two figures are not contradictory: willingness to share can coexist with concern about how data is collected or used.
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Retailers should treat relevance and permission as linked design questions. Explain what data is being used and why, respect customer preferences, and avoid turning every interaction into an unsolicited pitch. An AI assistant or recommendation system should make help easier to access, not make the retailer’s intentions harder to understand.
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How to compare connection strategies
Store-led, digital-led, service-led, and AI-enabled approaches are not mutually exclusive. Compare them against the same practical criteria before investing:
- Customer usefulness: Does the interaction solve a real discovery, advice, service, or fulfillment need?
- Trust and data practice: Is personalization understandable and respectful of privacy preferences?
- Channel continuity: Can customers move among stores, web, social, and assisted shopping without losing useful context?
- People and readiness: Can associates deliver the promised experience, and does technology give them more capacity for valuable customer interactions?
- Economics: What will fulfillment, staffing, technology transitions, and partner costs require, and what customer or business value is expected in return?
- Distinctiveness: Does the experience express something the retailer can own, or is it a generic feature competitors can copy?
This is a decision framework synthesized from themes in Deloitte, McKinsey, and NRF–IBM—not a published ranking of strategies. The costs deserve particular attention: Deloitte notes that omnichannel services and technology transitions can be expensive, while fragmented data, legacy systems, and workforce readiness can complicate execution. Its 2025 outlook also says social commerce and shoppable media may help retailers reach engaged audiences, but these options still need to be assessed against the retailer’s customers and operating capabilities.
Checkout still matters
Connection does not make checkout irrelevant. A customer can have a helpful discovery experience and still be lost by an inconvenient, confusing, or unreliable purchase process. The more useful shift is to see checkout as one consequential moment in a longer journey: the transaction must work, while the surrounding interactions give customers reasons to choose the retailer, trust it, and return.
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