7 Consumer Behavior Trends Marketers Are Watching

As we move deeper into 2025, one thing is clear: understanding consumer behavior trends is the key to staying relevant in an ever-changing digital landscape. Today’s consumers expect more (more convenience, more personalization, more transparency) and marketers have to rise and meet them where they are.

Delivering real value, not flashy gimmicks, has become the true battleground for brands.

So, what are the top consumer behavior trends in 2025? And how are brands responding successfully? Let’s take a look.

Quick Takeaways

• Consumers in 2025 expect value, convenience, and transparency across every touchpoint.

• Omnichannel shopping, sustainability, and personalization are now standard—not standout—expectations.

• Short-form video and social commerce continue to dominate where attention is short and scrolling is constant.

• Privacy and mental wellness matter more than ever, influencing both trust and purchase decisions.

• Brands that succeed will ditch gimmicks and deliver real, relevant experiences tailored to their audience.

Trend #1: A Hybrid View of Shopping

The pandemic has changed the way people are shopping, but not in the cut-and-dry way you might think. The future of shopping won’t be as simple as a switch to online while brick-and-mortar stores become the stuff of nostalgia.

Shopping Isn’t Exclusively Online—Yet

In fact, 48% of consumers still prefer in-person shopping because they can see and feel products, and even those who prefer online shopping indicate that they don’t do it exclusively.

But that’s not to say online shopping isn’t on the rise. For example, there was a 4.4 YoY increase in online shoppers from 2020 to 2021. That’s 900 million more people!

Online shopping was here before the pandemic, and people will want to shop in person well into the post-pandemic future. What has changed is the way we (the collective consumer) think about online vs. in-person shopping as separate categories for separate types of products.

What Does the Consumer Want?

The decision to buy online won’t be dictated by product type. Instead, it will just depend on what the consumer wants at that time. For example: people have been buying gadgets from Amazon for years. It’s the kind of thing people bought online.

But grocery delivery? That was a service generally used by more niche consumer groups, like older people or young professionals living in cities without cars. Most people just went to the grocery store. Now, online grocery delivery orders are for the masses.

People Want Options!

But that doesn’t mean people will use it exclusively. A more likely scenario is that they’ll take advantage of both options, choosing the one that works best for the situation. Maybe a quick list of items you need to make a party meal gets ordered for delivery, but you visit the store each week to peruse for your week’s groceries.

Whatever the scenario, the key will be options. These top predicted retail trends demonstrate the wide range of retail experiences customers will look for. Certainly there are consumer segments who exclusively prefer one way to shop over the other. At the end of the day the majority hasn’t really stuck to one side over the other yet.

For most people, though, the behavior trend will be sometimes online and sometimes in person, depending on any number of factors…including their mood that day.

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Trend #2: Craving Convenience

Brands have had to get creative in a time when business models were turned upside down due to social distancing precautions.

“Social Distancing” in 2025

The past few years have seen upscale sit-down restaurants offering takeout, retailers adding curbside pickup options, and hygiene-motivated measures like cashless payment and contactless delivery gaining momentum.

Consumers are unlikely to want to let go of these conveniences going forward. A whopping 81% of people still prefer to eat at home, whether it’s a home cooked meal or takeout from their favorite Italian spot.

It’s Time to Re-think

As we continue to settle into a world focused on instant gratification and modern convenience, brands will need to think about how they’ll resume normal operations while also offering the comfortable options consumers are now accustomed to and likely to continue demanding.

The behavior trend: consumers will continue to choose brands who offer multiple convenient service options.

Trend #3: Homes Become Hubs

Home used to be where people went when they weren’t doing other things. Now? It’s where we can do just about everything. The average North American consumer spends 90% of their time indoors!

Home is where we eat and sleep, but it’s also where we work. Where we shop. Where we exercise. Homes have become hubs for our life’s most important activities, and that isn’t going away any time soon.

We’re Chronically Online

What we do in our homes has permanently changed.

36.2 million Americans are working remotely this year. Sales of expensive in-home gym equipment like treadmills and stationary bikes have grown exponentially as people worked out at home. These devices have enabled us to talk face-to-face with family and friends from a distance:

• Smartphones
• Tablets
• Facebook Portals

Now that consumers have invested in their at-home activities, it’s likely we’ll continue seeing them stick around post-pandemic. Brands whose products can benefit from this trend (like home office furniture) can capitalize, while brands whose traditional business models depended on customers coming to them will have to adjust (like gyms offering both in-person and virtual fitness classes).

The takeaway trend: consumers will enjoy the return to normalcy, but they’ll still be doing more from home.

Trend #4: Loyalty isn’t a Given

Building customer loyalty has long been one of the surest ways to drive revenue and sales. But is customer loyalty to brands seeing a downturn?

Reviews Are More Popular Than Ever

Consumers are depending more and more on reviews (especially from short-form media platforms) to make their buying choices as well. 89% of customers will read reviews before making a purchase. Set yourself apart from the competition by collecting a bank of customer testimonials.

Thanks to a higher-than-ever online presence from brands across industries and increased conveniences like faster shipping times overall (even same-day in many cases), consumers have more choices and better access to their options than they ever have before.

The resulting behavior trend? Consumers will try more options, and they’ll choose the one they like best regardless of previous purchase history. Brand loyalty is still important and effective, but companies can’t ever assume it’s a given.

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Trend #5: Customers Want Value — in More Ways than One

Quality products and customer experiences aren’t the only places consumers are seeking value. Consumers today want to buy from brands that also align with them personally.

Sustainability is the New Black

Sustainability is one of the hottest topics in the retail industry. Searches for sustainable products have increased 70% since 2016.

This isn’t a totally new phenomenon. But consumers now look more closely than ever at the way companies view and address social issues as well as implement environmentally-friendly practices — 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share similar values as themselves.

Businesses Are Catching On

A lot of companies have implemented means of showing consumers how eco-friendly they are. For example, say you make a purchase on Etsy. When you check your digital receipt you’ll see a note at the bottom to remind you that the company offsets the carbon emissions for every delivery.

The behavior trend to watch: consumers will seek authentic, transparent brands in an effort to make their buying decisions meaningful.

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Trend #6: AI and VR Blend Further Into the Marketing World

AI and VR have been on the rise for years, and 2023 is no different. What started off as something only large companies could afford to try has slowly trickled down to the mid- and small-business side of things.

Businesses are starting to simplify their VR efforts to make them accessible to the average consumer. Their use-case is more justifiable for their high price point. META had their most successful VR headset launch in 2022 with Quest 2, which was geared towards gaming more than anything else.

Companies Aren’t Sleeping on AI

More and more marketing automations and management platforms are integrating AI to further data they provide. Information that used to be found through manual A/B testing is at the tip of marketers’ fingers.

Consumers are hopping on the AI bandwagon more in the coming years as well. 73% of customers are willing to buy from businesses that use AI.

The behavior trend to watch: consumers are more comfortable using artificial intelligence and have even started to trust brands who do.

Trend #7: Spending Will Increase – but Buyers are Pickier than Ever!

According to Forrester’s July 2022 Consumer Energy Index And Retail Pulse Survey, 64% of adults in the US are concerned about the possibility of an economic recession. But Forbes experts don’t believe that’s the reason to worry about consumer spending.

Because of their cautious temperament towards the economy, buyers will be pickier than ever. The key to securing their dollar is quality over quantity. AKA stop spending money on hundreds of vague ads and spend your time and money curating informational blogs, landing pages, videos and social content.

The behavior trend to watch: consumers will spend more time researching their purchases rather than impulse buying. Make the business case for your brand in everything you do.

Consumer Behavior Trends: How Can Your Brand Respond?

We’re seeing that more expectations around the customer experience and increased online brand presence are two common threads throughout consumer behavior trends.

But don’t get overwhelmed! There are many ways companies can respond to these overall trends. Specifically, they can use content marketing — proven to be 3x more effective than all other types of marketing — to stay connected to their audiences.

High-value, consistent online content establishes your brand reputation and personality, allowing consumers to “experience” your brand before they ever make a purchase or visit a physical location.

If you want to get up-to-date on the latest consumer behavior trends in 2025, Marketing Insider Group offers specialized services to create content, manage campaigns, and engage with your audience. Contact us today to learn more or book your free consultation with our team!