Today’s consumers want it all – from personalised content delivered through their favourite online channels, to immersive visual experiences to fast, frictionless transactions. Not only that, according to the Cloudinary Global Retail Survey 2025, consumers increasingly want these to be delivered in ways that are both accessible and sustainable. This diverse and sometimes conflicting mix of expectations are hallmarks of the latest phase in the digitisation of retail. An industry that, just 20 years ago, was still largely bricks-and-mortar.
A context of change
Change really sped up over the last five years as retailers scrambled to adapt to external events and market factors. As McKinsey noted, seven years of digital transformation of key industries like retail happened in the first six months of COVID alone. And the relentless pace of change shows no signs of abating.
Fortunately this pressure to adapt is helping to level retail’s playing field. It used to be mainly digital giants like Amazon and Alibaba that used visual media in highly sophisticated ways. Our data shows that many smaller and mid-sized retailers are now delivering highly personalised, accessible, and immersive experiences that rival those big players.
Giving it personally…
An overwhelming 88% of brands in our survey said personalisation is critical to their digital strategies and have made it their top priority. Also, nearly all (93%) of retailers estimated that personalisation alone delivers anywhere from a 50 to a 400% improvement in business outcomes. Brands now seem to recognise that they need to meet customers where they are. This means adapting to a wide range of devices whose usages vary by country, in different languages and currencies, and over vastly different bandwidth levels.
…at scale
All this personalisation needs to happen at scale. During what Adidas calls a ‘Mega Moment’ in sports, it might handle up to 50 million digital transactions per second – all of which need to look and perform well. But mid-sized brands, like the premium design goods site Minted, also contend with scale. A single product on its marketplace can have more than 100,000 variants, each needing to be rendered flawlessly.
…requires smart tools and techniques
To personalise at scale, retail practitioners are using techniques and processes like automation and dynamic media delivery: 67% dynamically adjust content for factors like language, currency, browser and device, for example, 65% for geographic location, and 50% consistently optimise content quality for the available bandwidth. Also 41-48% are using generative AI to streamline tasks like background removal, captioning and smart cropping.
Sustainability and accessibility are good business
Regardless of the broader political climate, retailers recognise that consumers care deeply about and choose bands that are accessible and sustainable. Beyond their inherent virtues, supporting these is simply smart business. According to a study by the Royal National Institute of the Blind cited in an EU press release, when Tesco invested £35,000 to make its website accessible, it drew an additional £13 million in annual revenue. That’s why we see 62% of surveyed brands optimising content for screen readers, and 57% adding alt text to images and video.
Sustainability efforts also lead to greater efficiency and cost savings. Half of the respondents are optimizing media delivery to reduce energy consumption, while 47% are recycling or repurposing digital content.
Bridging online and instore experiences
Retailers are also embracing new next-generation innovations in visual media today to blend the best of online and in-store experiences. The survey found that 62% are looking to employ more video, 53% are prioritising virtual try-on, 45% are leaning into AR/VR experiences and 36% are looking to deliver 3D visuals. In-store, 66% of respondents offer the ability to use QR codes, the majority (64%) use mobile apps, and 32% are working with Augmented Reality (AR) to elevate the in-store journey.
The visual information these experiences provide helps customers make faster, better-informed decisions and also substantially reduces the financial and environmental cost of returns.
Retailers are increasingly turning to next-generation visual media to create consistently impactful experiences across channels, including in-store. According to the survey, 62% plan to use more video, 53% are prioritising virtual try-on, 45% are investing in AR/VR, and 36% are exploring 3D visuals. In physical stores, 66% offer QR code functionality, 64% use mobile apps, and 32% are incorporating augmented reality to enhance the shopping journey.
Although consumers expect more from brands than ever, meeting diverse demands doesn’t have to hurt the bottom line. On the contrary, our research shows that investing in user experience, accessibility, and sustainability is a rare win-win where doing the right thing is also smart business.
The Cloudinary Global Retail Survey was conducted by an independent research firm, Researchscape International, and polled 450 marketing, and business leaders in retail across 14 different countries. To qualify for the survey, respondents had to be working in environments with more than 1000 images and at least 100 videos on their website and/ or mobile app.
