Five consumer shifts you can check now, at category, type and specification level, and the decision each one informs.
A marketing plan rarely depends on what consumers will want in a decade. The real question is closer. Where do you put people, budget and capacity in your next planning round?
That question has a workable answer. You can take a shift that everyone talks about and check it in your own market.
This article does that for five shifts. Each has a check for the next 12 months and the decision it informs.
What you can see, and where it stops
Demand forecasts reach up to 12 months ahead at category, type and specification level. Anything further is a scenario and not a measurement.
Demand here means measured orientation. Orientation moments are moments when people look into products, needs and brands, explore alternatives and prepare choices.
That is not the same as sales. A forecast shows the expected development of demand, and it does not predict revenue, units or stock per SKU.
Trendata reads demand at five levels: Market, Category, Type, Specification and Attribute. The checks below use the middle three, and the product examples are illustrative.
Sustainability
Sustainability is easy to endorse in a survey. It matters to you only if it changes choices in your category. Brands do act on it. Lush states on its own site that 66% of the products it sells each year are "Naked". We checked that page in November 2026. These are sold with little or no packaging. That is one company's statement about its own range, not evidence of demand in yours.
- Category: is demand for hair care expected to grow, hold or fall over the next 12 months?
- Type: are solid shampoos gaining ground within that category, or staying flat?
- Specification: does a refill format gain ground against the standard bottle?
Decision: whether a sustainable format earns a place in your next range, or stays a message.
Personalisation
Personalisation is often treated as a technology question. For a brand, the first question is simpler.
Do customer needs in your category differ enough to justify a tailored offer? The check below uses aggregated demand signals, with no personal data. It shows which needs are developing, not who has them.
- Category: how is demand for skincare expected to develop over the next 12 months?
- Type: which types, such as face serums, are growing faster than the category?
- Specification: do needs split clearly, for example between fragrance-free and anti-ageing serums?
Decision: whether to fund a tailored range, or serve the largest need better.
Immersive shopping
Augmented reality already has retail uses. A 2024 article from a software vendor describes virtual make-up try-on, placing furniture at home and trying on clothes. The vendor sells these solutions. Read it as a description of use, not as proof of consumer demand.
Immersive tools help most where uncertainty about size or appearance holds back a choice. That is reasoning, so test it.
- Category: is the expected demand for sofas large enough to justify a pilot?
- Type: which types, such as corner sofas, depend most on fit in the room?
- Specification: do exact widths gain ground, which suggests that people are measuring before they choose?
Decision: whether to pilot try-on for one type, and which returns or conversion result would justify more.
Voice and AI-assisted shopping
AI is now one environment where orientation moments form, next to search and social. A January 2026 vendor survey reports that 47% of 1,072 US shoppers use AI for product research and comparisons. About 8% were fully comfortable with AI completing a purchase. Those are stated answers from one country.
We found no current source on voice commerce that we could stand behind. Treat voice as an open question.
- Category: how is demand for coffee machines expected to move over the next 12 months?
- Type: which types do people weigh against each other, such as bean-to-cup and capsule machines?
- Specification: which details gain ground in those choices, such as a built-in milk system?
Decision: which product information you make clear first, and whether voice gets any budget in your next plan.
Subscriptions
A subscription can look attractive at launch. In 2012, NBC News reported that some 12,000 people joined Dollar Shave Club within 48 hours of its launch video. That shows launch interest at one company. It says nothing about retention, margin or your category.
Subscriptions may suit replenishment products better than occasional purchases. That is also reasoning, so test it.
- Category: does demand for pet food stay steady across the months ahead, or move with the season?
- Type: is demand for dry dog food stable enough to plan regular deliveries around?
- Specification: which pack sizes gain ground, and do they fit a monthly rhythm?
Decision: whether to test a subscription on one replenishment type, once the margin works.
What this means for your next planning round
Choose the two shifts that would affect your business most. Then apply four habits.
- Ask who says it, and when. Note the source, the date and the interest behind the claim.
- Separate the levels. A shift across all consumers may not apply to your category or country.
- Separate signal from result. Check orientation first, then what your own sales did.
- Decide what would change your mind. Write down the signal that makes you invest, and the one that makes you stop.
Demand Intelligence is a structured understanding of how market demand forms, changes and is expected to develop. It gives you a base for this, with 48 months of history, updated monthly. You can compare an expected shift with how demand has developed, then return to it each month. The outcome is a shorter list, and a clear reason for each item on it.
