Falling Inflation, but Permanently Changed Consumer Behaviors
The slowdown in global inflation estimated at 4.2% in 2025 continues to strongly influence consumer behavior.
In 2024, 72% of consumers reported being concerned about rising everyday product prices, and 67% said they were willing to switch to cheaper brands
4
%
Estimated slowdown of global inflation in 2025 by
72
%
Consumers concerned about rising prices
67
%
Willing to switch to cheaper brands
However, consumption is not collapsing. Data from Deloitte’s reports show a certain resilience: spending, whether essential or discretionary, has generally been increasing since 2022.The change lies elsewhere: consumers have become more selective, more rational, and especially more attentive to the value of every expense.
CONSUMING DIFFERENTLY ____________________________________________________________________________________________
A New Logic of Trade-Offs: Consuming Differently, Not Less
Constrained expenses such as food, health, and housing continue to rise, reducing the share of disposable income. Yet consumers are not giving up “pleasure” spending. This leads to a dual, structuring dynamic.
On one hand, there is an increased rationalization of daily life. In food, for example, optimizationbehaviors are becoming widespread:
- Using private-label products
- Choosing lower-cost alternatives
- Reducing quantities or the most expensive categories
- Paying closer attention to waste
These trends reflect amarked rise in food frugality, particularly in Europe and North America.
On the other hand, the preservation of high-emotional-value spending. Discretionary spending intentions remain on the rise, reflecting a desire to maintain certain experiences deemed essential. This paradox is central: consumers continuously make trade-offs but do not disengage. They reallocate their spending based on perceived value.
CONSUMPTION _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Experience as the New Driver of Consumption
Spending onexperiences is growing faster than spending on material goods. Categories showing growth include dining, leisure, travel, and wellness. Conversely, durable goods are experiencing more moderate trends. Consumers are no longer just looking for a product they seek immediate utility, an experience, or even an emotion. For retail players, this requires rethinking the value proposition. The product alone is no longer enough. Experience has become a central lever for differentiation and value creation.
2026: A Strategic Turning Point for the Sector
Outlook for 2026 confirms a structural transformation in retail. Five major dynamics are redefining the sector:
- Greater focus on value, with permanently transformed purchasing behaviors
- The shift of artificial intelligence from experimentation to operational deployment
- Reinvention of marketing and customer experience, driven by data and personalization
- Transformation of supply chains in a context of uncertainty and resilience-seeking
- Increased pressure on margins, requiring finer financial management
These changes occur in a globally uneven context. Expectations for food price increases remain high in
Europe and Asia-Pacific, while they are declining in the U.S. Similarly,
consumption trends differ by region, requiring finely tuned strategies.
Transformation Priorities for Retailers
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Artificial Intelligence as a Performance Lever
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Artificial Intelligence as a Performance Lever
AI has become an operational tool at the core of the business model. It enables simultaneous action across key dimensions: offer personalization, price optimization, inventory management, and interaction automation.
New applications are also emerging. Agent-based approaches automate complex processes and facilitate real-time decision-making. Content factories allow for the production and personalization of marketing content at scale using generative AI. Finally, the emergence of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is redefining visibility strategies in conversational search environments.
The goal is no longer to experiment but to deploy at scale to generate measurable impact.
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Social E-Commerce as a New Conversion Channel
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Social E-Commerce as a New Conversion Channel
E-commerce remains a central pillar of retail, supported by increasingly seamless purchase journeys, high logistics standards, and rising demands for user experience. In this context, social commerce has become a growth driver. Social platforms are evolving into fully transactional environments. Customer journeys are significantly shortened, integrating discovery, influence, and purchase in a single space.
This trend is reshaping acquisition strategies and requires new content, engagement, and conversion approaches.
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Omnichannel as an Expected Standard
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Omnichannel as an Expected Standard
Omnichannel is no longer a differentiator but a prerequisite. Consumers expect a smooth, continuous experience across an increasing number of channels without interruption.
The challenge for companies is now to go beyond simple channel juxtaposition to create truly integrated, data-driven, and customer-centered journeys.
4
Physical Stores as Experiential Spaces
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Physical Stores as Experiential Spaces
Stores are transforming into hybrid spaces, combining transaction, experience, and interaction. Digitalization of the store enriches the customer journey while generating real-time actionable data.
Beyond technology, experience is central: immersion, services, personalization. The store’s role is evolving into a lever for engagement, differentiation, and loyalty.
Conclusion
Retail is entering a new phase, shaped by several underlying trends: on the consumer side, greater attention to the value of products and experiences; on the retailer side, increasing use of experience as a way to differentiate; and the large-scale deployment of AI alongside channel convergence.
In this context, consumers are not reducing their spending, they are transforming it. More demanding and selective, they are setting new standards for pricing, service, and experience.
For retail players, the challenge is rapid adaptation in a competitive sector within an environment of accelerated transformation.
About the authors
Lucia Cenan
Lucia has over 10 years of experience in digital strategy, with a strong focus on retail and luxury industries. Prior to joining Deloitte, she held a senior leadership role in eBusiness, where she led a large-scale digital transformation program as Global Business Owner, driving initiatives spanning eCommerce, Digital Marketing, Omnichannel and New Technologies. Since joining Deloitte, Lucia has built deep expertise across Marketing, eCommerce and Customer Experience, with a particular focus on new consumption patterns and their business implications. She has worked on business cases and end-to-end implementations of marketing strategies, and recently led a Proof of Concept related to a Customer Data Platform.