Oct. 16, 2026
By Simon Nolan
Chairs and NEDs from across the Consumer Markets sector joined Norman Broadbent and KPMG for a discussion on changing consumer behaviour and what it means for businesses and their Boards.
The End of the Average Consumer: Why Businesses Must Rethink How They Compete
Chairs and NEDs from across the Consumer Markets sector joined Norman Broadbent and KPMG for a discussion on changing consumer behaviour and what it means for businesses and their Boards.
On 14 October, Norman Broadbent and KPMG hosted a breakfast bringing together Chairs and Non-Executive Directors to explore an increasingly important question: how do businesses compete when the consumer is becoming harder to predict?
Opening the discussion, Linda Ellett, Global Lead Partner, UK Consumer Retail and Leisure at KPMG UK, shared findings from the firm’s latest Consumer Pulse research. It revealed a striking contradiction:
- 56% of UK consumers feel financially secure, while 55% believe the wider UK economy is worsening.
- Among those concerned about the economy, 51% are reducing everyday spending, 36% are saving more and 33% are putting off big-ticket purchases.
- Yet consumers have not stopped spending. More than half had eaten out at a restaurant during the summer, 45% had bought new clothing, and holidays remained the most common big-ticket purchase.
The result is not necessarily declining demand, but more selective, fragmented and difficult-to-predict spending.
The discussion explored several themes shaping the consumer landscape and Board priorities:
- The rise of the contradictory consumer – Traditional assumptions around age, income and purchasing power are becoming less reliable. The same consumer might look for savings on everyday purchases while spending significantly on travel, fitness or experiences. For businesses, understanding why someone is spending may now be as important as understanding who they are.
- Value versus values – Sustainability remains important, but the discussion highlighted the gap between what consumers say they value and what ultimately drives a purchase. Price, quality and convenience continue to have significant influence. The challenge for businesses is increasingly to align sustainability with commercial benefits such as efficiency, waste reduction and lower operating costs.
- AI and the changing path to purchase – As consumers increasingly use AI to discover and compare products, businesses may need to rethink how they compete for attention. Product information, reviews, reputation and brand trust could become increasingly influential as AI changes how recommendations are made. At the same time, trusted and established brands may become more valuable as consumers navigate an increasing volume of AI-generated content.
- Responding to fragmented demand – More unpredictable purchasing behaviour creates challenges beyond marketing. Supply chains need to respond to rapidly changing demand without adding unnecessary cost or complexity. Better data, closer supplier relationships and scenario planning will all play a role, but agility needs to remain commercially disciplined.
- Profitable growth remains the priority – Rising employment costs, business rates, retail crime and investment in technology continue to put pressure on consumer businesses. The discussion repeatedly returned to the distinction between growth and profitable growth. Higher sales alone offer limited value if the cost of generating them continues to erode margins.
- The Board needs curiosity as well as expertise – AI literacy is becoming increasingly important, but there was debate over whether adding dedicated AI expertise to Boards is necessarily the answer. Commercial judgement, adaptability and experience of previous technological disruption remain equally valuable. Boards need to create space for experimentation while ensuring investment is linked to clear commercial outcomes.
These themes build on previous discussions hosted by Norman Broadbent and KPMG, where Chairs and NEDs considered the need for greater agility, scenario planning and effective governance in responding to an increasingly volatile operating environment.
Across the conversation, one message stood out: businesses can no longer rely on an idea of the “average consumer” to guide their decisions.
The competitive advantage may lie less in predicting exactly what consumers will do next and more in building businesses capable of responding when they behave differently.
For Boards and executive teams, that means combining better use of data with deeper customer understanding, technological curiosity and rigorous scenario planning, while remaining focused on the commercial fundamentals.
The average consumer may never have been as predictable as businesses hoped. What is changing is the speed at which those assumptions are being challenged.
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