Strategic planning is ultimately about making informed decisions that will shape your path forward. But here's the catch: those decisions are only as strong as the inputs guiding them. When category trends go unnoticed or are based on outdated assumptions, businesses risk investing time, effort, and capital in the wrong direction.

Q3: A Critical Window for Strategic Insight Gathering

Most companies associate annual strategic planning with Q4, but the most successful teams start gathering data well before then – typically during Q3. This pre-planning runway allows organizations to:

• Validate or challenge their existing positioning
• Identify early signals of change in shopper or consumer behavior
• Assess new threats or opportunities in the competitive landscape
• Refine their approach based on the most current category dynamics

Why Fresh Insights Matter More Than Ever

Markets are not static. Consumer expectations evolve rapidly, and so do their buying decisions. What mattered to your customers six months ago may be different today – influenced by cultural shifts, economic conditions, and emerging technologies. Without timely market research and updated consumer insights, it’s easy to lean on intuition or outdated knowledge.

Proactively monitoring category trends ensures you’re not missing out on:

1. New Need States: As daily routines change or external pressures rise, new demand opportunities surface. Understanding these need states early can help you innovate strategically.

2. Fast-Growing Segments: Niche players or rising product attributes can often signal larger movements in consumer preference. Catching these early gives you a head start.

3. Shopper Behavior Shifts: Whether influenced by digital adoption, sustainability concerns, or economic sensitivity – how and why consumers shop is a moving target.

Insights Over Assumptions

At SIVO Insights, we believe in grounding every recommendation in real-world evidence. When you base your strategic planning on actual, up-to-date category insights – not legacy reports or gut instinct – you develop strategies that truly match the realities of your market today.

It’s not about predicting the future perfectly. It’s about building agile, informed strategies that keep your brand adaptive and responsive. And that begins with analyzing the right category trends, at the right time.

So, what category trends are worth your attention as 2025 planning approaches? While specific priorities vary by industry, there are several universal areas every business should examine. These trends help outline the shape of your category today – and hint at where it’s headed tomorrow.

1. Shifting Shopper Behavior

Buying habits continue to evolve due to economic pressure, digital convenience, and shifting social values. From increased price sensitivity to demand for sustainability and easier fulfillment, it’s important to understand not only what shoppers are buying, but how and why their behaviors are changing.

Explore questions like:

• Are customers turning to online, in-store, or hybrid experiences more often?
• Do they prioritize convenience, values, or value?
• How are decision journeys changing within your category?

2. Emerging Segments and Niche Growth

Most industries are seeing growth in unexpected places. Niche segments – such as plant-based offerings, wellness-oriented products, or digitally native brands – may begin small, but often signal larger changes in consumer preferences or unmet needs.

Use market research to assess which of these early signals are worth watching closely in the coming year. Look for clues in consumer insights, search behavior, or retail performance data as indicators of what’s gaining traction.

3. Changing Consumer Need States

Understanding why consumers make the choices they do – their underlying motivations or pain points – is essential. These need states can shift rapidly due to cultural moments, economic reality, or even seasonal change.

For example, are consumers focused on security and savings after a period of economic strain? Or searching for connection and belonging post-disruption? Once you pinpoint emerging needs, you can align messaging, innovation, and experiences accordingly.

4. New Competitors and Category Disruptors

It’s not just what’s happening with shoppers—it’s also who’s entering (or re-entering) your competitive landscape. Smaller players, new technologies, or adjacent category crossovers can quickly pull share and shake up expectations.

Whether it’s a startup bringing innovation, or a legacy player repositioning their offer, tracking competitive activity helps you prepare and proactively respond. Don’t forget to evaluate direct and indirect competition alike.

5. Demand Signals That Warrant a Closer Look

Some signals can be missed if you're only looking at surface-level performance. For example:

• Shifts in how different demographic segments interact with your category
• Increasing frequency of purchase in sub-categories
• New uses or occasions emerging for existing products

Each of these offer directional clues about how your category is expanding, fragmenting, or maturing—which can directly influence your 2025 strategy decisions.

How to Turn Observations Into Action

Identifying trends is valuable, but interpretation is key. This is where On Demand Talent from SIVO can offer strategic value – connecting you quickly with experienced insights professionals who know how to analyze data, synthesize patterns, and guide what matters most for planning.

Whether you're a startup launching in a crowded category or an established brand refreshing your roadmap, having up-to-date category insights ensures your strategy is rooted in what consumers want and where the market is truly going.

Understanding shifts in shopper behavior is vital before entering strategic planning for 2025. Consumer preferences are constantly evolving based on lifestyle changes, economic conditions, cultural trends, and technological innovations. If your business doesn't track these shifts, you risk basing next year’s strategy on outdated assumptions.

Why shopper behavior matters before strategic planning

Modern consumers expect more personalized, convenient, and value-driven experiences. For example, the rise of digital-first shopping journeys has transformed how shoppers research and purchase across nearly every category – from food to home goods to wellness. Meanwhile, increasing concern about sustainability and transparency is reshaping need states across age groups and income levels.

By evaluating category trends linked to shopper behavior changes, your team can:

• Refine product offerings in response to new priorities and needs
• Adjust pricing, packaging, or placement decisions
• Identify friction points or opportunity areas in the path to purchase
• Tailor messaging and marketing campaigns for evolved consumer mindsets

Real-world application (fictional example)

A midsize grocery brand noticed significant growth in single-serve, ready-to-eat meals. A deeper dive into consumer insights showed that young professionals were seeking convenience over traditional bulk family meals – a shift in household composition and lifestyle habits. By adjusting its product development and shelf strategy to align with those changing behaviors, the brand gained share in a competitive subcategory.

Key shopper behavior trends to watch in 2025

As you think about your 2025 planning, pay special attention to:

• Channel preferences (e.g., ecommerce vs. in-store)
• Decision-making factors (price, reviews, values, brand loyalty)
• Time and convenience expectations
• Demographic shifts in spending power
• The influence of social media and peer recommendations

Analyzing these trends helps teams align innovation, budgeting, and go-to-market strategies with where consumers are headed – not where they’ve been.

Timing is everything when it comes to preparing for annual planning. Most organizations begin formal strategic planning in Q4 – but the smartest ones start gathering insights in Q3. This “pre-planning season” is the critical time to evaluate category trends and explore the competitive landscape before major decisions are made.

Why Q3 is key

Q3 serves as the runway leading into your 2025 planning cycle. By the time Q4 arrives, plans start solidifying. To influence direction and ensure your strategy reflects current consumer behavior, insights need to arrive earlier – while there’s still room to act on them.

Collecting market research and insights in Q3 enables your organization to:

• Spot emerging market segments before the competition
• Understand consumer behavior changes relevant to your offering
• Monitor new competitors or disruptions within your category
• Pressure-test assumptions with fresh data and real-time feedback

Waiting too long to gather consumer insights – or relying solely on last year’s data – can lead to misaligned priorities and missed growth opportunities.

What trends should you monitor now?

Start with the core shifts that directly impact your business. This might include:

• Changes in how your consumers shop and why
• Emerging need states within your category
• Up-and-coming brands gaining traction
• Shifts in pricing expectations or value perceptions
• Cultural or lifestyle macrotrends shaping future demand

Your goal in Q3 should be building a clear view of how your market is evolving – so that when strategy planning begins, your next steps are grounded in current realities, not guesswork.

Whether you need fresh consumer insights to guide 2025 planning or extra capacity to evaluate emerging trends, SIVO’s On Demand Talent solution provides access to experienced insights professionals ready to make an impact fast.

Not freelancers. Not consultants. Just the right fit.

Unlike freelancers or short-term consultants, SIVO’s On Demand Talent are seasoned experts who integrate smoothly into your team. They bring decades of client- and agency-side experience across a wide range of industries, categories, and roles – helping you bridge bandwidth gaps without compromising quality or speed.

When to consider On Demand Talent:

• You need short-term support to prepare for 2025 strategic planning
• Your team lacks specific expertise needed to explore a new segment or trend
• You’re rolling into Q3 without enough capacity to collect or analyze insights
• You want a faster alternative to lengthy hiring or expensive consultants

Our professionals can jump in quickly – often in days, not months – and partner with your team to explore category trends, decode consumer behavior, evaluate the competitive landscape, or even run specific research projects tied to upcoming decisions.

Just like our full-service market research solutions, SIVO On Demand Talent are grounded in data-driven thinking. Whether supporting a Fortune 500 brand or a growth-stage startup, they help uncover the right insights at the right time to support confident, strategic action.