Retailers Focus on Personalised Customer Journeys in May 2025

In 2025, it’s clear that the days of one-size-fits-all retail are long gone. Across the UK and beyond, both online and bricks-and-mortar retailers are investing heavily in tools, teams, and technologies designed to deliver more tailored, relevant shopping experiences — not just at the checkout, but from the first click to post-purchase support.

This month, several major players — including supermarket giants, high-street staples, and ecommerce platforms — have revealed new initiatives aimed at personalising the customer journey. And unlike in years past, this isn’t just about inserting a name into an email subject line. It’s about building a full picture of shopper behaviour and reacting in real time.

Here’s how personalisation is playing out right now — and what it means for marketers, tech partners, and affiliate teams alike.

What do we mean by “personalised journeys”?

At its core, personalisation in retail means delivering the right message, product, or service to the right person, at the right time — and increasingly, on the right device or channel.

In May 2025, this includes:

• Dynamic homepages that change based on past browsing and purchase history
• Location-aware recommendations that reflect stock availability at local stores
• Behavioural email campaigns that trigger based on abandoned baskets, in-store visits, or content engagement
• Real-time offers sent via app notifications when a shopper enters a store
• Tailored checkout experiences, including preferred payment methods and delivery preferences remembered from previous visits

The aim is simple: reduce friction, boost relevance, and create a sense that the brand “knows” the shopper — without crossing the line into creepiness.

Who’s doing it well?

A few standouts this month show just how far retail personalisation has come:

Boots: The health and beauty retailer has launched AI-powered skin analysis tools on its app and website. Shoppers can answer a few quick questions or scan their face using their phone camera. Based on this, Boots recommends personalised skincare regimes — tied directly into loyalty discounts and same-day delivery.

Tesco: Tesco is using Clubcard data to send highly targeted promotions — not just by product category, but by dietary preference and lifestyle indicators. If you’ve bought baby food recently, for example, expect a stream of relevant offers, parenting content, and even reward multipliers aimed at building long-term loyalty.

John Lewis: John Lewis has begun using real-time data from its app and website to adjust what’s displayed in-store on digital signage. If a certain sofa gets a spike in online interest in a certain region, the showroom floor reflects that by the weekend.

Why this is happening now

There are a few reasons retailers are doubling down on personalisation in 2025:

1. Customer expectations: Shoppers are used to tailored experiences from Netflix, Spotify, and TikTok. They expect the same from the brands they buy from. Generic doesn’t cut it anymore.
2. Data maturity: Retailers now have better tools for collecting, unifying, and acting on customer data — without needing a team of analysts to make sense of it.
3. Margin pressure: With inflation still hovering and consumer spending under pressure, personalisation helps protect margins. By reducing returns, increasing basket size, and improving retention, it becomes a lever for efficiency as well as experience.
4. Tech is catching up: The rise of embedded AI tools, smart CRMs, and retail-specific CDPs (Customer Data Platforms) has made personalisation accessible — even for mid-sized businesses.

What it means for marketers

For in-house retail marketers and agencies alike, this shift means:

• Creative needs to flex: Ad campaigns, emails, and landing pages now need to support multiple variants and dynamically adjust based on who’s seeing them.
• CRO is key: Personalisation is no longer just a branding exercise — it’s a core part of conversion optimisation. A tailored product page, recommendation slider, or app prompt can shift revenue numbers.
• Segmentation matters: Building accurate audience profiles – whether by postcode, lifestage, or behaviour – is now a must. Lazy segmentation leads to poor personalisation, which backfires.
• Privacy still counts: All of this has to be done within the bounds of GDPR and evolving data privacy norms. Shoppers will reward brands that get the balance right.

Where affiliates fit in

For affiliate marketers, this trend opens new doors — and some new pressures.

• More relevance = higher conversions: If the brand you’re promoting personalises its landing pages based on traffic source or user intent, your EPCs go up.
• Pre-segmented traffic is gold: Affiliates who can deliver qualified, intent-rich traffic (e.g. from review pages, product quizzes, or niche content) become more valuable than those sending generic clicks.
• New campaign formats: Brands may start offering affiliates modular creative tailored to audience segments. Dynamic content blocks, interactive banners, or affiliate-specific discount flows are all now on the table.

Final word

Retail personalisation in 2025 isn’t optional — it’s expected. But it’s not just about flashy AI or marketing tech stacks. At its heart, it’s about listening better, responding faster, and showing up for shoppers in a way that feels useful rather than invasive.

For retailers, affiliates, and marketers alike, the challenge is the same: use what you know to create something that feels like it was built for them. Because when the customer journey feels personal, it leads somewhere valuable.