Is 2025 the year of AI integration? Will the gap between offline and online disappear? Are consumers disposing of a disposable society? In this chapter of Canvas8's 2025 Expert Outlook, we speak to three experts about the changes set to shake up retail in the year ahead.
- Sector
- Generations
Omar H. Fares is a lecturer at the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management. He researches consumers’ interaction with novel digital innovations and the impact of digital innovations on retailers. Fares has worked for leading institutions such as Walmart, CIBC, and Fairstone Bank.
Rhonda is an Oxford professor who is researching the impact of emerging technologies on consumer behaviour. Her studies examine consumer interactions with immersive tech, spatial computing, wearables, and artificial intelligence (AI). As an associate editor at the Journal of Consumer Research and the Journal of Consumer Psychology, she plays a key role in shaping academic discourse in her field. Her published work is frequently selected as a 'Must Read' by the Marketing Science Institute.
Rhonda offers a global perspective shaped by her North African heritage and experiences living and working across multiple continents. Now based in Brooklyn, New York, she holds both US and British citizenship.
Clare Bailey, AKA The Retail Champion, is one of the most well-known and respected retail consultants in the UK. Born into a family of retailers and entrepreneurs, she's passionate about retail and business. Clare is engaged by clients as a retail consultant, professional speaker and business mentor and is regularly called upon by BBC News (TV and Radio) and trade press to comment as a retail expert. Her retail business book, The Retail Champion: 10 Steps to Retail Success (2012), is specifically written to enable independent retailers to become scalable, saleable businesses.
Bailey Bellingy is a behavioural analyst at Canvas8. After completing a BSc in social sciences, she joined the world of cultural insights. Throughout her degree, Bailey gained experience across social research methods, focusing on sociology, gender, and race studies. With experience on a range of qualitative projects, her practice focuses on incorporating diverse narratives. Outside of Canvas8, she can be found stocking up on Glossier or browsing Jane’s Patisserie for recipes.
