Десять помилок, які можуть “матерія замикати діяльність будь-якого рітейлера в 2025 році

The retail market is constantly evolving, and with the arrival of 2025, consumer expectations have never been higher. Trade marketing and visual merchandising strategies, for example, play a vital role in creating an engaging shopping experience and converting customers.

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.

1. Lack of personalisation in actions

One of the most common failings is applying the same approach to all customers. By 2025, preferences are becoming increasingly segmented, and what worked for an audience a few years ago is no longer effective. Personalisation should be key to any action at the POS.

What to do: Understand your customer deeply, use data to segment, and create campaigns that speak directly to the interests and behaviours of each group.

2. Mismatch between online and offline actions

Integration between the physical and digital worlds has never been more crucial. Many retailers still make the mistake of treating these two fronts separately, creating a fragmented experience for the consumer.

What to do: Ensure that in-store (POS) actions and e-commerce strategies are aligned, creating a seamless and consistent customer journey.

3. Ignoring the customer experience at the POS

The petrol station shouldn't just be a transaction point, but an engaging interaction point with the brand. Many retailers still treat it as a simple product display space, without concern for the consumer experience.

What to do: Invest in a store design that is interactive and attractive, and train your team to provide a unique shopping experience.

4. Ignoring the power of visual merchandising

Visual merchandising is crucial for sparking consumer interest. Simple mistakes, such as disorganized product displays or a failure to understand how visual elements influence purchasing decisions, can significantly harm results.

What to do: Invest in store layouts that naturally guide customers through the store, strategically highlighting products and encouraging purchase actions.

5. Lack of results monitoring

A lack of measurement and monitoring of trade marketing action results is a mistake many make. Without data, it's impossible to assess 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.

6. Not training the sales team

The sales team are key influencers at the point of sale, but are often overlooked when it comes to specific training on trade marketing and visual merchandising strategies.

What to do: Invest in ongoing training for your sales team, ensuring they understand campaign objectives and know how to best communicate the benefits of the products to customers.

7. Lack of flexibility in actions

In a retail environment as dynamic as it is, maintaining rigid and inflexible actions can be a fatal mistake. The market and customer needs change rapidly, and inflexible actions can damage customer relationships.

What to do: Maintain an agile approach, be prepared to adapt your campaigns and offers as market behaviour and context change.

8. Don't focus on the entire buying journey.

Many retailers still make the mistake of focusing only on one part of the customer journey, whether it's initial marketing or completing the purchase. Failing to understand the consumer decision-making stages can compromise the effectiveness of their in-store (point-of-sale) actions.

What to do: Map the entire customer journey and create strategies to support and engage them at each stage of the purchasing process.

9. Underestimating the importance of promotions

Promoting products is one of the most effective ways to increase sales, but many retailers still make the mistake of failing to make these promotions attractive or of poorly positioning them within the store, directly impacting the success of the campaign.

What to do: Create impactful, visible, and well-positioned promotions, tailored to the consumer profile and purchasing behaviours identified at the point of sale (POS).

10. Neglecting sustainability in actions

Modern consumers are more aware of the sustainability and social responsibility of brands. Ignoring these factors in trade marketing activities can result in a disconnect with the target audience.

What to do: Adopt sustainable trade marketing practices and, where possible, use recycled materials or more environmentally friendly solutions in campaigns and visual merchandising.

As you can see, 2025 brings new challenges and opportunities for retail. By avoiding these crucial 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 viewed as part of an integrated ecosystem, where all aspects of the consumer experience are considered. Success requires investment in data, training, innovation, and flexibility, alongside a deep understanding of consumer behaviour and market trends.