Salsify publishes its 2025 consumer research report — a survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. and U.K. respondents — highlighting the latest consumer trends and the ever-changing buying journey.
Salsify’s "2025 Consumer Research" report reinforces that consumers are increasingly online, but that doesn’t mean they don’t love weaving in-store shopping into their buying journey.
Shoppers might be less loyal to purchasing from one channel or another, but their loyalty is also up for grabs in other ways (i.e., they’re ready to trust brands and even pay more for their products).
Brands that consistently offer high quality and exhibit transparency — and cast a wide net across the digital shelf — are best positioned for their success to snowball and capture consumer interest. Lean into these insights to help you create a killer 2025 strategy.
Here are three main consumer trends based on consumer data from Salsify’s latest survey.
There’s less and less distinction between waking hours and hours spent “online,” no matter your industry. And with that, 69% of shoppers regularly participate in "ambient shopping,” which is purchasing a product while doing something else like browsing social media or watching a streaming service.
Shopping online is a daily event for 21% of shoppers — up 11% from 2024. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of shoppers primarily turn to search engines for product research, followed closely behind by online marketplaces like Amazon (54%) and physical retail stores (51%).
But even while shoppers are in-store, it doesn’t mean they’re ditching their mobile devices. Thirty percent of shoppers have used a smartphone to purchase a product while shopping in a physical store. This affirms that shoppers are spread across more channels, more frequently, no matter what they’re browsing or buying.
Shoppers have more options than ever before, with pricing and availability “very” or “extremely” important for completing a sale (84%), followed closely by product titles and descriptions (77%). These factors, and remaining loyal to one brand over another, don’t necessarily overlap.
So how does your brand lean into loyalty in the coming year? Building brand trust. And trust that it’s worth the commitment: 87% of shoppers will pay more for a product because they trust the brand. This emphasizes how critical consistent quality, transparency, and authentic connections are for shoppers.
It’s not the time to think you know what’s best for consumers or think you know what they want. To wow them this year and beyond, you must create compelling experiences across channels (even in-store) and show up authentically.
Other ways to wow shoppers — like leaning into artificially intelligent (AI) shopping assistants and chatbots — can give you an additional edge.