The shopper beat

Thursday, 14 May 2026

Sustainability claims & regulation

The EU Green Claims Directive Is Nine Months Away and Most Brands Are Not Ready
With enforcement starting September 2026, vague sustainability language on pack and in advertising shifts from a reputational risk to a legal one, and the brands that stay quiet face a different problem entirely.

Retail Media Networks in 2026: Where the Budget Is Going and What You Still Cannot Measure
CPG brands are sending close to 40 percent of their ad budgets into retail media networks, but the tools to prove what that spending actually buys are still catching up to the dollars.
Retail Media Networks in 2026: The Budget Is Massive and the Proof Is Still Thin
CPG brands are on track to direct half of all ad spend through retail media networks, but the measurement tools needed to justify that allocation are nowhere near ready.

Loyalty in 2026: Why the Next Era Will Be Earned, Not Bought
AI-driven personalisation is pulling grocery loyalty programmes away from blanket discounts and toward SKU-level relevance, and the brands still treating these programmes as a discount channel are falling behind.

Value at the Breaking Point: The 2026 Pricing and Promotion Reset Every Commercial Leader Needs to Act On Now
Shoppers are migrating to cheaper stores, not just cheaper brands, while input-cost waves from geopolitical shocks threaten a second inflation surge across FMCG in 2026.
Value at the Breaking Point: What 2026 Pricing Signals Mean for Your Shelf Strategy
Shoppers across the US and Europe are anxious, cautious, and hunting for value, and retailers from Sprouts to Danone are already repricing, repromoting, and repositioning to meet them.

The 2026 Shopper Is Not One Person: What Generational Fragmentation Means for Your Range
From Gen Alpha entering grocery to older consumers seeking longevity nutrition, the shopper base is pulling in four directions at once, and a single range strategy will not cover it.