Key Consumer Trends to Watch in 2023

Key Consumer Trends Overview

The key consumer trends likely to create an impact in 2023 are broadly classified into the value-for-money mindset, health in focus, consumers in control, and the new normal in 2023. The report identifies the most impactful consumer trends for the year ahead. The key consumer trends to watch in the 2023 report offers a detailed impact of these trends in 2023.

Consumer trend - Value-for-money mindset

• Pack size polarization:Consumers will become more sensitive to how pack sizes meet their convenience and value-for-money needs. Over the past few years, packaging innovation has shifted to meet consumers’ sustainability and hygiene expectations. In addition to these, the focus will also turn to packaging size as value-conscious consumers gravitate towards either smaller packs or larger ‘value’ packs.
• Buying local: Geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions are proving to be setbacks to globalization. More companies will boost domestic capabilities by nearshoring and reshoring, fulfilling consumer needs faster and more effectively—but at a price.
• Skimpflation: The perceived link between high quality and good value is weakening as consumers accept that a degree of quality sacrifice may be necessary to cut costs. However, they will increasingly rebel against skimpflation, particularly if it affects the customer and shopping experience.
• Thoughtful indulgence: As inflation continues to pressure household budgets and unsteady supply chains affect availability, brand loyalty will take a hit. Crucially, though, the inclination to switch brands is nuanced, impacting household care products more than health and beauty, for example.
• Second chances: Second hand or ‘recommerce’ platforms have transformed the fashion industry and have the potential to expand into the personal care sector as consumers pursue lower prices and more sustainable forms of consumption.
• Maximum efficiency, minimum effort: The weight of inflationary pressures places a financial burden on consumers and emotional too. Products that help save time or stress—by, for example, cutting down on meal preparation time or using fewer products—will be essential in facilitating ‘sanity savings’.
• Waste watching: The merits of repurposing food waste will expand beyond sustainability to also encompass a more cost-efficient approach to food consumption. An interesting tension between fresh and shelf-stable (canned, dried, frozen) products may ensue.

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Consumer trend -Health in focus

• Health hacks: Since 2021, the health & wellness mega-trend has outranked all others as the most influential for consumers. This preoccupation with health will prompt consumers to embrace everything from age-old techniques such as meditation and fasting to more extreme forms of human augmentation.
• Conscious food swaps: The growing momentum of flexitarianism and “sober curiosity” is indicative of a broader social wellness movement, largely driven by younger generations, and characterized by the desire to embrace a more moderated mindset and practice more intentional indulging.
• Prioritizing self-care: The self-care movement was fueled by the pandemic, which underscored the value of a holistic approach to health. This is manifesting in new and welcome conversations about historically taboo topics such as mental, sexual, and menstrual health.
• Guided health: The pandemic set into motion a new type of health-conscious consumer, determined to incorporate health-focused strategies into their ‘new normal’. Such strategies will include an unwavering focus on immune health, as well as new approaches to fitness for the remote worker.

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Consumer trend - Consumers in control

• Repertoire shopping: Savvy, price-sensitive shoppers will make use of tools in-store and online to cut grocery costs. Private labels will enjoy renewed growth in the process, while new entrants and online pure players will continue to attract shoppers and disrupt the sector.
• Check the label: Product labels are undergoing an overhaul; what was once considered a safety imperative is now being blamed for food waste and unnecessary alarm. A backlash would, however, present a dilemma for retailers.
• DIY everything: Sparked largely by extended time at home during the pandemic, consumers have embraced cooking experimentation, at-home pampering, gardening, and creating content online, with a view to channeling their energy into something that is meaningful to them.
• Me time: Younger consumers will seek to subvert traditional family stereotypes and focus instead on themselves. This will manifest in a greater appreciation for and even desire to be alone, and an expectation for brands and the media to respect this.
• Planned impulse: Impulse purchases will no longer be characterized purely by the need for convenience and enjoyment. Developments in Q-commerce, for example, mean that thoughtful planning and immediate gratification need not be mutually exclusive.

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Consumer trend - The new normal in 2023

Engaged and empowered post-pandemic consumers will face new complexities in 2023. The key trends here will be classified into trends impacting consumers in 2023 at home, at work, and online.

At home: The key trends influencing consumers in 2023 at home will be empowered shoppers, personalization expectations, and experimentation hub.

At work: The key trends influencing consumers in 2023 at work will be hybrid working and the great resignation. The mass exodus from the workforce is a reflection of a broader desire among consumers for greater work-life balance, a sense of purpose, and expectation for companies/brands to reinforce personal values.

Online: The key trends influencing consumers in 2023 online will be brand bias, privacy paradox, and social commerce. A people-centric approach to online shopping will require brands to relinquish a degree of control to consumers, creators, and influencers; however, the potential payoff is authentic and meaningful consumer-brand connections.

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Scope

• Second hand platforms have transformed fashion, and have the potential to expand into personal care.
• More consumers will embrace upcycling and creative use of byproducts to combat food waste.
• The pursuit for healthier alternatives to indulgences such as red meat and alcohol will gather speed.

Reasons to Buy

• Understand the relevant consumer trends and attitudes that drive and support innovation success so you can tap into what is really impacting the industry.
• Gain a broader appreciation of the fast-moving consumer goods industry by gaining insights from both within and outside of your sector.
• Access valuable strategic take-outs to help direct future decision-making and inform new product development.