Technological upheavals, climate pressures, economic instability, geopolitical tensions… Faced with an increasingly unpredictable world, consumers are seeking to regain control. For its Global Predictions 2027 report, the market research agency Mintel has organised its forecasts around a single overarching theme: “Products to Systems”. For the first time, the firm is applying this theme to five sectors, including beauty and wellbeing.
According to Mintel, consumers no longer think in terms of product categories, but in terms of goals: sleeping better, having more energy, ageing well. To achieve this, they combine products, services, technologies and habits. This is what the consultancy calls a “system”.
The product alone is no longer enough to stand out. Last year, only 33 per cent of global FMCG product launches were genuinely new, compared with 43 per cent ten years ago. “Products have become the new fads,” notes the report.
Skin diagnostics, connected devices, AI: consumers are increasingly able to measure results for themselves. “A claim may prompt an initial purchase. It no longer guarantees a place in the routine”, summarises Mintel. “Finding a place in a routine is only the first step. To secure a long-term place in it, a brand must deliver results that are perceptible to consumers and tangible enough to be recognised by those around them. It must also generate information that technology can interpret and convert into useful advice.”
