Robeco: Consumer trends in 2026 – safety, security and the return of wearables
10 MAR, 2026
By Robeco
By Jack Neele, Portfolio Manager of the Robeco Global Consumer Trends Equities strategy at Robeco
Despite concerns about the cost of living and uncertainty around tariffs, real consumption in the United States is estimated to have increased by 2.6% in 2025 compared with 2024.¹ Will 2026 sustain this trend?
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 56.4 in January 2026, up from the final reading of 52.9 in December 2025 and the highest level since September 2025, though still well below 71.7 points in January 2025.²
Despite strong economic growth — according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. GDP grew 4.3% year-on-year in the last quarter — consumer confidence remains subdued. People are focused on immediate financial pressures such as high prices (inflation), rising interest rates, and housing costs, which erode purchasing power and disposable income and make consumers feel poorer.
This also reflects the “K-shaped” economy, in which higher-income households are doing significantly better than lower-income ones. Wealthier households are benefiting from the wealth effect created by rising equity markets, increasing their ability and willingness to spend. Recent credit card data shows spending growth in December 2025 of 2.4% year-on-year for higher-income households, compared with 0.4% for lower-income households.³
Ongoing advances in artificial intelligence are also making job security less certain. This has created a divergence: spending remains strong despite pessimistic medium-term outlooks, as consumers prioritize value and deal with everyday affordability challenges. Consumers perceive a slowdown in job creation and hiring, increasing uncertainty about employment security and further weakening confidence.
Support for middle- and lower-income households may come from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which includes an extraordinary $370 billion tax refund for U.S. taxpayers, most of which will be distributed by the end of March.⁴ This should support consumption in the first and second quarters, while monetary easing may support asset prices and maintain the wealth effect.
In Europe, the outlook for consumption is cautiously positive. House prices and mortgage costs remain stable for most consumers, wages are growing moderately, and high savings levels provide a cushion. However, consumer spending growth is currently most visible in essential categories such as housing and healthcare. At the same time, a new theme — Safety & Security — is growing rapidly.
1. Safety & Security: an increasingly important priority for consumers and investors
Events such as the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, rising tensions between the United States, Europe and China, and the push for national self-sufficiency are reshaping how societies operate.
For consumers, these developments translate into greater day-to-day uncertainty.
Consumers are increasingly aware that global shocks can quickly have local consequences. This shift is strengthening preferences for stability, transparency and trust in products, services and brands.
From an investment perspective, these geopolitical shifts support long-term demand for companies that enhance resilience, whether through secure supply chains, critical infrastructure or enabling technologies.
As globalization slows and supply chains reorganize regionally, companies able to operate reliably in a more fragmented world are emerging as winners.
Cybersecurity: a fundamental imperative for consumers
Within the Safety & Security theme, cybersecurity has become one of the most visible and urgent aspects of personal safety.
Cases of credit card theft, identity fraud, ransomware attacks and data privacy breaches continue to rise in both frequency and sophistication.
Attackers are now using AI-powered tools to automate social engineering attacks and penetrate digital ecosystems at scale. As a result, consumers face growing risks in everyday transactions, including online shopping, mobile banking and digital identity verification.
Governments and regulators worldwide are responding with stricter data protection rules and reporting requirements, pushing companies to invest heavily in securing their digital infrastructure.
For consumers, this creates growing demand for solutions that protect personal information, such as:
- secure payment technologies
- identity protection services
- end-to-end encrypted communications
For investors, cybersecurity stands out as a structural growth theme, supported by regulatory momentum and a growing societal need. As digital life expands, the expectation that companies protect consumer data is becoming non-negotiable.
2. The strong comeback of smart glasses
Global smart glasses sales now exceed 1 million units per quarter, more than double the level of a year ago.
Technological progress and social changes have made modern smart glasses an appealing product for many consumers. Prices have also fallen significantly: from around $1,500 previously to about $299 for entry-level models.
During a typical subway ride, almost everyone is staring at their smartphone screens. This situation could change, as some smart-glasses manufacturers dream of eventually replacing smartphones entirely.
However, there is still a long way to go, given that annual smartphone sales are around 1.3 billion units.
For now, most smart glasses still rely on connected smartphones to handle demanding tasks. Smartphones provide processing power and battery-intensive functions such as 5G connectivity.
Before smartphones can be replaced, significant technological improvements are needed in:
- battery life
- heat dissipation
- miniaturization
In practice, smart glasses are gaining early adoption not through constant use, but through micro-use cases, including:
- navigation while walking
- real-time translation
- quick visual searches
- hands-free video capture
These use cases often favor glasses over smartphones.
The broader wearable market
The growth of smart glasses fits within the broader expansion of the wearable market.
Wearables are growing steadily, with units expected to increase from around 150 million in 2019 to about 280 million by 2028.
While basic fitness wearables continue to grow, the real expansion is coming from smart wearables.
This shift reflects a broader trend: consumers want more than simple step tracking — they want connectivity, artificial intelligence and convenience.
Smart glasses are redefining the wearable market, and new players are entering the space, increasing consumer choice and driving innovation. This should lead to strong and sustained sales growth for smart glasses.
3. Preventive healthcare: better to prevent than to cure
As healthcare costs rise globally, prevention is increasingly recognized as an effective way to improve outcomes and control spending.
Healthcare spending as a share of GDP continues to increase in developed countries, reaching levels that require serious attention. In 2024, developed countries spent on average 9.3% of GDP on healthcare, up from 8.8% in 2019.
Many diseases can be traced to unhealthy lifestyles, risky behaviors, or genetic predispositions.
An important way to generate greater returns from healthcare spending is through prevention — investing more in preventing disease rather than reacting to illness with expensive drugs, hospitalizations or long-term care.
Lifestyle interventions are the most effective tool to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases, such as:
- heart disease
- many types of cancer
- diabetes
- lung disease
A significant share of these illnesses can be prevented through diet and physical activity.
Although a recent survey shows that consumers prioritize taste (83%) and price (62%) over healthiness (52%) when choosing food, we observe a growing consumer trend toward:
- high-protein foods
- increasing demand for fiber-rich products
Wearables supporting preventive healthcare
Continuous monitoring through wearables further improves preventive healthcare.
Unlike traditional medical checkups — which provide only a snapshot of a person’s health — smartwatches (and potentially smart glasses in the future) provide a continuous stream of health data.
By analyzing this data, apps can detect “silent” indicators, such as irregular heart rhythms, before they lead to emergency medical visits.
This constant feedback loop also enables consumers to take ownership of their health, while providing doctors with the data needed for early, low-cost interventions.
Conclusion
Geopolitical tensions, re-regionalization, and technological disruption are reshaping consumer behavior and investment priorities, bringing safety, security and resilience to the forefront.
Despite solid macroeconomic growth, consumers remain pessimistic due to persistent inflation, high interest rates, housing costs and increasing job insecurity, intensified by rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
This has created a gap between spending and sentiment, as households focus on everyday affordability and value.
As a result, the environment favors reliable and transparent brands and companies that strengthen resilience through:
- secure supply chains
- critical infrastructure
- enabling technologies.
