The consumer goods industry is undergoing a seismic transformation. After several years of supply chain disruptions, digital upheaval, and shifting consumer priorities, 2025 marks a year where both legacy brands and digital-native challengers are resetting their strategies. For retailers, D2C brands, and online store operators, understanding the prevailing trends is not just important—it’s mission-critical.
According to the 2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report, leading consumer goods companies are adapting to a more demanding, data-conscious, and fragmented marketplace. Let’s unpack the insights from the report and explore what marketing and growth teams need to prioritize in the year ahead.
Table of Contents
Economic Pressures Meet Digital ComplexityOmnichannel Isn’t Optional Anymore—It’s the BaselineAI and Automation Are Accelerating, but Human Insight Still WinsRetail Media Is the New Digital ShelfFirst-Party Data Is the New CurrencyShopper Expectations Are Higher—and Less PredictableStrategic Recommendations for Retail and D2C TeamsDownload the Full 2025 Consumer Goods Industry Report
Economic Pressures Meet Digital Complexity
72% of consumer goods executives cite operational cost control as a top concern for 2025.
2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
Despite signs of stabilization in global markets, cost inflation and margin compression remain central concerns across the board. Simultaneously, marketing budgets are under scrutiny as organizations seek higher ROI from every dollar spent.
At the same time, the digital landscape is more complex than ever. Retailers and D2C marketers face a multi-platform ecosystem of owned, paid, and earned media where attribution is often murky and platform rules are constantly evolving. The rise of retail media networks, the growing dominance of TikTok and shoppable video, and the shift toward zero-party data all signal that consumer engagement strategies must become more precise, integrated, and personalized.
Omnichannel Isn’t Optional Anymore—It’s the Baseline
Nearly 90% of surveyed executives agreed that consumers no longer differentiate between in-store and online experiences.
2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
This expectation has particular implications for marketing teams. Personalized messaging must now extend across SMS, email, web, and app notifications—ideally backed by unified profiles and real-time behavioral insights. For example, product recommendations triggered by in-store activity or customer service interactions can dramatically increase conversion rates and loyalty. However, only 38% of brands report having the infrastructure in place to support this level of integration today.
For D2C brands, this also means tighter partnerships with logistics and fulfillment providers. Same-day and next-day shipping are no longer luxury services—they’re foundational to customer satisfaction.
AI and Automation Are Accelerating, but Human Insight Still Wins
There has been a 45% year-over-year increase in AI adoption across consumer goods companies.
2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a much larger role in everything from predictive inventory planning to content personalization. Retail marketers are now experimenting with generative AI (GenAI) for creative production, dynamic pricing, and customer support.
However, the report highlights a critical nuance: brands that pair AI capabilities with robust human oversight—especially in strategy and customer experience—are achieving the most success. In other words, automation may drive scale, but empathy and contextual relevance still drive loyalty.
As one respondent noted:
AI helps us forecast demand and personalize outreach, but our team still needs to understand what really matters to our customers and how to earn their trust.
2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
Retail Media Is the New Digital Shelf
Retail media budgets grew 2.3x faster than social media budgets over the past year.
2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
Retail media has matured into a core pillar of marketing strategy for consumer goods brands. Once seen as a niche opportunity, retail media is now commanding a disproportionate share of digital ad spend.
For D2C marketers and online retailers, this presents both an opportunity and a challenge. On one hand, retail media allows brands to engage high-intent shoppers directly at the point of purchase. On the other hand, it raises questions about control, transparency, and long-term customer ownership. If a significant portion of your customer acquisition is happening within someone else’s ecosystem (e.g., Amazon or Walmart Connect), how do you ensure your brand’s voice and data integrity are preserved?
To navigate this, marketers are advised to treat retail media as both an ad channel and a data source. Leveraging campaign insights to inform broader CRM and product strategies can help mitigate the risk of over-reliance.
First-Party Data Is the New Currency
61% of consumer goods companies are building or expanding unified customer data platforms (CDPs) in 2025.
2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
With cookies on the way out and data privacy regulations tightening worldwide, brands are investing aggressively in first-party (1P) and zero-party (0P) data strategies. Email sign-ups, loyalty programs, social logins, quizzes, and gated content are being reimagined not as lead-gen gimmicks but as long-term data capture systems.
For D2C marketers, this shift opens the door to more sophisticated segmentation, lifecycle automation, and predictive personalization.
However, the challenge is not just in collecting the data—it’s in using it intelligently.
Only 28% of respondents said their teams are confident in their ability to activate customer data across all marketing channels in real time.
2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
Bridging this gap will require greater cross-functional collaboration between marketing, product, and IT.
Shopper Expectations Are Higher—and Less Predictable
2025 consumers exhibit hybrid purchasing habits, switching between digital and physical, direct and marketplace, private label and premium—often within a single journey.
2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
Consumers are no longer loyal to brands—they are loyal to convenience, value, and relevance. This demands more agile marketing operations. Campaigns that once operated on quarterly cycles are now refreshed weekly or even daily.
Successful retailers are those who have built real-time testing and optimization into their creative and channel mix. Tools like AI-driven content scoring, sentiment analysis, and automated A/B testing are becoming essential to scale this agility.
Equally important is flexibility in offers and product formats. Subscription models, limited-time drops, and loyalty-based exclusives are all proving effective in converting passive browsers into active buyers.
Strategic Recommendations for Retail and D2C Teams
For retailers, D2C brands, and ecommerce marketers, the 2025 playbook requires both resilience and reinvention. Based on the report, here are five priorities to guide strategic planning:
Invest in unified data architecture: A centralized view of the customer is essential to personalization, attribution, and operational efficiency. Prioritize CDPs and tools that integrate easily across your martech stack.
Shift from campaigns to experiences: Every interaction—email, SMS, social post, product page—should feel part of a coherent customer journey. Personalization isn’t a feature; it’s the default.
Balance AI and human storytelling: Use generative tools for scale, but reserve strategy and voice for the team. Automation without insight leads to generic output.
Use retail media as a feedback loop: Beyond ad performance, use retail media campaigns to gather audience insights that inform broader brand and product decisions.
Operationalize sustainability and transparency: Ensure sustainability is measurable and embedded into your product lifecycle and customer communications. It’s not just about optics—it’s about value alignment.
Download the Full 2025 Consumer Goods Industry Report
The insights above only scratch the surface of what’s happening in the consumer goods landscape. For a deeper analysis of macroeconomic trends, digital channel strategies, supply chain innovation, and emerging consumer behaviors, download the full 2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report. Whether you’re a retail marketer, D2C founder, or ecommerce strategist, this report provides the guidance needed to navigate disruption and unlock growth in the year ahead.
Download the 2025 Consumer Goods State of the Industry Report
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Originally Published on Martech Zone: The State of the Consumer Goods Industry in 2025: A Strategic Outlook for Retailers and D2C Marketers