Consumer trends 2027: how shoppers are changing and what it means for businesses

Economic instability is changing the way people approach shopping. Rather than simply cutting spending temporarily, households are restructuring their budgets in anticipation of prolonged uncertainty.

How does this affect consumer priorities?

• Spending on essentials remains the priority. This primarily includes food, utilities, education and healthcare.
• Discretionary purchases are being reconsidered. Of those surveyed, 44% plan to reduce spending on restaurants and cafés, 41% on out-of-home entertainment and 40% on food delivery.
• People are planning for the future differently. They are revisiting their plans for housing, education, work and savings, recognising that economic instability may persist for a long time.

The reason goes beyond the desire to save. Shoppers are increasingly choosing between two approaches:

• pay as little as possible;
• spend more, but gain tangible benefits.

Mid-priced products are harder to justify if they offer nothing substantially better than budget alternatives. 55% of respondents believe these products need a compelling advantage over cheaper or premium alternatives.

However, this trend varies across markets. NielsenIQ identifies six patterns of market development: some countries show a pronounced shift towards budget and premium products, while in others the middle segment retains a stronger position. Global findings therefore cannot be applied automatically to an individual market or product category.

A shopper may choose a more expensive product while also looking for a discount code or waiting for a promotion. There is no contradiction here: people want to get the most value for their money, rather than simply buy the cheapest option.

According to NielsenIQ, 34% of consumers consider product quality and performance the main criterion for a worthwhile purchase, while 31% cite affordability. These figures relate to the choice of food and household products.

The ways people save are changing too. Shoppers are increasingly:

• Combining different benefits. They use promotions, discount codes, cashback and loyalty programme rewards to reduce the final cost of a purchase.
• Comparing total costs. They consider not just the price of an individual item, but also the cost of the entire basket, pack size and the quantity of product.
• Planning purchases around good deals. They stock up on favourite products during promotions or choose stores offering better terms.

NielsenIQ calls this approach value engineering: a deliberate effort to optimise spending. Interestingly, shoppers may use the money they save not to buy other cheaper goods, but to purchase higher-quality products that previously seemed too expensive.

There is another important signal for retailers: shoppers may not just buy less often, but stop buying from certain product categories altogether. In the first case, a better offer may still support demand. In the second, businesses need to understand why the purchase has lost its relevance entirely.

A product’s ingredients, origin and health impact are increasingly influencing purchase decisions. According to NielsenIQ, 15.1% of consumers named naturalness and health-related attributes as the main criterion when choosing fast-moving consumer goods. This is almost as many as those who prioritise affordability, at 15.3%.

Shoppers are also willing to pay more for certain benefits:

• 63% for fresh products without preservatives.
• 48% for transparent information about ingredients and product origins.
• 45% for products endorsed as healthy by experts or relevant organisations.

However, willingness to pay more depends heavily on financial circumstances. Among financially comfortable consumers, 75% are willing to pay extra for fresh products, compared with just 54% of those facing financial difficulties. This 21 percentage point gap shows how important it is to consider the audience’s purchasing power.

This creates two tasks for brands: meet demand for higher-quality products while making them accessible to different groups of shoppers. Even an interested customer may reject a product if its price exceeds their planned budget.

Imagine a shopper seeing only a few of the dozens of available products because those are the ones an AI assistant recommended. The rest may never even enter the comparison. NielsenIQ highlights precisely this shift: artificial intelligence is gradually influencing not only what shoppers choose, but also which offers they see in the first place.

This influence is already visible. According to the study:

• 55% of consumers say AI recommendations influence their choice of fast-moving consumer goods.
• 27% of respondents use AI tools to find product information or make purchase decisions.

Recommendations from people they know, search engines and personal experience still play an important role. However, AI is changing the search process itself: instead of browsing dozens of offers independently, a shopper may receive a shortlist of products selected to match their needs.

The next stage is the development of agentic commerce, in which AI agents will be able not only to recommend products, but also to compare features, check prices and availability, and help place orders.

Global research shows how shopper behaviour is changing, but it does not provide a ready-made answer to what is happening with a particular business’s customers. To apply these trends in practice, businesses need to test them against their own data and understand which changes are actually affecting sales and profitability.

To do this, focus on four areas.

• Track changes in demand across price segments. Compare the sales share of budget, mid-priced and premium products, the number of units sold and gross margin. For example, growing demand for cheaper products may sustain sales volume while reducing profit. In that case, additional discounts are not necessarily the right decision: reviewing the product range or price positioning may be more appropriate.
• Distinguish between lower purchase frequency and customer loss. Analyse how often regular shoppers return to place orders and how the number of unique buyers changes in each product category. If customers are buying less often, test offers designed to encourage repeat purchases. If they are leaving the category altogether, review its relevance, product range and alignment with the audience’s changing needs.
• Check which product benefits actually influence choice. Test different selling points in advertising and product listings: savings per unit, material quality, durability, warranties or ease of use. Evaluate not only ad click-through rates, but also purchase conversion and sales profitability. This will help identify what customers are willing to pay for and which benefits do not affect their decisions.
• Build communications around customer needs. Order history helps identify products customers buy regularly, so you can offer them again at the right time. For example, SMS campaigns can be used for repeat purchase reminders, personalised offers or updates on promotions for products a customer has previously shown interest in. What matters is not the number of messages sent, but the additional purchases and profit after accounting for discounts and campaign costs. Where possible, compare the results with a control group of customers who did not receive messages.

The key is to use consumer trends as pointers to what you should investigate in your own business, rather than as ready-made sales forecasts. This approach supports informed decisions about where to adjust the product range, which offers to promote and which marketing tools to invest in.

In 2027, simply offering a competitive price will not be enough. Businesses need to understand what actually drives purchase decisions. For some shoppers, savings and affordability will be decisive; for others, quality, convenience or additional benefits will matter most. Even an interested customer may abandon a purchase if they cannot get the information they need or encounter inconvenient service.

The main task for companies, then, is not just to follow global trends, but to check how they play out in their own business.

1. Which product categories are losing buyers?
2. Which features are customers willing to pay more for?
3. What encourages repeat orders?
4. At which stages are potential sales being lost?

The answers should guide decisions on the product range, pricing, marketing and customer service.

Companies that not only recognise changes in consumer behaviour but also turn these insights into timely, concrete business decisions will gain a competitive advantage.