The key to understanding your consumer is understanding their spending habits. Once you identify their buying motivations, you can create a strategy to match. Don’t waste money on tactics and messaging that won’t work for your audience.
In this blog, we’ll highlight the top 10 key consumer spending trends for 2025 to help you determine more successful ad strategies to increase ROI in the coming year.
With current economic concerns, changing tariffs and a higher unemployment rate, the market is more uncertain than usual, and there’s more hesitancy with buying as a result. According to McKinsey, most customers are cutting back on discretionary spending, with the top categories being:
For brands in these niches, understanding customer hesitancy is vital for messaging. You may see a longer sales cycle and a greater need for discounts to push a customer over the finish line.
Another growing trend is the shift to cashless transactions. Gone are the days of using checks and cash for every purchase. Instead, consumers are opting for faster, more seamless options. More businesses than ever are upgrading their technology to be compatible with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Wallet, Venmo and other cashless transaction options. Since 2021, Cash App and Apple Pay have increased in popularity by 64% and 36%, respectively. While cash was once at the forefront, new consumer spending habits are pointing toward fast, flawless transactions that are easy.
For brands, this means upgrading your in-store POS as well as intentional marketing in your ads. Whether online or via print, make it easy as possible for your customers to make a purchase.
Buy-now-pay-later services (BNPL) are experiencing an increase as well. Currently, 8% of the population takes advantage of the offering, and Millennials and Gen Z both use this service. Knowing that BNPL options are on the rise, it might make sense to offer and highlight that service for your products.
Instead of spending on traditional material goods, consumers are switching to investing in travel and experiences. This could be partially due to the fact that the pandemic kept everyone in for so long, and partially due to Millennials and Gen Z valuing activities over physical objects.
The increased exposure on social media could also offer a solid reason why the younger generations of consumers are heading in this direction. FOMO (fear of missing out) is a huge social influencer when it comes to what people are spending their money on. Brands in this space can tap into the power of FOMO and experiential services in their marketing.
One of the most crucial spending habits to meet in 2025 is increased consumer expectations. According to Qualitrics, more than half (53%) of bad experiences result in customers cutting their spend. Even moving from a one- or two-star experience to a three-star one can increase the likelihood of buying again by a whopping 68%. And that same experiential shift will also have a transformative 97% increase in their likelihood to recommend. With reviews of places and products readily available online, great customer service matters more than ever. Even the best marketing tactics can’t win customer loyalty back if you aren’t matching consumer needs and expectations. It’s best to do it right the first time.
As much as AI is trending right now, consumers are rightly nervous about its usage. AI is everywhere these days. Consumers can’t get away from it - and this ubiquity is leading to a backlash. Common consumer concerns cited are:
For brands, it’s important to acknowledge this skepticism. Use AI to improve your processes but don’t use it as a full replacement for human agents .
A lot of consumer behavior is led by purchases made right from the comfort of their own home. After the pandemic, online spending blew up, and it never really settled. Now, consumers are used to the ease and fast-paced reliability that some of the biggest corporations (Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc.) and the most competitive businesses offer. Being able to stay home and get everything delivered right to their doorstep is a huge consumer perk. Businesses that are adapting to this practice often stay ahead of the curve.
More than that, the average North American consumer spends 90% of their time indoors now that remote working is becoming more commonplace. As a result, there has been a rise in demand for smart home cleaning devices and other household products that make home living easier.
Brands can tap into this homebody attitude with offerings and messaging.
Another unique trend that emerged during the pandemic is a focus on home healthcare and wellness. And we haven’t seen this interest dip - only grow. For many consumers, this meant opting for remote healthcare, at-home exercise classes and wellness products. Many people chose remote options to improve their health in a safe, familiar environment but ultimately ended up loving the ease of it.
Businesses in this space can leverage direct mail marketing to reach this audience where they’re comfortable - right at home.
With social media rising to the forefront, another common consumer trend in 2025 is social-influencer purchases and real-time shopping. Social media influencers share links to products online, and this is how consumers frequently find products they like. Exploding Topics states that, “49% of Gen Alphas trust influencers as much as their own family and friends when it comes to product recommendations.”
For brands, this means that influencer marketing may be a strategic and effective part of your digital advertising tactics.
One of the last consumer spending trends is in sustainable spending. More consumers than ever are focused on an eco-friendly future and are using their purchasing power to support it. Local, sustainable, and environmentally friendly products are being sold more frequently.
For marketers who want to show what they’re doing to support environmentally friendly causes, it can appeal to an even larger audience. This might include highlighting sustainability certifications, eco-friendly sources, and how your company is helping in the community on your website or marketing materials.
Multiple key consumer spending trends in 2025 can help you get a better idea of who your audience is and how to market in a way that results in higher ROI. There are multiple takeaways you can gain from these trends:
Applying these methods ensures you’re able to use the current marketing trends in your current strategy to amplify the success of your brand. Plus, you can add other marketing tactics on top of it to maximize ROI.
Mailbox Merchants offers the ideal integration of local shared direct mail and digital advertising. No matter where you are in your marketing, our team of advertising professionals can help you enhance brand awareness, spread your message and increase ROI in no time. Ready to see our top solutions?
Sources:
https://www.gwi.com/blog/consumer-spending-trends
https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/global-consumer-trends/
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/consumer-behavior
Mailbox Merchants is the Northwest’s largest independently owned direct mail, multi-channel and digital marketing provider for local businesses. We marry the old and the new by tapping into the perpetual power of print media and using technology to strategically segment, target behaviors, and optimize performance through measurable marketing results.
