Consumer 2025: Five Key Shifts Reshaping the Sector 

It’s been a particularly demanding year for many consumer businesses. Growth has been harder to achieve, cost bases have remained stubborn, and customers are more selective and value-conscious. At the same time, technology, regulation, and changing expectations around health and sustainability are forcing companies to rethink what they sell, how they sell it, and who they need in critical leadership roles. For boards and senior leaders, these are not only strategic questions about products, categories, and channels; they are questions about whether the organisation has the right leadership and capabilities to navigate a sector that is changing faster than most leadership models.

Here we explore five important shifts in the consumer sector this year, with five predictions for 2026, and what these developments mean for leadership, organisation design, and executive hiring.

Five key shifts in the consumer sector this year

Shift 1: From broad premiumisation to “smart value”

Over the past decade, premiumisation has often underpinned growth in consumer categories. This year, that story has become more selective. Many consumers, under sustained pressure from higher living costs have become more deliberate in their choices. They are trading down to private label or value brands in some categories, while trading up to premium or specialised products where the category feels more personal such as health, beauty, children, pets, and experiences.

Matt Dallisson, Global Head of Signium’s Consumer Practice Group, says:

“Premium no longer buys you automatic loyalty; it must be earned every day through clear benefits, believable provenance, and a price that feels fair. Leaders who treat mix as a strategic lever — trimming underperforming SKUs, optimizing pack sizes, and aligning price with purpose — will protect margin without losing relevance. Private label has continued to gain share in grocery and household, while strong brands are still winning in areas where they can demonstrate clear, credible value.”

This shift matters because mix management is now as important as volume growth. Revenue growth management, pricing and pack architecture, and portfolio pruning and innovation discipline are becoming core differentiators. Being “premium” is no longer sufficient; brands must justify their price points through tangible benefits, trust, and distinctiveness.

In FMCG and CPG, leading brands are holding share where they communicate functional or emotional value effectively, and private labels are closing quality gaps while winning on price in everyday essentials. In retail, value and discount formats are advancing, and mid-market players face the greatest pressure to sharpen their propositions. In DTC, acquisition costs remain high, which pushes winning brands to focus on loyalty, repeat purchase, and community rather than one-off premium sales.

From a leadership and talent perspective, we see a clear demand for commercial leaders who can make tough portfolio and pricing choices, RGM and category leaders with strong analytical capability, and finance leaders who can partner with marketing and sales to protect margin without constraining growth.

Shift 2: Digital commerce is maturing – the easy wins are gone

Digital commerce is now part of the core business rather than a side bolt on. E‑commerce is still growing, but the period of rapid, pandemic-driven expansion has ended. The conversation has shifted significantly from “getting online” to questions of unit economics, channel mix, and the integration of stores, marketplaces, and digital platforms. Social commerce, creator-led brands, and digital ecosystems are now central components of many consumer journeys.

This maturity has important implications. Digital can no longer be treated as an add-on; it is now deeply embedded in brand building, performance marketing, retailer collaboration, pricing, promotion, and assortment. Profitability and return on digital spend are under close scrutiny, and management teams are expected to show that digital efforts are contributing positively to the P&L.

Consumer brands are balancing direct-to-consumer channels with retailer.com, marketplaces, and physical retail, and they are rethinking media and trade spend allocation across these. Retailers increasingly treat stores, websites, and apps as a single ecosystem, using data from loyalty programmes and digital touchpoints to drive personalisation and cross-channel engagement. Consumer tech and subscription models are concentrating more on lifetime value, churn reduction, and upsell than on pure customer acquisition.

Leadership needs are evolving accordingly. There is strong demand for digital and e‑commerce leaders with full P&L accountability, and for CMOs who are equally fluent in brand-building and performance marketing. Data and analytics leaders who can translate insights into executable actions in merchandising, marketing, and pricing are essential. Executive teams are less interested in digital evangelists and more interested in commercially grounded digital leaders who can demonstrate financial impact.

Shift 3: Sustainability moves from story to execution

Sustainability and ESG have moved from communication to execution. Regulators, retailers, investors, and consumers are asking tougher questions and demanding evidence of real progress. Regulation has tightened in many markets on packaging and waste, emissions and energy use, and supply chain transparency and human rights. Retailers increasingly use ESG performance in supplier selection and joint business planning. Consumers are more sceptical of environmental claims and more attuned to accusations of greenwashing. “Sustainability has moved from aspiration to audit, it is no longer enough to talk about commitments; leadership teams must quantify how ESG choices affect cost, supply risk and access to customers and capital” says Dallisson “the new reality is that sustainability metrics feed directly into operational scorecards and investor conversations — and that changes who sits at the decision table.”

Sustainability now directly affects product cost and design, including materials, ingredients, and packaging. It shapes supply chain choices between local and global sourcing and sets standards for suppliers. It also influences access to capital, partnership opportunities, and corporate reputation. ESG is moving from CSR reports to board agendas and operational scorecards.

In food and beverage, there is increasing pressure around emissions, water use, and farming practices, and increased interest in areas such as regenerative agriculture and low-waste formats. In beauty and personal care, ingredient transparency, cruelty-free positions, and recyclable or refillable packaging are pretty much table stakes rather than a differential. In fashion and general retail, inventory and returns management are now seen as sustainability issues, and companies are experimenting with circular models such as resale, rental, and repair.

Against this backdrop, sustainability expertise is becoming a requirement rather than a niche skill. Supply chain, manufacturing, and procurement leaders must understand how sustainability interacts with cost, risk, and resilience. R&D and innovation teams need to design with ESG outcomes in mind. Corporate affairs and investor relations leaders must communicate progress credibly and withstand scrutiny. Chief Sustainability Officers are gaining real operational influence, and board ESG committees increasingly expect tangible evidence of change, not just long-term commitments.

Shift 4: Supply chain resilience and localisation are strategic, not tactical

Operational disruptions over the past few years have fundamentally changed how consumer companies view their supply chains. Geopolitical tensions, shipping disruptions, and cost shocks have led many organisations to reassess single-source dependencies, consider nearshoring or reshoring for key products, and invest in better planning tools and more responsive supplier networks. The mindset is shifting from pure “lowest cost” to a more balanced equation of cost, resilience, and agility.

Supply chains are now recognised as central to innovation speed, local relevance, and risk management. The ability to bring new products to market quickly, adapt to regional tastes and regulatory requirements, and manage risks ranging from pandemics to conflicts and extreme weather is becoming a key competitive differentiator.

Global brands are investing in regional manufacturing and distribution hubs and using dual or multi-sourcing for critical materials and components. Retailers are working more closely with suppliers, sharing data and engaging in more integrated planning, and they are placing a premium on availability and reliability as sources of advantage.

As a result, there is strong demand for Chief Operations and Supply Chain leaders who can manage complexity and risk rather than simply optimise cost. Boards are dedicating more time to operational resilience, scenario planning, and the talent pipeline in operations, logistics, and procurement. Leaders who have orchestrated significant network shifts, rather than incremental efficiency improvements, are particularly sought after.

Shift 5: Health, wellness, and “purposeful” consumption continue to grow

Despite ongoing pressure on household budgets, consumers continue to prioritise spending on categories and experiences that feel meaningful, healthy, or emotionally rewarding. Health and wellness remain major growth engines. Functional foods and beverages, supplements, and personal care products linked to wellbeing are gaining share. Non-alcoholic and low-alcohol options are becoming mainstream in more markets. Consumers are increasingly interested in products and services that support longevity, mental health, and stress management.

At the same time, they are showing greater interest in experiences, services, and personalised solutions rather than simply acquiring more products. Authenticity and trust are central, both in brand claims and in how companies behave in relation to communities, employees, and wider society.

Growth is shifting toward subcategories such as gut health, sleep, and healthy aging and toward hybrid propositions that blend products and services, such as subscriptions, coaching, diagnostics, and connected devices. Incumbent players face choices about how far and how credibly they can move into adjacent wellness territories. They must decide when to innovate organically, when to partner, and when to acquire. Dallisson adds:

“The shift toward health, wellness and purposeful consumption is structurally redefining categories. The leaders who succeed will be those who use deep consumer insight and scientific credibility to build hybrid propositions — products wrapped in services, subscriptions, or personalized experiences — rather than treating wellness as a marketing tagline. That intersection of insight, science and commercial execution will be where durable growth is created.”

In food and beverage, better-for-you reformulations, functional ingredients, and portion control are becoming expected table stakes. If we look at beauty and personal care, there is a move towards clinically informed products, personalised routines, and “skinification.” In retail, stores are increasingly hosting services such as clinics, wellness consultations, and events to provide more holistic propositions.

In summary

Leadership demand is rising for insight-led innovators who understand emerging consumer needs in depth and can convert them into profitable business models. There is also growing value placed on leaders who understand science, regulation, and brand storytelling and on commercial leaders who are comfortable structuring partnerships across health-tech, wellness platforms, and services.