Consumer Outlook: Guide to 2027

As Laura McCullough, President, Global Customer Organization, explains: 

Around the world, consumers are adjusting expectations, priorities, and purchasing behaviors around the assumption that everyday volatility and economic uncertainty will remain part of everyday life. What we are now observing is a shift from adaptation to commitment, as households make increasingly consequential decisions about how they live, work, learn, save, and spend in a fundamentally different environment.

Consumers are moving from adaptation to commitment. Financial confidence remains fragile, affordability and ongoing cost of living pressures continue to shape household decision-making, and consumers are redesigning major life decisions around the assumption that volatility is here to stay. 

34% of global consumers report being financially worse off than a year ago, while 77% of financially challenged consumers cite rising costs of living as a key contributor to financial strain. Rising food prices remain the leading consumer concern globally, signaling a shift from inflation anxiety toward affordability anxiety.  

Economic polarization continues to reshape consumer spending trends and growth opportunities. 

The widening economic divide is accelerating the emergence of “constraint” and “upgrade” spending mindsets, placing growing pressure on mainstream propositions. As consumers seek either meaningful savings or meaningful upgrades, growth is increasingly concentrating at opposite ends of the market. 

More than 23B USD in value share has shifted away from mainstream-priced CPG products toward value and premium brand alternatives, highlighting how market structure is evolving alongside consumer priorities. 

Consumers are spending by exception rather than by habit. 

In this environment, products increasingly compete not only against direct alternatives, but against other uses of consumers’ time, attention, and money. Every purchase must justify its place within evolving consumer purchasing decisions. 

Quality and performance now outrank affordability as the leading determinants of whether a purchase feels worthwhile (34% vs. 31%), signaling a meaningful shift in how value is defined. Consumers are becoming more selective, concentrating spending on products, services, and experiences that deliver meaningful outcomes.

Health is becoming part of the value equation. 

Consumers increasingly evaluate purchases through a dual lens of affordability and wellbeing, extending the influence of health far beyond traditional wellness categories. Emerging technologies, GLP-1 adoption, awareness of weight loss drugs, and evolving care pathways are helping consumers take greater ownership of how they manage their health.  

This shift is influencing consumer behavior across food, beverage, beauty, healthcare, and retail, creating new opportunities to embed health performance management, food as medicine, and quality-of-life benefits into everyday experiences. 

Artificial intelligence is becoming a new layer of influence across the consumer journey, reshaping how AI recommendations and AI search fit into existing product discovery journeys.  

Already, 55% of consumers report they have been influenced by AI recommendations for CPG purchases, while 27% say they already use AI shopping assistants and other AI-powered tools to help decide what to buy. Recommendation systems are reshaping how products are discovered, evaluated, and selected.  

As AI-mediated commerce evolves, the foundations of product discoverability are transforming; visibility may become as important as availability. Products increasingly compete not only for consumer attention, but also for recommendation relevance and inclusion within shrinking consideration sets.  

The organizations best positioned for growth will be those that can adapt as quickly as consumers do. 

As spending becomes more polarized, purchases require stronger justification, health becomes part of the value equation, and AI reshapes how products are discovered and chosen, businesses will need a deeper understanding of where demand is concentrating and how consumer expectations are evolving.  

Consumer Outlook: Guide to 2027 provides a strategic roadmap for navigating these shifts and identifies the trends most likely to influence consumer behavior, consumer spending, retail performance, shopper expectations, wellness priorities, agentic commerce and AI-powered commerce in the years ahead.  

Drawing on consumer sentiment from more than 21,000 respondents across 31 countries, combined with NIQ’s measurement of real-world purchasing behavior, Consumer Outlook: Guide to 2027 explores the consumer behavior trends, consumer spending trends, and retail trends most likely to influence growth opportunities through 2027.  

The respondents for the survey study include consumers who often make shopping decisions on behalf of their households and agreed to participate in this research. The sample for each country incorporated age and gender quotas aligned with respective census data, while ensuring that each demographic group maintained a statistically reliable base size. 

The analysis is further enriched by NIQ’s industry-leading consumer intelligence ecosystem, spanning global retail measurement, shopper panels, product attribution, digital shelf intelligence, commerce measurement, and category performance data. By combining consumer sentiment with real-world behavioral measurement, NIQ provides a uniquely comprehensive view of consumer behavior, shopping trends, retail performance, category growth, and purchase decision-making across global markets.