Big Box Retail in 2025 and Beyond: Trends and the New Imperative for AI-Driven Audience, Message, and Measurement Optimization

Big-box retail is entering a period of slower growth, more complex customer journeys, and rising pressure to prove (and improve!) ROI. Final 2025 projections have global retail sales reaching $31.3 trillion, with U.S. sales growing less than 0.5% – signaling a highly competitive environment. Against this backdrop, retailers need more than traditional marketing tools—they need precision: the right audiences, the right messages, the right channels, and continuous optimization.

AI is now central to this transformation. Let’s explore some of the top trends and the tools necessary to gain the most effectiveness.

1. The Shift to Smarter, More Efficient Big-Box Operations

With profit pressure increasing, retailers are rethinking store footprints, remodeling strategies, and local-market execution.

Where AI Helps Retailers

• • Predictive analytics for determining best times/places for store openings, remodels, or downsizing
  • Regional demand forecasting that aligns inventory, staffing, and promotions

Where Claritas Enhances Performance

• • Audience Identification: Claritas provides 2,500+ syndicated audiences and custom segments to help retailers precisely understand local shopper profiles (e.g., high-value segments, category buyers, lifestyle clusters).
  • Optimization Insight: The Claritas AI-Driven Marketing Optimization platform tracks lift, conversions, and audience-level performance for smarter market and footprint decisions.

2. Omnichannel Shopping Is the New Normal

Even as 59% of consumers globally say they prefer online shopping, 81.6% of U.S. retail revenue still happens in-store—making omnichannel coordination critical. Big-box retailers must unify experiences across web, mobile, store, CTV/OTT, email, and audio.

Where AI Helps Retailers

• • Real-time personalization across devices
  • AI-driven inventory visibility and fulfillment optimization

Where Claritas Enhances Performance

• • AI Audiences + Identity Graph: With reach to nearly 100% of U.S. households, Claritas connects billions of data points monthly to create a unified consumer portrait—fueling precise targeting across all channels.
  • Multichannel Activation: Claritas enables tailored engagement across audio, display, email, CTV/OTT, video, and more, ensuring message consistency throughout the journey.
  • Measurement & Attribution: Claritas unifies cross-device, cross-channel paths to measure omnichannel performance at the audience level.

3. Rising Demand for Personalized, Value-Driven Experiences

Big-box shoppers want more personalization, more value, and stronger connections with the brands they buy from. Private labels are growing, store events are returning, and customers expect communications that reflect their needs in real time.

Where AI Helps Retailers

• • Dynamic promotion optimization
  • Specific modeling for messaging and offer relevance

Where Claritas Enhances Performance

• • AI Creative & Message Optimization:
    Claritas’ Clair AI engine optimizes in real time by mapping each message to the right person at the right moment—boosting campaign performance by an average of 15%.
  • AI Campaign Optimization Across Channels:
    Claritas AI tailors messaging for email, digital, audio, CTV/OTT, and even call centers—creating dynamic journeys that reflect each customer’s motivations.

4. Supply Chain and Store Performance Require Better Measurement

Retailers are pushing to improve fulfillment speed, inventory turns, and in-store performance. But without accurate measurement, optimization is impossible.

Where AI Helps Retailers

• • Demand analysis to reduce forecast errors
  • Store traffic and behavior analytics

Where Claritas Enhances Performance

• • Granular Measurement & Attribution:
    Claritas provides multichannel attribution, incremental lift measurement, audio attribution, and broadcast & satellite analysis—far beyond simple cross-device tracking.
  • Unified Customer Journey Measurement:
    Claritas ties together devices, environments, channels, and outcomes to reveal the true impact of marketing touchpoints.

5. AI Adoption Is Accelerating — But True Optimization Requires a Full Loop

The AI-in-retail market is valued at approximately $14B+, growing more than 23% annually, and retailers using AI have seen significantly higher sales growth from those who haven’t. But only 11% feel ready to scale AI organization-wide (based on a survey by Amperity).

Where AI Helps Retailers

• • Forecasting, personalization, and automation
  • Strategic planning and smarter budget allocation

Where Claritas Enhances Performance

• • The Claritas Optimization Loop:

A continuous cycle of:

• • • Identify the right audience
    • Engage with AI-driven creative & multichannel activation
    • Measure the impact across channels
    • Optimize through AI-powered attribution and performance insights

This loop ensures every campaign improves over time—powered by real-time feedback and the Clair AI engine.

Big-box retail is evolving fast. Rising customer expectations, omnichannel complexity, and demand for personalized value require more precision than ever. AI is the new competitive advantage—but only when paired with deep data, multichannel activation, and sophisticated measurement.

Claritas delivers what retailers need to win:
✔ AI-driven audience segmentation
✔ Multichannel campaign delivery
✔ Creative & message optimization
✔ Unified measurement & attribution
✔ Identity-level intelligence across nearly every U.S. household

In a retail environment defined by pressure and complexity, Claritas provides the clarity, precision, and optimization power big-box brands need to grow.