Global Scans · Consumer · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Technology will become the new sales assistant, always on, always friendly, always delivering. Consumers will co-create and create products to their exact needs. Brands will have to focus on seizing mobile moments on apps that already have consumer's attention. Instantly explore below how lifestyles, buying behaviors and attitudes are changing and where you fall short in the battle to win consumers hearts and minds.

• [New] In 2026, global consumer spending on health products and medical services is expected to reach $6.9 trillion. BYYD
• [New] AI agents will own the end consumer and play a key role in their customer journey over the next five years. Strategy&
• [New] By 2026, foundation-model revenue growth is expected to be driven primarily by enterprise licensing, embedded APIs, and verticalized B2B deployments, rather than consumer-facing tools. Lasso Security
• [New] With a CAGR of 38.75% from 2023 to 2030, the drone sector presents compelling investment opportunities across defence, logistics, agriculture, and consumer markets. BUSINESS 2.0 NEWS
• [New] If recent data points prove merely short-term noise during the festive season, a rate hike could prove detrimental to consumer spending, posing risks to the moderate 1.9% growth rate outlook for 2026. IG
• [New] OpenAI would generate hundreds of billions in revenue by 2030, potentially branching into consumer devices and robotics amid massive demand for AI. The Guardian
• [New] As AI agents transform the digital economy, AI-mediated consumer revenue could grow by as much as 105% annually across the next five years, from $20 billion today to $900 billion in 2030. ZDNet
• [New] Consumer Spending will grow by roughly 2.0% in 2026. / USA Medium
• [New] The average bill in England and Wales will go up by 5.4%, compared to the latest Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation of 3.4%. BBC News
• [New] Sustained public investment in clean mobility and renewable energy could help lower crude imports while supporting India's climate commitments. Khaleej Times
• [New] Product liability frameworks are being modernized, as the UK Law Commission launched a comprehensive review of the Consumer Protection Act to ensure it adequately captures risks associated with AI-enabled technologies, including iterative updates and latent defects. Mondaq
• [New] Electric air taxis represent an exciting step forward for urban mobility in Paris, offering the potential for faster, more seamless connections between airports, hotels, and key destinations. Robotics & Automation News
• [New] Consumer confidence is expected to fall sharply in January, down 3.5 points to -26.9, after a slight rise of 0.7 points to -23.4 in December. BMWI
• [New] New tax cuts are expected to bolster consumer spending in 2026, which could benefit consumer staples stocks. / USA Morgan Stanley
• [New] The evolution of consumer demand during 2026 in response to the Chinese government's anti-involution stance and price floor regulation will move focus to a high-end, value-driven consumption. EV Infrastructure News
• [New] Payment processors Visa, Mastercard and American Express will illuminate consumer spending trends, offering valuable perspectives on household financial health heading into 2026. IG
• [New] US consumer resilience is expected to persist in 2026, supported by strong household balance sheets and slowing but healthy income growth. Fibre2Fashion
• [New] Even though OpenAI and ChatGPT have been the undisputed leaders in consumer AI for three years now, since ChatGPT first launched, that they will stumble in 2026 and that Google is already a lot closer to ChatGPT than most people think. eMarketer

Last updated: 05 February 2026