The retail market is constantly evolving, and with the arrival of 2025, customer expectations have never been higher. Trade marketing and visual merchandising strategies, for example, play a fundamental role in building an engaging shopping experience and converting consumers.
However, there are recurring errors that, if not corrected, can compromise the performance of any retailer. I would like to highlight ten of these errors and offer suggestions on how to avoid them, ensuring that trade marketing operations continue to be a growth lever.
- Lack of personalization in actions
One of the most common mistakes is applying the same approach to all customers. In 2025, preferences are increasingly segmented, and what worked for an audience a few years ago is no longer effective. Personalization should be the key to any action at the point of sale.
What to do: Know your consumer thoroughly, use data to segment, and create campaigns that speak directly to the interests and behaviors of each group.
- Misalignment between online and offline actions
The integration between the physical and digital world has never been so important. Many retailers still make the mistake of treating these two fronts as disconnected, creating a fragmented experience for the consumer.
What to do: Ensure that actions at the point of sale and e-commerce strategies are aligned, creating a smooth and coherent shopping journey for the customer.
- Disregarding the customer experience at the point of sale
The POS should not just be a transactional location but an engaging interaction point with the brand. Many retailers still treat it as a simple product display space, without focusing on the experience provided to the consumer.
What to do: Invest in a store design that is interactive and attractive, and train your staff to provide a unique shopping experience.
- Ignoring the power of visual merchandising
Visual merchandising is crucial to capture consumer interest. Simple mistakes, such as disorganized product displays or not understanding how visual elements influence purchase decisions, can significantly harm results.
What to do: Invest in layouts that naturally guide customers through the store, highlighting products strategically and leading them to purchase actions.
- Lack of results monitoring
Failing to measure and track the results of trade marketing actions is a mistake many make. Without data, it is impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of a campaign or optimize future actions.
What to do: Use monitoring and analysis tools to understand the impact of your actions and make data-driven decisions to adjust and improve performance.
- Not training the sales team
The sales team is one of the main influencers at the POS, but often overlooked when it comes to specific training on trade marketing and visual merchandising strategies.
What to do: Invest in continuous training for your sales team, ensuring they understand the campaign objectives and know how to better communicate the benefits of the products to customers.
- Lack of flexibility in actions
In such a dynamic environment like retail, maintaining rigid and inflexible actions can be a fatal mistake. The market and consumer needs change rapidly, and rigid actions can harm the customer relationship.
What to do: Maintain an agile approach, be ready to adapt your campaigns and offers as behavior and market context changes.
- Not focusing on the complete purchasing journey
Many retailers still make the mistake of focusing only on one part of the customer journey, whether in initial marketing or finalizing the purchase. Not understanding the consumer decision stages can compromise the effectiveness of actions at the point of sale.
What to do: Map out the complete customer journey and create strategies to support and engage them in each phase of the buying process.
- Underestimating the importance of promotions
Product promotions are one of the most effective ways to increase sales, but many retailers still make the mistake of not making these promotions attractive or poorly positioned in the store, directly impacting the success of the action.
What to do: Create impactful, visible, and well-positioned promotions, according to the consumer profile and purchasing behavior identified at the point of sale.
- Neglecting sustainability in actions
The modern consumer is more attentive to sustainability and social responsibility of brands. Ignoring them in trade marketing actions can result in a disconnect with the target audience.
What to do: Adopt sustainable trade marketing practices and, when possible, use recyclable materials or more ecological solutions in campaigns and visual merchandising.
As seen, 2025 brings new challenges and opportunities for retail. By avoiding these critical mistakes and adopting a more strategic approach aligned with consumer needs, brands can ensure superior performance at the point of sale.
Trade marketing and visual merchandising should be seen as part of an integrated ecosystem, where all aspects of the consumer experience are taken into consideration. To succeed, investing in data, training, innovation, and flexibility is necessary, along with a deep understanding of consumer behavior and market trends.
