In this episode, she unpacks:

• How an unprecedented seven generations are making this market the most demographically diverse
• Why brands must adopt multi-layered approaches that respect generational diversity
• Opportunities for innovation to meet the needs of younger consumers who are spending more on food and beverages
• The emergence of AI as a co-creator that accelerates innovation, optimizes formulations, and personalizes consumer experiences

Stay tuned for regular episodes packed with insights to keep you informed, inspired, and ready to shape the future with confidence.

Circana’s President and CEO, Stuart Aitken, joins the podcast and unpacks:

• The ways in which AI is becoming embedded in everyday decisions, transforming how consumers live and how businesses operate.
• How consumers are showing remarkable resilience and intentionality in today’s dynamic marketplace.
• What businesses need to know about navigating an unprecedented six-generation landscape.

Stay tuned for monthly episodes designed to keep you informed, inspired, and ready to shape the future with confidence.

Highlights:

• Marketing Strategies: Learn about effective marketing efforts, including social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, and grassroots initiatives that drove these products to success.
• Consumer Engagement: Understand how CELSIUS Essentials performance drinks, Liquid Death Iced Tea, and Barebells protein bars are connecting with their target audiences through unique and relatable content.
• New Product Pacesetters: Read the full report and watch the webinar replay to learn more.

Highlights:

• Many categories with low shares of sustainability-marked products in the U.S. have high shares in EMEA. U.S. manufacturers should revisit claims that matter to shoppers.
• A market leader moving to sustainability drives the trend for the category. Failing to do so opens the door for challenger brands, which could erode loyalty and share.
• In Europe, much of the increase in sales of sustainable products is driven by retailers. European retailers are incentivized to adopt sustainable practices, with regulations providing both incentives and penalties.
• European consumers consider the lack of sustainability to be a barrier to trial.

Highlights:

• While location and price remain the primary influencers of convenience store selection, the quality of products and services is becoming an increasingly significant factor.

• Inflation and economic headwinds are affecting discretionary purchases and driving consumers to look for better value.
• The competitive arena for c-stores is vast, and includes other convenience stores, grocery, dollar, club, and quick service restaurants.
• Foodservice is a top opportunity for regaining traffic and sales in c-stores, but other opportunities include expanding private label offerings and leveraging loyalty programs.
• Some retailers are leaning into digital engagement, including ordering and home delivery.

Highlights:

• Consumers are carefully weighing their options at the shelf, which doesn’t necessarily mean the end of indulgent and premium purchases.
• Many retailers, notably within the dollar channel, are putting value – including convenience and affordability – front and center, which is proving attractive to a wider audience of shoppers.
• Urban and rural consumers are reacting to economic uncertainty in different ways, which will impact product assortments, oftentimes within the same retail chain.  
• While tariffs haven’t impacted CPG prices yet, consumers will be tracking prices carefully.
• Innovation – from product development to assortment – can be critical to locking in consumer loyalty during challenging times.

Key takeaways:

1. Community connections: King Arthur Baking leaned on the experiences of consumers during COVID-19 to build a thriving baking community. This approach highlights the importance of engaging with consumers across different touchpoints and supporting them through innovative products and resources.
2. Comprehensive value: Companies like Lifeway and Bausch & Lomb offer multi-functional products that provide a wide range of benefits. This strategy emphasizes the importance of delivering value that goes beyond price, enhancing convenience, experience, and well-being.
3. Collaborative growth: Good Culture and Daisy Brand are reimagining their products and partnering with influencers to engage younger consumers.
4. Innovative use of AI: The Coca-Cola Co. and e.l.f. Beauty are at the forefront of experimenting with AI to enhance productivity, efficiency, and consumer engagement. From AI-generated commercials to social media bots, these innovative approaches are revolutionizing how companies connect with their audience.
5. Direct-to-consumer engagement: Company collaborations are resulting in successful, out-of-the-box solutions, many of which leverage digital sales and online promotional events to create buzz and engage loyal consumers.

Highlights:

• There are four main types of licensing: character, personality or lifestyle, co-branded, and limited-time offer (LTO).
• 11% of licensing involves food, both CPG and foodservice.
• Successful licensing should include brands that overlap in appeal, but also work to expand the audience for both brands.
• Before diving into licensing, validation is critical. Consumer research can help ensure a licensing idea resonates with the target audience.

Highlights include: 

• Successful retailers treat private labels like brands, cross-promoting them with name brand products and partnering with notable chefs on product development. 
• In EMEA, private brands have pulled back price promotional efforts and instead are focusing on promoting premium quality at a competitive price to name brands.
• While the U.S. lags other global regions in overall private label share, some categories, notably in the fresh perimeter departments, have a high share of total CPG sales. 
• The rise of the term “zero consumer” in Europe describes consumers who seek better value but show zero loyalty to any retailer or established brand. 

Highlights:

• Well over half – 56% – of all trips to retail stores for food and beverage are quick trips, which usually involve only one or two departments. 
• Health-minded consumers account for about one-third of overall food and beverage spending. Fresh departments, especially produce and deli, are crucial for consumers who prioritize healthier eating and transparency in food sourcing.
• Fresh foods could benefit from suggestive selling and marketing – especially via social channels – based on consumer motivations and occasions. Fresh departments should capitalize on weekend dinners, which tend to include more scratch cooking.

Key Highlights:

• AI is being incorporated into everyday products like smartphones, PCs, and TVs, enhancing the user experience through features like picture and sound quality optimization. But one watchout is that innovation needs to remain focused on tangible benefits for the end-user. Another pain point is managing consumer concerns with privacy. 
• Smart home devices, including smart doorbells and security cameras with AI capabilities, appliances and robotic vacuums are seeing enhanced functionality. 
• The next generation of smart glasses will drive new use cases and applications in personal health and augmented reality. 
• Retailers have a significant influence on the development and go-to-market strategies of tech products, particularly in the TV industry.

• GLP-1 users generally purchase more than nonusers, with notable shifts in purchases among weight loss users. For example, categories like gum and breath mints help with a side effect of bad breath, while an uptick in tea purchases is tied to soothing an upset stomach.
• Categories such as frozen foods decreased in sales during usage of GLP-1s. Sales of recommended foods, including vegetables, eggs, and nuts, increased.
• The ripple effects of GLP-1 usage go far beyond CPG to include wearable technologies such as fitness trackers, apparel, beauty products, beverageware, and more.

Highlights: 

• Energy drinks are popular among most generations. But they are less relevant for boomers, who prioritize probiotic and low-sugar dairy drinks. 
• Functional beverages, particularly those delivering energy, weight control, and better-for-you attributes, are growing in popularity. 
• High-income households prefer beverages with protein and probiotic claims. Low-income households lean toward energy drinks. 
• Consumers are most likely to shop the grocery channel for most of the top beverage attributes. But mass and supercenters lead for immune defense claims, and club stores are the top channel for protein claims. 

Highlights

• Consumers seek more personalization than ever, from flavoring tap water to interesting portable beverage containers. Marketers can see what consumers are turning to by watching book sales. Hint: Books on body cleansing and detoxing are trending. 
• In-home and out-of-home beverage trends are shifting. Consumers purchase portable beverage containers for out-of-home convenience. But they’re also purchasing specialty coffee makers, juicers, and smoothie makers to offset higher prices at foodservice. 
• Beverages deliver varying levels of nutrition, indulgence, satiety, and entertainment — with and without alcohol. The ripple effect of beverages goes well beyond what we’re drinking to how we’re consuming and where. Opportunities exist for marketers who consider new occasion moments, especially surrounding sports. 

Highlights: 

• Inflation has eased, but consumers still anticipate paying a little more for holiday groceries. Similarly, consumers expect to spend an average of 2% more on holiday gifts this year versus 2023. 
• Optimism is wrapped in practicality this year, with consumers willing to pay for needed or practical items. But they’ll also spend more to elevate experiences. Notably, consumers report they’re more likely to make impulse purchases and self-gift this year. 
• Retailers are ready for a positive gifting season. Black Friday is back, complete with doorbusters and retailer exclusives. And shoppers can expect a better in-store experience with deals and gift inspiration. 
• Shoppers of CPG and gen merch are focused on value, and retailers of all stripes will work to frame their offerings in terms of quality, price, and relevance to the shopper. 

Highlights: 

• Consumers are keeping around 140 items in their kitchen, down from 160 in 2020. 
• There’s been an uptick in heat-and-eat solutions. Kitchen appliances such as air fryers and pod coffee makers are responding to the need for speed. 
• Conversely, there’s been a decline in food appliances like deep fryers or coffee grinders. 
• Manufacturers of CPG items and appliance makers have an opportunity to support the success of meals, with proper temperature cooking, simplified recipes, and products that deliver flavor and convenience. 

Highlights

• When holidays fall during the week, such as Halloween 2024 landing on a Thursday, retailers should encourage consumers to stretch the celebrations.  Provide ideas for full-on parties and quick, fun meals to feed kids before trick-or-treating. 
• Start holiday promotions early to encourage consumers to come back for a second or third purchase. Retailers can add to the excitement by playing up seasonal flavors beyond pumpkin and mint, such as pecan, cinnamon, maple, and more. 
• Beyond holidays, retailers should focus on special occasions and promote affordability and inspiration for leftovers, especially proteins.

Highlights: 

• Gen Z and millennials might be more engaged in social media, but every generation is looking for inspiration. 
• High inflation is working in grocery retail’s favor, as more consumers avoid restaurants and look for more affordable meal options. Using social media to help consumers save is a big opportunity. 
• Any product soaring in popularity is replacing another one. How can retailers, brands, growers, and shippers generate new occasions or bring excitement to existing occasions?

Highlights: 

• Not one of the three pillars of well-being — physical, mental, and social — exists in a silo.
• Brands, retailers, and services should consider opportunities outside their own lane to promote their offerings, including cross-merchandising opportunities with complementary products. 
• Well-being is a global concern. While regional differences exist, there are many universal views, including the benefits of physical fitness, food as medicine, mental health awareness, and the value of community engagement. 

Highlights 

• Shoppers under the age of 35 have been shaped by the acceleration of smart phones, the explosion of social media, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Younger consumers are interested in cuisines like Japanese, Korean, and Cuban. This is a stark contrast to those of older generations, who prefer Mediterranean. 
• While it may have been the case for older generations, Gen Z and younger millennials prove the grocery store is not the only place to buy perishables. 
• Shoppers under the age of 35 under-spend in fresh. Most of their food dollars are spent on center-store items. 
• Young shoppers are motivated by relevance and experience. Messages that invoke feeling or speak to mood are more likely to hit the mark than low price. 

Highlights: 

• With persistent high inflation, consumers routinely try to stretch their food budget, from buying smaller amounts that fulfill a meal or two, to packing a lunch for work or eating what’s on hand to avoid waste.
• Retailers – and even operators – should embrace their role of curating assortment and making suggestions for meal solutions, especially for Gen Z, who haven’t landed on their weekly routines. 
• Approaches to meals change dramatically during the week. Easy one-dish meals might be the answer for a weekday, but weekend meals can be complicated, from-scratch affairs. 
• We have identified 6 billion annual occasions where consumers tell us they table their budget in favor of a celebration. This behavior helps explain positive sales of premium products and even the success of fast casual restaurants, both of which deliver quality and experience. 

Highlights:

• “Healthonomics” describes how consumers are balancing healthy choices amid persistent high inflation. Many consumers look for tiered offerings and base their purchases on their most desired attributes.
• Restaurant traffic is down, but restaurants will prevail. Consumers continue to place value on the food experience and service enjoyed while dining in restaurants.
• A ham sandwich has been the top lunch choice for 30 years or more. But the types of ham available, the emergence of artisanal breads, and different gourmet spreads have drastically changed the way it can be consumed.
• Where there’s innovation, there’s growth. Keep the innovation pipelines flowing.

Highlights:

• In addition to major holidays, consumers celebrate an average of 18 occasions annually. These events not only include more people, but they also represent moments when shoppers are willing to splurge to bring joy to others. Retailers are responding with more solutions and inspiration, from party trays to specialty baked goods.
• Innovation isn’t always about new. Brands and retailers should inspire consumers to use products they’re already buying in new ways.
• Technology can potentially offset labor challenges, but including high-touch offerings like hot bars and salad bars should be decided on a store-by-store or regional basis. Not all areas will support the investment.

Highlights:

• While dupes appeal to consumers of all ages, younger consumers are the most enthusiastic, given their strong engagement with social media.
• More than half of consumers have purchased a dupe and most would buy another.
• Even the products being duped benefit from the exposure and comparison of the replicas.

Highlights:

• Consumers are looking to escape negativity in the world. The joy economy provides manufacturers and retailers with the opportunity to serve consumers a positive experience.
• By putting the consumer at the center of decision-making, brands and retailers can benefit from participating in the joy economy. When done authentically, they can increase consumer loyalty.
• Younger consumers are looking for a deeper dialogue with brands. They are particularly more vocal about their expectations. Listening to these engaged consumers can fuel ideas for more meaningful connections.

Highlights:

• Table stakes should include setting the right expectations for sales and distribution.
• Marketing and support investment might ease from a peak of 25% of sales in year one. But support, easily in the 6% range, should continue.
• Retailers will continue to monitor the ability of products to keep shoppers coming back. New forms, new occasions, and moving into adjacencies are easy ways for consumers to remain loyal to preferred brands.

Highlights: 

• Heat-and-eat and items and cooking sauces for easy meals are rising in demand. Consumers want to shave cooking time, but they don’t want to compromise on taste or experience. 
• Content creators have introduced consumers to the versatility of cottage cheese. Opportunities exist to reframe categories and inspire consumers. 
• Donut sales are up and not just because they’re a fun morning treat. Donuts have what CPG consumers are looking for: they’re portable, convenient, ready-to-eat, and satisfying across dayparts.
• Consumers seek convenience, but they are agnostic about where they purchase. Cooked, and often shredded, chicken is showing up as a winner across channels, including club, grocery, super centers, and specialty grocers. 

Highlights: 

• Typically, as adults aged 21 and older begin drinking, their first choices are beer or wine. More recently, young adults aged 21 and older are starting with RTD beverages, particularly spirits-based options.
• Despite the vast array of beverage choices, beverage alcohol consumption is softening across generations. However, premium beverages are still showing growth.
• Much of the allure of RTD beverage alcohol among younger consumers is with packaging, including on-the-go options like ball form, slim cans, and aseptic packaging.
• Whiskey, tequila, spirits-based RTDs, and imported beer from Mexico continue to fuel the beverage alcohol market.

Highlights: 

• Companies have differing challenges based on their portfolios, which is why we study sales. While successful companies are laser focused on the consumer, they differ in how they leverage other strategies, including integrated engagement, continuous newness, the premium-value bifurcation, and embedding artificial intelligence.
• Newness with a twist is a better way to view innovation, given that changes can be small but prescriptive to meet consumer needs or even illuminate new usage and consumption occasions.
• Growth in a challenging market is hard to achieve, but truly integrating strategies provides the path to success.

Highlights: 

• While consumers of all affluency levels buy private brands, households with children, as well as millennial and Gen X households with no children, are top purchasers of private brands. 
• Shoppers have price memory for their favorite brands and want to get as close to those former prices as possible. This puts pantry items in the domain of private brands, which are gaining share within salty snacks, long dominated by name brands. 
• Retailers continue to support their mainstream brands with marketing that reinforces their premium features: convenience, health, how products fit with the way consumers cook, elevated flavors, and quality experiences. 

Highlights:

• Consumers shop up to an average of 12 retailers, including club, value, mass merchandisers, and traditional retail. Chances are, all will have the fresh basics. Don’t assume traditional grocery is the first choice for fresh. 
• With big box retailers and club stores focused on everyday low prices, high-low pricing in traditional grocery retail doesn’t drive the trips it once did. 
• Most Americans celebrate 18 food-focused occasions each year. Retailers need to think beyond the big holidays to surprise, delight, and support shoppers. 
• Data from early 2024 shows that people are eating more meals at home, but they’re not necessarily cooking from scratch. Learn how retailers can best support hybrid meals. 

• Diversity doesn’t just focus on one element or group and doesn’t diminish the value of one group over another. It includes and supports everyone.  
• Equity – not equality – gives everyone access to opportunities.  
• Inclusion allows individuals the freedom to bring their lived experiences to their work, contributing to a rich corporate tapestry.  
• Without support for DEI, businesses stand to lose a connection among employees, leading to reduced collaboration and innovation.   

Highlights:

• 2024 is an inflection point where generational differences in eating, cooking, and shopping will need to be balanced.
• Retailers and brands need to recognize that older consumers still shop the separate store departments (such as butcher, dairy, and produce) while younger consumers rely more on cross-merchandising that brings different departments together for easy solutions.
• Even as butcher service counters are closing, store butchers have social currency, providing service via recommendations and tips on social media platforms.

Highlights:

• SNAP shoppers represent nearly 50% of dollar store sales, and nearly 40% of convenience channel sales.
• SNAP is intended as a short-term benefit, meaning that SNAP is always new to many recipients. Retailers can help onboard shoppers and navigate the store for SNAP-eligible purchases.
• Retailers that make online search easy for SNAP shoppers will build loyalty that lasts after the benefits are no longer needed.

Highlights:

• Baby boomers, long the biggest spenders, are on the cusp of being overtaken by Gen X and millennials. While it’s still important to please boomers, long-term success depends on answering the call of younger shoppers.
• Younger consumers start their shopping journey online. The key to winning store traffic is securing the shopper before they enter the store.
• While older consumers value service, younger shoppers look for relevance and experience; think solutions, not stalls.
• Low-price and fresh offerings are no longer a reason to shop a store. Point of difference and only-available-here offerings will drive traffic.

Highlights:  

• While artificial intelligence was the buzzword at CES, AI hardware was harder to find. Chatbots in cars and a new keyboard function are standout examples.  
• Kitchen products that speed or improve cooking and mix cocktails were on display at CES, indicating increased innovation in the small home appliance space. 
• Products that support digital creators, including digital cameras and accessories, are experiencing sales growth.  
• There’s still penetration opportunity, especially among older consumer, for smart home products, including security cameras and smart lighting.

Highlights:  

• Linear TV offers lower cost-per-impressions and provides a broader reach than connected TV. 
• Despite the higher cost-per-impression, advertisers are realizing a better return on ad spend with the targeted audiences connected TV reaches. 
• The sweet spot might be a combination of the reach of linear and the targeting audiences of CTV.  
• Measurement tools determine which levers (linear TV, CTV or other marketing strategies) are driving sales lifts.  
• Campaigns should be monitored mid-flight to ensure they’re connecting with the right audience, at the right time and with the right message.  

Highlights:  

• From autonomous vehicles to drug discovery, artificial intelligence is making headlines. How will open-AI positively impact the daily lives of consumers?  
• Virtual reality hardware has been getting updates, but new applications are possible, from warehousing to personal fitness.   
• Circana research points to opportunities harness tech to empower consumers to take more control over their health.  
• Pet tech has been a darling of CES in recent years, but we’re due for a new wave of innovation. 
• Don’t miss Ben Arnold and Paul Gagnon’s CES presentation: Navigating Today’s Consumer Technology Market, January 8, in the West Hall, room 232, 2 pm. 

Highlights:

• While not as bad as 2022, sales of home goods and consumer electronics were still down. The upside, gains were made compared to earlier periods of 2023.
• Different ways to shop and research is changing Black Friday traffic and extending Black Friday sales beyond a single day.
• Consumer electronics, once was a key category that brought shoppers out on Black Friday, now has to work for a share of household spend.
• Innovation is needed to reenergize the market and give consumers the new products and experiences they’re looking for.

• Retailers’ focus on in-store execution ignores pre-tailing, when consumers make their decisions of where to shop and what to buy, as well as post-tailing, their at-home experience with what was purchased.
• Foodservice leverages limited-time offers successfully, and it’s a great opportunity for retailers as well.
• Use heavy traffic departments, like produce and meat, to promote digital offers and encourage app adoption.

Highlights:  

• The replacement cycle for many small appliances may shrink from the traditional five to eight years given high usage throughout the pandemic.
• The top 10 items sold January through August are a great indicator of what will sell well during the winter gifting season.
• Holiday sales are anticipated to be down 4%, but there are ways to beat that by leaning into consumer behavior, especially the value we place on time.
• The Consumer Electronics Show, coming in January, is a great way to see the advancement of “smart,” including floor care, home comfort and personal care appliances. 

• Moving to a new home is a great motivator for tech purchases, but high mortgage rates, resumption of student loan payments and high credit card interest rates are all weighing down the housing market.   
• Consumers report they’re willing to spend more for consumer electronics this holiday season, with TVs and PCs identified as intended purchases. However, consumers are looking for deals and they’re willing to wait for them. 
• The Consumer Electronics Show is around the corner, and Paul will be looking for genuine innovation, improvements to bundles of hardware + services, and whether home automation players finally come together in a single, simple ecosystem for the benefit of the consumer.  

Highlights:  

• When facing economic challenges, consumers revert to routines to avoid buyer's remorse, even with food items.
• Retailer and manufacturers have an opportunity to lean into the small celebrations that consumers embrace throughout the year, from family milestones to sporting events.
• Thanksgiving in 2023 might be the battle of retailers, many of which will be rolling back prices. Ultimately, Thanksgiving is the biggest food holiday of the year.
• Many households will right-size portions of some of the Thanksgiving meal to permit more options. Think preparing a turkey breast instead of a full bird to accommodate another roasted meat.  

Highlights include:  

• While there will always be situations that can’t be predicted, like an epidemic, the right mix of causal factors, including inflation, weather patterns and finance rates, along with consumer behaviors, can lead to sound demand forecasts.
• Accurate forecasts can help companies make decisions about investments in innovation, assortment, and production levels.
• What spurred demands in the past, like a promoted price, might not work as well in the future. Knowing the shopping journey can help determine specific purchase influencers.  

Highlights.  

• Heavy frozen entrée buyers account for 36% more restaurant trips than the average customer. Frozen can compete on restaurant quality, cuisine type, and flavor experience, quickly and in the comfort of your own home.
• Manufacturers and retailers have opportunities to promote low cost per serving and ways frozen foods can stretch the food dollar.
• There are so many ways frozen foods aren’t being promoted, including as waste minimizers, as recipe ingredients for trending kitchen appliances, or as options that fit special diets.
• Ice cream, sherbet and frozen novelties represent an anchor that attracts a wide cross-section of consumers. Leverage the power of frozen treats to promote other frozen items.  

Highlights:  

• More consumers are using retail apps to plan shopping and load deals to their loyalty cards.  
• As shoppers visit fewer stores, being part of the consideration set is critical.  
• Younger shoppers are more likely than older shoppers to associate all types of channels, from Big Box to discount, as destinations for fresh foods.
• Grocery is winning in fresh by leveraging FOMO – fear of missing out.

Highlights:  

• Food inflation might be easing, but we’re still paying around 30% more for retail food and beverages than we were pre-pandemic. As consumers trade down, they are also buying smaller amounts to avoid waste.  
• Where disinflation is seen in retail, it’s not occurring in foodservice, where the price of a meal is more than 4 times that of food sourced from retail. Still, growth can be seen for the morning and afternoon dayparts and at quick-service restaurants.
• Consumers are looking for deals. Restaurant apps are helping get diners in the door and feeling good about the value on offer. At retail, coupons are coming back, but not at depths that are motivating shoppers.  

Highlights:  

• With the inflation of 2023, consumers are pulling back on impulse purchases and doing their best to avoid waste. There are an average of 10% fewer pantry items in 2023 than there were in 2020.  
• Convenience is a priority for all consumers, but how we realize it differs, often based on our ability to pay for speed, great taste, fresh offerings and customization.  
• While coffee is nearly ubiquitous across households, there are dramatic generational differences in how it’s prepared. Generation is an indicator of other food items, as well, with older consumers more likely to have staples like cooking oil and canned tomatoes, while the youngest households are more likely to have pasta sauce and pasta on hand.    

Highlights 

• The pinch of inflation continues to hurt, but fresh offerings can lean in by defining their “value” to the shopper. Across household income groups, value doesn’t equal lowest price.  
• Shopper trips are up but baskets are smaller than two years ago, with consumers visiting more retailers to fulfill their needs. Too many retailers and brands are focused on high-spending boomers, often without realizing the changing behaviors of this group. It’s time to look to where growth will come from.  
• Along with more frequent, small trips in-store, online shopping appeals to those wanting to stick to a budget. Both work against in-store discovery, meaning marketers must work harder to showcase new delights and solutions.  

Highlights:

• Books reveal the radical changes that are taking place as we find our post-pandemic normal, including a return to work, experiential travel, and increasing interest in physical well-being.
• These interests, in turn, will affect product innovation, marketing strategies, and the influencers and social platforms consumers engage with.
• Sales of fiction books are up for three consecutive years, including romance, fantasy, and escapism, which are causing a ripple effect across the CPG, toys, and entertainment industries. “Kidults” might be driving more toy sales, but marketers of all products should take note of their child-like preferences.

Highlights: 

• Consumers are on the hunt for deals and will shop across multiple stores to find them. While trips were up, baskets were down around five units per trip in June 2023. 
• Consumers’ value of their time has rebounded since the pandemic. As a result, hybrid meals are now the norm, with consumers leveraging freshly prepared retail options, restaurant offerings, and pantry staples to pull together meals.
• Bakery items epitomize the value of a plus-one purchase, as consumers look for affordable items to brighten lunchboxes, reward small accomplishments, or elevate meals. Retailers should encourage extra purchases through their apps.   

Highlights:  

• Most tech sales take place at the end of the year, from back-to-school season through the winter holidays. Retailers and manufacturers should use digital platforms to encourage consumers to shop in store, an easier place to showcase wares and adjacent products.  
• Innovation in consumer tech took a back seat to production during the pandemic. Look for the innovation pipeline to fill again at the close of 2023 and into 2024. There’s excitement around AR/VR as Meta ups its game and Apple enters the arena.
• Consumers might be ready for tech upgrades and replacements, but budgets are tight. Many consumers will look for ways to extend the life of products they already own. Retailers and manufacturers should be prepared for the upcoming holiday season with optimal innovation or promotions — or both.  

Highlights:  

• Meat might still be king of the grill, but its increasingly sharing space with vegetables, plant-based meat alternatives and different types of protein.  
• Brands that cross-promote across categories and retailers that highlight convenient solutions see a bigger sales lift. Consider the opportunities of educating and inspiring consumers with products from across the store to build bigger baskets around the theme of grilling, for example.   
• With more retail channels competing in fresh, too many are selling the same products and traditional price promotions aren’t delivering lift. Consider digital ads and messaging to target and connect with shoppers and get them to make the trip to the store.
• Retailers don’t necessarily need to change their assortments, but they should rethink how they merchandise. Consider different colors and merchandising strategies to position products in new ways.  

Highlights:  

• Sweets and snacks are often an impulse purchase, so innovation in this area is particularly important. Older consumers look for innovation from their trusted brands, while younger consumers are attracted to global flavors and interesting experiences.
• Award-winning products made the most of packaging. They presented a sophisticated and clean front panel and told the brand/company story on the back panel.
• While bold and fun flavors dominated, other winners included sustainable products, allergy-friendly options, and products that mixed function with fun (such as energy- and vitamin-boosting candies).  

Highlights:  

• Timely information — fueled by receipt panel data, consumer surveys, and myriad other data sets and technologies — identifies consumer lifestyle shifts as they happen in real time.
• Brands, retailers, and other industry players are able to expand their perspective on the shopper to identify new opportunities for growth.
• This more complete view also identifies consumer purchasing priorities across all categories as well as by shopper type, from SNAP recipients to generational cohorts.  

• 40% of shoppers report combatting inflation by stretching meals and minimizing waste. Produce benefits from quick trips, as consumers buy only what they need and consume what they have. With produce considered essential, retailers should hone their EDLP strategies.
• Retailers don’t have to “own” the entire meal. Fresh items can complement both convenience items or meal components sourced from foodservice.
• With promotions still down compared to pre-pandemic, retailers should leverage their digital assets, including coupons, social media and QR codes, to make recommendations for shoppers.

Highlights:  

• Working from home has meant more local trips and more demand for on-the-go products from untethered workers who are combining business with leisure travel.  
• Airline disruptions have driven more people to drive for travel, as has the pandemic boom in RV purchases.   
• New car sales are coming back but are tempered by high interest rates. Many Americans are continuing to invest in their current vehicles to defer the purchase of a new car.  

Highlights:  

• A majority of beauty sales occur in brick-and-mortar stores, given the experiential nature of products like color cosmetics and fragrance. But the technical side of beauty, including key ingredients and promised performance, fare well online.  
• Learn how beauty products are part of consumers’ shifting attitudes toward wellness.  
• Consumers are turning to beauty to satisfy their treat mindset. Learn which categories are answering the call.  

Highlights:  

Consumers view of grocery shopping is an exercise of “extreme essentials,” indicating they are grudgingly paying higher prices for fast-moving consumer goods. Consumers’ approach to general merchandise, however, is with a “discrete discretionary” mindset, where they need to replenish items that are nearing the end of their lifecycle, such as for well-worn activewear.  

Retailers and manufacturers have been focused on share growth, but by the end of 2023 and into 2024, expect a shift in outlook to be about margin growth. The pie, folks, isn’t getting any bigger.  

Learn the impact that economic indicators such as jobs, wages, online shopping, even work-from-home is having on consumer spending, particularly for “potent purchases” and “impact purchases.”  

Highlights:

• Identify the daypart that reverted to pre-pandemic volume.
• Understand how the notion of home centricity started before the pandemic but accelerated between 2020 and 2021.
• Explore the ways the industry’s affordability can uniquely support consumers experiencing frugal fatigue and seeking to reward themselves or boost their mental and emotional well-being.

Key takeaways:  

• Fresh – and especially the meat department – is a three-legged stool for 2023: affordability, permissibility, and favorability.
• As cash-strapped and frustrated shoppers search for deals, consider “stacking promos” or shelf tags that remind shoppers how much prices have dropped for certain products.
• Be careful with pricing strategies, however. Use data to understand price sensitivity and learn which tactics will “move the needle.”  

Key takeaways:

• We snack differently depending on age. The youngest consumers’ snacking is controlled by their parents, who are looking for healthy options to tide kids over to the next meal.
• It’s not teens who are the heaviest snackers. It’s consumers in their 40s, but currently, those Gen Xers aren’t the biggest populations, so they’re not driving much growth.
• Immunity is less important now than during the pandemic, but digestive and calming attributes are still sought.

Key takeaways:  

• Jonna Parker warns that “when you stand for everything, you stand for nothing” in today’s competitive grocery landscape.  
• Consumers are looking for solution support and education from grocers.
• With ongoing labor shortages and younger shoppers looking for new ways of shopping, the grocery industry is at a pivotal moment of change. 

Key takeaways:

• The TikTok generation, those aged 35 and younger, have outsized influence, recommending not only what we read, but how we spend our time and what we consume.
• Books provide insight into CPG consumption trends. Cookbooks focused on convenience and easy-prep meals are in, but there are also increasing sales of titles for baby food.
• Even though younger consumers are fans of sustainability and thrift, they also have room for premium and aspire to luxury. Opportunities – think licensing!

Highlights:  

• Initiatives including the Home Connectivity Alliance work to bring smart appliances together for an easier and more robust consumer experience.
• More consumer health and wellness needs are being met with technology across new categories, including bathmats that read body composition and pillows that support quality sleep.
• Technology is also making greater enablement possible, from voice-activate kitchen appliances and customizable gaming consoles to beauty and personal care applicators.  

Highlights:

• Performance and power are back, especially in support of gamers, with more efficient and powerful monitors that are also larger and have improved cooling. But consider them portable rather than mobile devices. 
• A lot of computer and TV purchases were made during the pandemic. Manufacturers and providers should be gearing up for the replacement wave that will occur in 2024-2025. 
• Integrating TVs into home décor is about the only new news for TVs, but connected TV platform competition is heating up. Now, it’s about the content, not the hardware. 

Key takeaways:  

• Consumer technology holds a greater place in the household budget than it did prior to the pandemic – and it’s due more to the value of technology than to inflation.   
• Aside from foundational technology, application innovation enables convenience, productivity and even personal health.  
• Marketing of electronics is changing: It’s increasingly migrating to digital channels and focusing more on the value tech brings to how people live their lives.

In this exclusive interview, Limmer and O'Connor first share their personal definitions of sustainability. O'Connor talks about Applegate's sustainability journey, from antibiotic-free meats to organic meats and now regenerative agriculture. Limmer details Silver Fern Farms' unique business model for sustainable meat production. And both look at future sustainability trends, who the sustainable meat consumer will be in 2030, and the crucial role progressive farmers play in making sustainable protein products possible.

Kitchen appliances large and small are now “smart” and help answer the ages old question: What’s for dinner? Find out where the meal falls short of the plate.

The pandemic dimmed the innovation light for many companies, but still, many advancements to existing products address relevancy and seamless integration into consumers’ everyday lives. The next question: How are manufacturers leaning into digital technologies to inspire consumers?

Key takeaways:

• Consumer products have a lot to learn at the CES, including how they fit – and should fit – with the way consumers live and behave today.  
• Examples of how technology continues to evolve to fit seamlessly in consumers lives. 
• Opportunities for technology to close the gap on some existing – and future – consumer needs.

Key takeaways:  

• Inflation has shoppers returning to private label offerings in the dairy case after the pandemic years saw name brand dairy products driving growth. Currently, private label products in 12 of the 15 dairy categories are outpacing sales growth of name brand products.  
• Key benefits consumers are looking for in the dairy case include immune defense, and pre- and probiotics. Lactose-free remains a strong growth segment. Despite inflation, consumers are willing to pay more for these added benefits.  
• Plant-based products are leading innovation in the dairy case, but dairy innovation is occurring with flavors and name brand licensing. 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Younger shoppers perceive frozen foods to be as good as fresh and see them as a source for inspiration and convenience.   
• CPG manufacturers get high marks for innovation around consumption lifestyles, sustainability and using packaging to communicate with shoppers.   
• One secret to continued growth is achieving the right balance of assortment, including entry-level price points through private brands and innovation in name brands.  

Highlights 

• High inflation is causing more consumers to trade down from restaurants and coffee shops to baked goods found at retail, especially for the morning meal.   
• While not the largest share of e-commerce, donuts and pastries are the fastest-growing subcategory.   
• Younger consumers are looking for adventure from their food. Retail bakery can answer the call with whimsy and fun, including colored or cereal-flavored bagels.   

Highlights 

• In most channels, fresh is one of the few categories where shoppers typically purchase only as much as they need. Yet club and mass channels offer the allure of volume discounts from larger pack sizes, pointing to a bifurcation of the marketplace.  
• Inspired by social media, consumers are still turning to deli-prepared platters and charcuterie boards for meal and entertaining solutions. These options give retailers and manufacturers an opportunity to connect with shoppers, especially younger ones, where they’re already engaged.  
• Consumers are still looking for small indulgences during periods of high inflation, often to lift their spirits. Retailers can help with unique, premium, yet still affordable products.  

Highlights  

• Consumers are proving to be more resilient to dramatic price increases than expected. But they’re now starting to change their shopping behaviors to manage inflation. 
• Forecasts should be considered scenarios with confidence intervals, with broad upsides and downsides and an agile approach as scenarios evolve.   

• Forecasting is now a blend of art and science with new tools and unlimited data inputs. The art is shutting out the noise to identify and monitor the right demand signals, focusing on what matters most to your business.   

Highlights 

• More consumers will shop early for nonperishable items to find the best deals and spread out the cost of the Thanksgiving feast. 
• Shoppers are more cost-conscious than last Thanksgiving given inflation and will look for deals. But they will also remain willing to splurge on the relative value of an important home meal and festive get-together with loved ones. 
• Some cash-strapped consumers will still host but keep costs in check by making smaller portions for fewer leftovers, or even turn the event into a potluck. 
• Restaurants and grocers can play a role in the holiday meal by offering time-saving items like freshly made pies and ready-to-heat sides.  

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Recent price increases for fresh meat and poultry don’t seem as extreme as other areas of the grocery store, but prices are much higher than a few years ago. 
• Protein producers have been facing supply threats dues to avian flu (poultry) and African swine fever (pork). 
• Millennials have different food preferences than older generations, buying far less veal and more chicken, ground turkey, oat milk and nut butters.   

In this exclusive interview, Smucker speaks with IRI CEO (and Smucker board member) Kirk Perry. They discuss the company’s rich family history, Smucker’s teaching experience and how it shapes his leadership approach, and the company’s latest product and brand innovations. Smucker also discusses the marketing transformation that accompanied Jif’s bold shift from “Choosy Moms Choose Jif” to creative featuring rapper Ludacris. He shares his keys to creating an inclusive, diverse organization in a small Midwestern town. And he concludes with a focus on Smucker’s purpose and its hybrid work model that aims to nurture a strong yet flexible company culture. 

In this exclusive interview, Cofer speaks with IRI’s KK Davey and Russ Dunham about his company and its growth during a pandemic that fueled a rise in pet adoptions and an increased interest in gardening. He also talks about the company’s approach to growth through mergers and acquisitions, its ongoing e-commerce expansion, how the company is overcoming supply chain challenges, the importance of company culture, and several other topics.