Retail Trends 2026: What Retailers Need to Accept (Not Just Predict)

2026 Notepad with pen in hand

Retail Trends 2026: What Retailers Need to Accept (Not Just Predict)

By Steph Briggs

There’s a particular kind of quiet that makes retail business owners spiral.

Not the nice quiet. Not the “I can finally get stuff done” quiet.

I mean the quiet that lands on a Tuesday at 2pm when the shop feels too still, the phone doesn’t ring, the website orders are slow and your brain starts doing that unhelpful thing where it rewrites the future in worst-case scenarios.

I’ve been in a lot of conversations like that lately with independents, founder-led brands and small chains who are doing their absolute best to keep things steady. If there’s one thread running through them all, it’s this:

People aren’t short on work ethic. They’re short on certainty.

That’s not dramatic. It’s practical. It’s the reality of planning a business when the wider context keeps shifting; government decisions, household budgets, consumer confidence, staffing pressures, business rates, costs… take your pick.

And if you’re reading this thinking, “I’m tired, I’m worried, and I don’t know what I’m meant to do next”  you’re not alone.

In fact, it’s showing up in the data as well as the day-to-day. Late 2025 saw UK retailers’ confidence fall to its lowest level in 17 years in a CBI survey reported by Reuters, with retailers delaying investment and hiring as uncertainty dragged on.

So yes: fear and fatigue are real. But here’s the bit we need to say out loud…

Normal isn’t coming back (and waiting for it is costing you)

A lot of retailers are still looking for “normal” to return.

As if we’re in a strange temporary chapter and we just need to hold our nerve until everything settles.

But retail in 2026 isn’t shaping up to be a neat return to stability. It’s shaping up to be unpredictability as the baseline.

KPMG’s Consumer Pulse toplines for Q4 2025 are a good example of what that feels like on the ground: many people still say they feel financially secure, yet a majority believe the economy is getting worse, and a significant chunk are cutting discretionary spending into 2026.

So, if you’ve been thinking, “We’ll do some serious marketing when things pick up”, or “We’ll invest when we feel more confident” — I understand the instinct, but it’s the wrong way round.

Confidence doesn’t arrive first. It’s built.

And “riding it out” isn’t a strategy. It’s a pause button you can’t really afford to press.

The myth that saving every penny is the safest move

I keep hearing a version of the same sentence, said in a hundred different ways:

“We can’t afford to invest right now.”

Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes the numbers are genuinely tight.

But very often, especially in small businesses what’s really going on is a confidence wobble. A fear wobble. A “what if I spend and it doesn’t work?” wobble.

I had this conversation recently with a service provider (a therapist). She wasn’t talking about a £10,000 rebrand. She was talking a couple of hundred pounds on basics that would help her digital presence feel current, credible and easy to trust.

But fear had her frozen. Not because she didn’t care. Because she cared so much, she didn’t want to make the wrong move.

And this is where I’m going to be gently provocative, because I think you need to hear it:

When you cut your visibility in the name of safety, you don’t just save money.
You also reduce your chances of being chosen.

You don’t need to do everything. You need to do something.

This is the part I wish more retailers gave themselves permission to believe: you don’t need a dramatic overhaul to create momentum.

You need movement. The right movement.

Here are a few “do something” actions that are small enough to start this week, but meaningful enough to shift results:

1) Refresh your Google Business Profile (yes, even if you’re “not a Google person”)

If you’re a bricks-and-mortar business, your Google listing is often the first impression. Update opening hours, add fresh photos, check your categories, and post one update (an offer, a new arrival, an event). It’s one of the most practical visibility levers you have.

2) Look at your analytics like a detective, not a critic

Open GA4 and answer three simple questions:

  • Where is my traffic actually coming from right now?
  • Which pages are people landing on most?
  • Where are they dropping off?

You’re not doing this to judge yourself. You’re doing it to make one better decision next.

3) Choose one message and repeat it consistently

When times are uncertain, customers don’t need more noise, they need clarity. Decide what you want to be known for in 2026 (quality, speed, expertise, uniqueness, local trust, transformation, gifting, whatever it is) and make sure that message is present everywhere you show up.

4) Improve one conversion point

Not everything. One thing.

  • Make the checkout simpler.
  • Improve your delivery and returns messaging.
  • Add FAQs that reduce hesitation.
  • Beautify your product photography.
  • Make the “why you” more obvious on your homepage.

Small tweaks compound.

5) Put energy into your existing customers

You don’t need to chase new people relentlessly if you’re not looking after the ones who already trust you. A simple email, a thoughtful “back in stock” message, a loyalty touchpoint that feels human, this is often where revenue stabilises fastest.

None of this requires you to “spend loads”. It requires you to stop waiting.

Experience is the differentiator now (online and on the high street)

There’s a misconception that “experience” means something expensive or elaborate.

It doesn’t.

Experience is simply the feeling people have when they interact with you and whether that feeling makes them want to come back.

In 2026, when people are choosier with their spending, the businesses that quietly win will be the ones that feel:

  • easy to buy from
  • reassuring to trust
  • consistent in how they show up
  • human in how they communicate
  • confident in what they stand for

For some businesses, that’s the in-store feel: being greeted properly, staff who know what they’re talking about, a sense that someone has thought about what the customer needs.

For others, it’s online: product pages that answer questions, delivery information that doesn’t feel like a riddle, an Instagram that actually reflects the brand and, a website that doesn’t make customers work too hard to understand what’s on offer.

And this isn’t just “nice to have”. When spending is subdued, you can’t rely on volume. You rely on conversion, loyalty and reputation.

That’s why official data showing retail sales volumes falling month on month in October 2025 matters: it’s a signal of how cautious the market still is.

So the question becomes less, “how do I wait this out?” and more:

How do I make it easier for people to choose me and feel good about it?

A word on marketing in hard times

There’s a reason I keep coming back to marketing in this piece: it’s the first thing people cut when they’re scared.

But there’s evidence that maintaining visibility when competitors go quiet helps protect (and even grow) market share. Kantar’s analysis of recessionary periods discusses how media spend links to gaining and losing share, and that the effect can be even more pronounced during crises when others pull back.

I’m not saying “spend recklessly”. I’m saying: don’t disappear.

Because if you disappear now, you’ll have to work twice as hard later to be remembered.

Start where you are. Just start.

If you take nothing else from this, take this:

You are not failing because retail feels unpredictable.
You are not behind because you feel tired.
You are not “doing it wrong” because you don’t have a perfect plan.

But you do need to move.

Not in a frantic way. In a steady way. In a “one good decision at a time” way.

If you’ve been waiting for confidence, let this be the reframe:

Confidence is built through action, not before it.

Pick one thing. Do it properly. Then pick the next.

And if you’re reading this thinking, “I can’t see the wood for the trees — I need someone to help me work out what to do first”… I can help. We don’t pile pressure on. We help you see clearly, prioritise what matters, and build a plan that fits the business you actually have, not the fantasy version you’re meant to run.

2026 doesn’t need you to do everything.
It needs you to do something.

 

Steph Briggs is a freelance marketing consultant and strategist specialising in retail, eCommerce, SEO and content-led growth. She works with independent retailers, small chains and founder-led businesses across the UK, helping them navigate change, regain confidence and make commercially sound decisions in uncertain conditions.

With hands-on experience across both bricks-and-mortar and online retail, Steph brings a practical, people-first perspective to marketing, focusing on visibility, customer experience and steady momentum rather than quick fixes or hype. She is part of the Retail Champion consultancy team and regularly contributes insight on retail reality, consumer behaviour and sustainable growth.

 

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Sources & further reading