2025 Retail Predictions: Major Changes Coming for Amazon, Target, and Macy's
In the latest edition of Omni Talk’s Retail Fast Five sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Avalara, Mirakl, Ownit AI and Ocampo Capital our industry experts share their bold predictions for retail in 2025, including Amazon's continued grocery struggles, potential leadership changes at Target, Macy's privatization, and the consolidation of retail media networks. Get unique insights into the future of retail from seasoned industry veterans
For the full episode head here: https://youtu.be/iyNND1vZe7A
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Transcript
Let's go to you, Dave Ritter, close us out.
Speaker A:What's the headline?
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Amazon launches another new grocery format.
Speaker B:Amazon can't quit grocery and they can't get grocery.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It is just, it happens every year.
Speaker B:And I think it's a good bet that in the headlines next year they'll have some slightly different variants of what they've tried and failed several times before.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because they have such logistical prowess that they just seem to not be able to nail grocery.
Speaker B:And I have all the faith in the world that they will continue to try.
Speaker A:Maybe we can buy Pepsi at that grocery store.
Speaker A:Who knows?
Speaker A:Dave, anything is possible.
Speaker A:Chad, let's go to you.
Speaker A: u think we're going to see in: Speaker C: one, Dave, for most laughable: Speaker C:Another format.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C: Early: Speaker C:Interesting.
Speaker C: o what you guys predicted for: Speaker C:Oh in last year's show, right.
Speaker C:And David Brown said, you know, he called it the bloodbath to boom projection.
Speaker C: That while in: Speaker C: He thought in: Speaker C:And 24 is a little too early to call for the recovery.
Speaker C:So David Brown's going back to the well again.
Speaker C:He's saying, listen, easing monetary policies, you know, lower interest rates, high stock market, high end Chinese consumers coming back, that's been missing for a few years.
Speaker C:He's calling for the boom.
Speaker C:I actually think this might be a little bit of a la la land moment, you know, where maybe the Omni's been been been given differently.
Speaker C:Here's what I'll say and I'm gonna kind of flashback moment.
Speaker C:I'm gonna go back to what you said last year, Chris, where you expected some shakeup in Target's leadership in 24.
Speaker C:Okay, didn't happen.
Speaker C:But let's look at what happened this year.
Speaker C:The difference between Walmart and Target could not be more palpable this year.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Target stock has recovered a little bit from its 52 week low in November, but it's still down 6 or so percent on the year.
Speaker C:Amazon's up 50.
Speaker C:Walmart's up 88 0.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:McMillan's the CEO of the year.
Speaker C:It's like giving it to Michael Jordan every year.
Speaker C: ure something has to be up in: Speaker A: l be on stage at NRF early in: Speaker A:Their plans are, too, Chris.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:If he makes it through the fiscal year, too.
Speaker D:So the year's not over yet either.
Speaker D:That's the other thing here that we got to factor in.
Speaker D:But, yeah, I think it.
Speaker D:I think that prediction could come true to some degree.
Speaker D:Mine.
Speaker D:Mine goes back to.
Speaker D:I kind of alluded to it before.
Speaker D:I think this might be the actual year that we see activists win their battle to take Macy's private.
Speaker D:I don't know that Macy's can hold on very much longer, particularly since they're already now in another activist battle just after getting out of the last one, so.
Speaker D:And, you know, strategically, it just seems like a really hard ship to turn around, so.
Speaker D:And the real estate does seem very valuable within that activist play relative to other activist plays we've seen in the past.
Speaker D:So I think this might be the year that comes to fruition.
Speaker D:That's mine.
Speaker A:Okay, well, I'll close it out with mine, which is that I think we're going to start to see some regional, especially grocers, start to converge their retail media networks.
Speaker A:I think that we're going to start to see fewer or less value in every single grocer having their own retail media network.
Speaker A:I think it's going to be too much for the brand.
Speaker A:So I think we're going to start to see more of them coming together to pool pull their retail media networks into one, to really be more appealing to brands and to compete with the likes of, you know, the bigger ones out there, the Albertsons, the Krogers and the Walmarts and others.
Speaker B:So.
