CHICAGO, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mintel's 2027 Global Predictions identify a fundamental shift in how brands can create value: future growth will depend less on launching more standalone products and more on helping consumers achieve meaningful outcomes through connected systems.
Consumers are increasingly starting with an outcome they want to achieve, rather than a particular product or category, and assembling their own mix of products, services, technologies and behaviors to get there. That is blurring traditional category boundaries and changing the competitive set for brands. Whether the goal is better sleep, sustained energy, emotional wellbeing or a simpler home routine, brands will need to earn a clear and credible role within the systems consumers build around their lives.
Diana Kelter, Director of Mintel Trends said:
"The next phase of brand growth will not be driven by more products, formats or claims alone. Consumers don't experience their needs within neat category boundaries, and increasingly they are combining products, services and behaviors to achieve an outcome. That creates opportunity for brands, but also new competition. A sleep brand may no longer be competing only with another sleep product, for example, but with technology, nutrition, fitness or other solutions that promise the same outcome."
"Across categories, the mandate for brands is consistent: stop thinking first about what product to launch and start asking what outcome your brand can credibly help consumers achieve."
How the shift from products to connected systems will reshape consumer markets
Mintel's analysis shows how the move from products to systems is reshaping four major consumer categories:
- Wellness: the recommendation engine becomes the new battleground
As wearables and AI move from tracking consumers to recommending what they should eat, buy, take and do, competition will shift from the shelf to the recommendation engine. Half of US consumers already use or are interested in using generative AI to manage their health and wellness. For brands, growth will increasingly depend on providing the proof and data that earns a place within the systems consumers already trust. - Food & Drink: brands face competitors from outside the grocery aisle
As consumers organize purchases around outcomes such as energy, sleep and weight management, food and drink brands will compete with supplements, beauty, technology and other sectors for the same consumer need. In 2025, 58% of global product launches making stress-relief or relaxation claims came from healthcare brands, compared with 33% from drinks and just 9% from food. Food and drink's advantage is that eating is non-negotiable, creating an opportunity to become the foundation of consumers' outcome-led systems rather than just another component within them. - Beauty & Personal Care: brands compete for a bigger share of the routine
Beauty spending is already moving beyond topical products into supplements, devices and professional treatments as consumers build systems around outcomes such as healthy ageing, hair retention and recovery. In the US, 23% of adults took beauty supplements in 2026, up from 17% in 2022. For beauty brands, the opportunity is to connect products with treatments, diagnostics and wellness solutions around a consumer goal, either by owning more of that system or partnering into it. - Household Care: control of the consumer relationship shifts upstream
As household decisions are increasingly automated through appliances, retailers and technology platforms, the greatest competitive threat may no longer come from another cleaning brand, but from the companies deciding when and how household needs are met. Already, nearly 7 in 10 US adults see a future where their home anticipates their needs. Brands will need to secure a role within these emerging ecosystems or risk losing control of the consumer relationship.
Diana Kelter added:
"Brands should start by identifying the outcomes consumers are trying to achieve, then look at the products, services and behaviors already coming together around them. From there, the question is simple: what role can your brand credibly play? For some, the opportunity will be to orchestrate the wider experience; for others, it will be to provide specialist expertise, measurement, or simply make the system easier to navigate. I expect we'll see new partnerships develop across technology, healthcare, retail and services, as traditional category boundaries continue to blur."
About Mintel
As a market intelligence agency, Mintel's understanding of consumers, innovation and global markets gives clients the clarity to act and the confidence to lead. With over 50 years of expertise and millions of data points, Mintel combines the real-world understanding of its experts with cutting-edge technology to uncover patterns, predict the future and help brands make better business decisions.
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SOURCE Mintel Group, Ltd.
