CHICAGO, Feb. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has released its 2025 Visions Report, an annual perspective that provides forward-looking insight into US consumer trends for the year to come. The findings in the report are based on verified consumer buying behaviors and sentiment captured through Numerator’s proprietary purchase and survey data.
Against many predictions, consumers continued to maintain spending at elevated levels in 2024, thanks to tailwinds such as increased disposable income and decreased inflation. For 2025, it is expected that consumers will remain sensitive to prices despite income growth but continue to find ways to spend on experiences and items that bring joy. Numerator found four key themes that summarized 2024 and will continue to impact consumer behavior in 2025.
2025 Key Themes in Consumer Behavior:
1. Financial Standing. Consumer confidence is rising, and while middle- and high-income households have driven economic recovery, low-income consumers only recently returned to mid-2021 spending levels.
- Low-income consumers have the slowest growth across industries. CPG growth among low-income consumers was at 3% for the latest 12 months ending 11/30/2024, compared to 6% and 14% for middle- and high-income consumers, respectively. The same holds true for limited-service restaurants, growing 9%, 10%, and 18%. General merchandise only saw growth with high-income households (+9%) with sales declining for low-income households (-2%) and remaining flat for middle-income households.
- Consumers still say they are feeling the pinch. 39% of consumers said their primary concern for the coming year was rising prices (when thinking about the country as a whole).
2. Personal Health. One of the biggest consumer trends for 2025 is the continued rise of health and wellness. Health-conscious consumers are expanding this trend into all areas of their lives, even reshaping categories like pet wellness and health-centric beauty products.
- Consumers increasingly prefer to get their nutrients through food. 36% of U.S. consumers say they prefer to get their nutrients primarily through food (+9 points vs YA), while 33% say through foods and supplements (-8 points) and 19% say through supplements primarily (+5 points).
- As consumers focus on healthy eating in 2025, nutrients of focus are changing. Consumers plan to prioritize tracking protein (39%, +6 points) and fiber (28%, +6 points) in their diets more closely in 2025 than they did last year. Innovations in the consumptive nutrition category could allow brands in that space–such as Chomps, Fairlife (The Coca-Cola Company), and Premier Protein (BellRing Brands, Inc.)–to continue to see long-term growth.
3. Product Performance. An increasingly complex consumer landscape requires brands to be both creative and precise. The top brands to watch in 2025 attracted new shoppers while driving frequent repeat trips.
- Returning customers are driving brand growth. On average, the top 100 fastest-growing brands of 2024 (as identified by Numerator) increased household penetration (+2.5 points) and buy rate (+7.6 points). Notably, growth was driven by repeat trips, with winning brands increasing trips per household nearly five times faster than competitors.
- Amazon’s infinite shelf space makes it hard for brands to stand out with the online retailer. The top brands of 2024 are making strategic choices about where they show up. Retailers with physical shelf space—notably Mass retailers, Costco, and health-oriented retailers such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Sprouts—have played a pivotal role in driving volume and visibility. Conversely, Amazon underindexed for the top brands—consumers cannot easily discover or impulsively purchase new items when they do not know they exist.
4. Brand Availability. Unlike 2020 and 2021 where brand availability meant shortages and stockpiles, 2025 brand availability means meeting consumers where they are shopping. Retail preferences have changed significantly in recent years.
- Consumers want a more engaging, experiential shopping experience. Despite e-commerce’s dominance, brick-and-mortar retail could rebound as consumer views around shopping are changing. When asked about the shopping environment they prefer, more consumers say they enjoy malls with many stores (43% in 2024 vs. 34% in 2022), view shopping as social (24% vs. 17%), and favor community-based stores (22% vs. 15%).
- The promotional landscape is shifting. Ad volume reached its peak in 2023 with nearly 80 million promotional ad blocks flooding the market. Drug stores, once the cornerstone of health purchases, have seen promotional ad blocks decline by 20-30% over the past three years, and consumers are increasingly shifting these purchases online.
About Numerator:
Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research. Numerator blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide 360-degree consumer understanding for the market research industry that has been slow to change. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has 5,800 employees worldwide; 80 of the top 100 CPG brands’ manufacturers are Numerator clients.
Bob Richter Numerator 212-802-8588 press@numerator.com
