Hyper-personalisation at scale erodes uniqueness.
Euromonitor Customer Report 2026
The deck (2026 Consumer Trends and Industry Insights ) is structured, rational, calm. But beneath it? I rarely just take a report and look at it through the lens it has been presented in. I could have with Euromointor. It is concise, about customers and worth all of your time. I was on the webinar and watched the recap too - to see if I was hearing it all right. Turning 45 this week, made me check in with my faculties. Except spellcheck. It has served me well up to now and annoyed plenty of grammar cops along the way too.
“Comfort Zone” Is more akin to Consumer Exhaustion
Euromonitor says:
58% experience moderate to extreme stress daily
67% want to simplify life
Polite framing: Consumers seek calm amid chaos.
The less polite version:Consumers are cognitively fried.
For me, it is actually about decision paralysis.
We’ve created:
Infinite choice
Infinite optimisation
Infinite micro-upgrades
And now the consumer is drowning in marginal gains.
The ecommerce industry keeps asking:
How do we increase engagement?
The consumer is saying to us:
Please stop.
What Euromonitor doesn’t say:
A significant portion of “simplification” demand is a reaction to digital over-engineering.
More AI personalisation.
More nudges.
More push notifications.
More gamified loyalty. This is to be outlawed in the EU soon. Watch this space.
The real opportunity might be fewer systems, not smarter systems.
“Fiercely Unfiltered” Is Actually Identity Anxiety
They frame it as:
Bold self-expression
Individuality
Hyper-tailored experiences
But let’s be honest. When 47% want to be distinct and 58% want curated experiences, that isn’t rebellion. We have created a generation where the values of individual desire supersede the greater good. Let’s call this algorithmic validation.
This generation’s individuality is mediated through feeds. People don’t want to be different. They want to be:
Different enough to feel special
Similar enough to belong
This does not feel like defiance. Defianev would be putting the phone down. Turn off, tune in and kop out. It is more like optimisation of social acceptance of everyone gets a medal. Hurrah. Think about this even:
Hyper-personalisation at scale erodes uniqueness.
When everyone is served “their” curated feed, individuality becomes templated. Euromonitor calls it segmentation. The reality? Industrialising identity.
“Rewired Wellness” Is Actually Self-Surveillance
USD 6.9 trillion in health spend.3 in 4 track their health with a device. Not me, I got however heartbeats the old ticker will allow me. Not to be foolish about it, but there is the thing.
The report has some polite framing: Science meets self-care.
Unpolished truth:
We have medicalised existence.
Sleep isn’t rest anymore. It’s a score. How many of you Whoop users woke up pissed off to find a bad sleep score? I see you.
Food isn’t pleasure. It’s glucose response. At it’s core food is sustenance. Not every meal needs to be a 5 star lunch.
Skin isn’t beauty. It is not even skin deep. It’s barrier integrity. Beauty care used to be the sale of hope. Now, well I am not sure what it is.
We’ve shifted from:
“I feel okay.”
To:
“The data says I’m 6% off optimal.”
That creates a permanent state of mild deficiency. Which, conveniently, fuels continuous consumption. Wellness is now a subscription model. If only the Pharma market had this.. Oh wait..
It’s creating dependency.
“Next Asian Wave” Is Actually Competitive Darwinism
The deck says:
Chinese brands expanding globally
Cultural fluency
Digital sophistication
Polite version: Collaborate and localise.
Reality:
Western incumbents are structurally slower.
Asian brands:
Launch faster
Iterate faster
Scale through marketplaces
Treat supply chains like software
This is a structural advantage. It exposes something uncomfortable: Western brands are often marketing-heavy and operations-light.
The new challengers are operations-first, culture-second, price-third.
That changes everything. For the foreseeable.
The Bigger Silence: Growth Isn’t the Real Story
Look at the macro slide:
3.8% inflation
2.3% consumer expenditure growth
That’s anaemic.We are not in expansion mode.
This is redistribution mode. Brands aren’t fighting for new demand. They’re fighting for slices of fixed demand. Wait until they realise this.
What does this do? It intensifies:
Competition
Price pressure
Brand fragility
Euromonitor talks about defending brand equity.The less polite translation?
Brand equity is under assault.
From:
Marketplaces
Cross-border
AI discovery
Private label
Creator brands
The moat is shrinking.
The Meta-Truth They Don’t Say Out Loud
All four trends revolve around control. Control over:
Stress
Identity
Health
Access
These same systems offering control are increasing complexity.
AI personalisation
Global supply chains
Data tracking
Endless choice
Consumers are trying to stabilise themselves inside accelerating systems. That tension is the real story.
Where the Industry Might Be Fooling Itself
We think personalisation equals loyalty.
It might just equal temporary relevance.We think data equals empowerment.
It might equal anxiety.We think global access equals opportunity.
It also equals commoditisation.We think wellness equals growth.
It might equal saturation and regulation.
The Brutal Question for 2026
If:
Everyone personalises
Everyone optimises
Everyone goes global
Everyone sells “calm”
Then what differentiates anyone?
Speed?
Taste?
Narrative?
Community?
Operational discipline?
Probably all of it.
But the deeper differentiator might be restraint.
Brands that:
Don’t over-communicate
Don’t over-extend
Don’t over-optimise
In a world obsessed with acceleration, stillness could become premium.