Retail tissue and hygiene faces fragile demand amid sustained price sensitivity, requiring a precise balance between affordability and benefit led premiumisation. Growth is driven by e commerce, regional divergence and portfolio reset, while ageing and wellness reinforce structural demand. Long term upside lies in emerging markets and mixed use routines, where value clarity and segmentation determine competitive success.

As snacking grows across Asia Pacific, bakery is poised for its next growth wave. Beyond traditional retail bakery, snackification through impulse-driven formats and sensory-led innovation is unlocking new occasions. While staples face limits, bite-sized, indulgent and flavour-forward innovation can position bakery to win future demand through 2026 and beyond.

This report examines snacks’ channel dynamics and regional shifts, and makes strategic recommendations for manufacturers and retailers. E-commerce saw significant growth in global snack retail sales in 2025. Quick commerce, social commerce and AI-driven discovery are reshaping consumers’ search for value; however, offline retail still dominates snack purchases, with discounters and warehouse clubs growing twice as fast as key competitor channels, and outpacing e-commerce.

Easing inflation, strong labour markets, consumer fatigue with frugality, the strength of the Asia Pacific consumer base, and the continuing ascendance of e-commerce all helped to power growth in the global retail sector in 2025, with sales posting their biggest gains since 2021. However, as retail consolidation accelerates, generative AI disrupts the industry, and economic and political storm clouds loom on the horizon, retailers must adapt in order to survive in a rapidly evolving landscape.

The Strait of Hormuz blockage is the defining economic shock of 2026, severing a critical energy corridor and driving oil prices sharply higher. Global growth has been revised down as rising energy costs erode household purchasing power and compress corporate margins. Energy-importing economies face the steepest impact, while net exporters and markets with diversified supply sources, strong domestic demand or effective subsidy mechanisms are better positioned to absorb the shock.

The 2026 top trends collectively signal a fundamental technical and strategic shift in the ingredient space: competitive advantage is moving away from single-ingredient performance toward system-level thinking where combinations, clinical validation, sensory functionality, and cost-efficient reformulation converge.

In 2025, the retail industry experienced modest 2% growth. Driven by cost pressures, trade disruption and changing demand, retailers are shifting from growth-led models to resilience and profitability. Five strategic imperatives define this shift. Retailers are rebuilding value architecture, restructuring supply chains and strengthening financial resilience. Retailers look to redesign demand creation, adapting to new discovery pathways in AI-driven environments.

Sportswear in Western Europe continues to outperform the wider Apparel and Footwear market, but the category needs to evolve to keep its value proposition as consumers' purchasing decisions are increasingly shaped by perceived value and competition now disperses beyond the top players into a widening pool of specialists. From racket sports to the rise of women in sports, our briefing discusses the growth drivers that industry players can leverage to succeed in a challenging environment.

This report examines how consumers engage with loyalty programmes in a context shaped by disruptive technologies, changing priorities, and shifting expectations. It analyses what drives participation, how value is perceived and where current programmes fall short across key dimensions of loyalty. The findings highlight where businesses need to refine mechanics, improve relevance of rewards and adapt loyalty strategies to evolving behaviours to sustain meaningful engagement and retention.

As global packaged food volumes stall, value creation has become the central growth challenge. Health and wellness remains critical, but no longer guarantees pricing power. Mainstream claims are devaluing, while value bifurcates between affordable wellness in staples and selective premiumisation in formulated categories. Future winners will deploy wellness with greater precision, anchoring value in inherent nutrition, outcome led benefits and clear category relevance.

In 2025, offline retail still accounts for the majority of global consumer appliance sales, but retail e commerce is gaining share faster, led by small appliances and Asia Pacific. Appliances and electronics specialists remain critical for major appliances, while marketplaces, social commerce platforms and hybrid shopping journeys are reshaping how consumers discover and purchase appliances globally.

In 2025, the consumer foodservice industry remains vibrant despite pressures on discretionary spending. Wellness-aligned menus, flavour exploration and beverage personalisation are all considerable drivers for consumer excitement and operator innovation. On top of this, third-party and first-party fulfilment providers are vying for loyalty through a wide and evolving toolset of value propositions.

As wellness transitions from aspiration to business infrastructure and continues to converge with technology and healthcare, brands are propelled by innovations in digitally enabled personalisation and medical-grade offerings. Integrated product-service ecosystems and science-led credibility unlock new value, with premium differentiation defined by scientific rigour and continuous consumer engagement across touchpoints.

The US/Israel-Iran war has driven up oil prices and disrupted trade, impacting global economic growth and increasing inflation. Energy-importing manufacturing powerhouses, including Japan, South Korea and Germany, face pressure as commodity prices rise and global demand softens. By contrast, energy self-sufficient economies are better positioned. Exposure to Middle East energy flows and dependence on global trade are increasingly defining which economies can weather the disruption.

Smart eyewear is emerging as an AI-native consumer interface, as GenAI and shoppertainment accelerate the shift to heads-up, context-aware interaction across discovery, commerce and daily tasks. As behavioural friction declines and AI-powered, video-native ecosystems scale, especially in China, smart eyewear adoption is set to reshape how consumers engage with brands, platforms and payments by 2030.

Built on the latest 2026 insights from Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer survey, this piece combines real-time consumer sentiment with the proprietary Consumer Types framework to uncover how behaviour is evolving. As economic pressures and digital fatigue reshape priorities, it reveals where value, connection and aspiration are being redefined, and how brands can respond.

Dairy’s traditional volume led model is no longer a viable growth strategy, as demographics, evolving behaviours and GLP 1 use reshape consumption. This report shows how growth will come from value: targeted functionality, new need states, science led innovation and lessons borrowed from baby food’s resilience. It reveals the consumers, functionalities and formats that will define dairy’s next era, and how brands can win it.

Payments and Lending. Fintech continues to impact consumer and commercial payments in a variety of ways. Fintech has not only changed payments but is also changing how consumers fund the payments as seen in BNPL expansion. Fintech is impacting cross-border payments with stablecoin platforms that lower overall cross-border cost. The next challenge for fintech will be driving down card payment fraud which has continued to accelerate.

The US/Israel-Iran war has delivered the steepest shock to global travel since the pandemic. Airspace closures, surging oil prices and shifting consumer behaviour are reshaping demand. Despite acute disruption, travel fundamentals remain resilient—consumers are adapting rather than retreating, redirecting spend toward regional alternatives and absorbing premium fare increases. Strategic recommendations demonstrate pathways for airlines, destinations and OTAs to sustain growth.

The 2026 Iran conflict marks the fourth major economic disruption to global consumer markets in under two decades. While each crisis originated differently, their impacts on consumer markets and behaviour reveal distinct patterns that are vital for mitigation planning. 

This report examines how climate change, disease, trade shifts and rising costs are reshaping fruit supply, and redefining the economics, identity and future role of juice. It explores emerging technologies, evolving regulations and new consumption occasions that will determine how fruit beverages adapt over the next several decades.

Commodity price volatility is increasingly disrupting global businesses’ operations. This report explores three key drivers: geopolitics, climate impact and shifting demand. Understanding their interplay and identifying proactive strategies is crucial for navigating volatility, and mitigating risks in energy, metals and agricultural sectors. The report provides practical examples and strategies to help companies navigate growing commodity price volatility in an uncertain global environment.

Pet care is at a pivotal moment. Affordability pressures are reshaping how far consumers can trade up, local players are accelerating through agility and sharper value, and digital channels are rewriting competitive rules. As premium momentum meets market realities, global leaders face rising disruption from new formats and regional challengers. Success now depends on balancing value with accessibility while adapting to a rapidly shifting competitive landscape.

Regulatory volatility, corporate challenges, the rise of telemedicine and the boom in the HDIC space in the US are leading to both challenges and opportunities for cannabis companies across the globe.