Despite some frustrations, AI-powered chatbots have a keen audience: 35% of global consumers prefer them to human customer support agents (see Key Stats). More intuitive approaches will keep brands competitive in 2024/25, with ultra-personalised AI customer service moving even mainstream brands into authentically helpful personal shopper territory.

In 2024/25, do-it-for-me delegation retail will extend to chores and saving money, including deal-finding (good news for Gen Zers’ love of “loud budgeting” as well as for families). On average, Brits spend 208 hours annually on domestic tasks like meal preparation, while 39% of those jobs are considered AI-automatable (grocery shopping tops the list – see Key Stats).

Virtual fit tech already boosts online fashion sales (encouraging 71% of global shoppers to buy more), yet annual e-commerce returns add up to $642bn (see Key Stats). Innovative future-gazing tech, also covering beauty and homeware, will help combat the problem in 2024/25 by not only presenting real-time options, but also showing predictive windows onto future scenarios.

The global second-hand apparel market is set to reach $351bn by 2027, with online resales being the fastest-growing area (see Key Stats). For 2024/25, facilitating DIY reselling will be a smart move. Key strategies include offering baked-in buyback opportunities, the value-add of “virtual wardrobing” and community-centred connoisseurship-framed trading.

Regular e-commerce may not (yet) be a hang-with-friends activity, but virtual sociability is possible, either within Web3 environments (notably, 19% of global gamers feel connected to a community within gaming metaverses) or in adjacent social networking spaces used by brand fans. For Gen Zalpha, social support groups, friends’ advice and wish-list sharing will all bolster digital togetherness.

The increasing interest in overlapping digital and physical identities will create more opportunities for exclusive “verch” – virtual assets, such as merchandise, linked to physical products/experiences, and vice versa. Innovation includes near-field communication (NFC) chips unlocking digital perks, like exclusive content from real-life items, and virtual beauty labs launching real-life products.

With Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset (launching 2024) supercharging sensory immersive experiences (key features include touch-simulating ultrasound), expect virtual spaces to hit a new level of sensory seduction, helping brands create digital environments that equal or even transcend their physical counterparts. The often-overlooked role of sound (see The Sensational Multisensory in Metaverse 360°) will be vital.