Next Gen Retail Volume 10

The ‘squeezed middle’

The surge in financial insecurity is not evenly distributed. Women are significantly more affected than men, with 43% of women now feeling less financially secure compared to 33% of men.

The 35-54 age group - the ‘squeezed middle’ - emerges as the cohort under the most acute financial pressure, with 42% of them feeling less financially secure.

This group is also the most price-sensitive when choosing where to shop, prioritising getting the best price above all other factors.

With mortgage costs, childcare expenses and the general cost of living converging on this demographic, the commercial implications for retailers targeting these age groups are significant.

Shopping habits and behaviours

Irish adults are actively adapting their shopping behaviours in response to financial stress. Over half (55%) have bought fewer items over the past year.

Making greater use of retailer loyalty schemes to secure lower prices (53%), buying more products on promotion or discount (53%), switching to own-brand or value products (47%), cancelling monthly subscriptions (34%) and selling unwanted items online (22%) are the main money-saving tactics.

The research reveals that females are notably more likely than men to implement various cost-saving measures.

Physical stores continue to dominate for essential categories, with 85% of Irish adults purchasing groceries in-store, a figure that has remained stable across three consecutive waves.

Similarly, 56% favour physical stores for homeware, and nearly two-thirds (64%) say they prefer shopping in physical stores because they can touch and see products before buying.

Most (73%) have not used Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services in the past 12 months. However, across those that have used it, it is more likely to be for clothes/fashion or electronics and appliances.

Loyalty schemes driving choice of retailer

The influence of loyalty programmes on retailer choice has grown continuously since 2023, with 62% of consumers now saying loyalty schemes drive where they shop, up from 57% last year.

Loyalty is of particular importance among under-35s, where the ability to store loyalty cards in a digital wallet such as Apple Wallet or Google Wallet significantly increases the likelihood of programme participation.

For younger consumers, digital-first loyalty integration is not an optional extra, it is a threshold requirement.

Consumers have a clear and consistent preference for how they want loyalty to work: automatic application of eligible rewards at checkout is preferred by 72%, immediate member prices at shelf or checkout by 61%, and digital wallet storage by 59%.

Points accumulation systems and voucher-based programmes are significantly less preferred. The message to retailers is clear: friction-free, automatic value delivery is what drives loyalty engagement. 

Attitudes towards the future of shopping

When Irish consumers think about the future of their own shopping behaviour, the dominant narrative is circular and value-driven, not technology-led.

AI-powered shopping tools remain largely untrusted and untested, with just 13% of consumers trusting AI agents to recommend purchases for them, and only 21% anticipating using a personal AI assistant to research products and complete purchases on their behalf.

Just Walk Out technology, Augmented Reality try-ons, and livestream commerce all register low anticipated adoption across the general population.

Perhaps most tellingly, 38% of consumers now anticipate that buying second-hand or refurbished goods will become as frequent for them as buying new products.

For retailers, the strategic implication is clear: the growth opportunity in the next phase of Irish retail lies not in deploying the latest technology, but in meeting consumers where they are, financially stretched, value-focused, loyal to the brands that reward them, and increasingly open to a more circular way of consuming.

The rise of second-hand and resale platforms is another defining feature of this environment with over 1 in 5 (22%) saying have sold unwanted items online (on platforms such as Vinted, Depop, etc). Vinted and Depop usage has seen particularly high growth among 25-34 year olds. 

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