Consumer as a Partner

Introduction

In October 2025, Zero100 surveyed 14,000 consumers across seven countries to see how inflation and other supply chain disruptions are perceived by the shopping public. Many consumers are resigned to higher prices and largely blind to how supply chains work. But a significant share (47%) is aware of supply chains, receptive to communication about the reasons for higher prices, and open to promotions that use supply chain tactics (demand smoothing, bulk buying, service contracts) to offer better deals.

Could these consumers learn to engage with supply chain as partners to create more value for themselves and brand owners? We think so.

How to Drive Growth by Engaging Supply Chain-Aware Consumers

This new research is intended to help operations leaders work with commercial teams and retail customers to use supply chain innovation to drive growth, consumer loyalty, and margins. As stated by a CSCO of a Fortune 100 company in our community, “digital transformation in operations is about working back from outcomes and falling in love with the problem to solve.” Working back from outcomes starts with the consumer.

We unpack the opportunities by product category (essentials, durables, discretionary), geography (China, US, Europe, UK), and most importantly, persona, as defined in terms of supply chain awareness. These five personas are:

1. Practical Realists: Younger, financially secure consumers who accept price changes calmly, adjust selectively, and reward brands that communicate clearly.
2. Strained Switchers: Financially pressured custumers who react sharply to rising prices, trading down quickly and showing little brand loyalty.
3. Cautious Traditionalists: Steady, quality-driven shoppers who dislike price increases but make only minimal, pragmatic adjustments to long-standing habits.
4. Engaged Adapters: Affluent, digitally savvy shoppers who actively optimize via loyalty tools and subscriptions, accept tradeoffs when explained, and stay attentive to how supply chains shape value.
5. Disengaged Pragmatists: Low-engagement shoppers who notice issues but rarely change behavior, expressing apathy toward brands, options, and supply chain dynamics.

Find more details on the five personas in the Appendix.

Most of what we expect operations leaders to uncover will be familiar—scheduled deliveries that smooth demand, bulk buys that reduce unit costs, service contracts that save money on maintenance and consumables, etc.
The goal is to provide a data-driven way to target specific segments where such offers can deliver more value by proactively engaging supply chain-aware consumers in supply chain innovation.

The Mad Men Era Is Over

Consumer marketing has long focused on simple, emotional messaging to drive demand. Its Mad Men-era roots reflect a time of supply chain abundance in tension with retail channel scarcity. Consumers were knowingly left in the dark about the complex cost drivers behind logistics, packaging, production, sourcing, and product design.
Retailers of that era were secretive with shopper data and aggressive about driving down merchandise unit costs. The resulting system was awash in excess inventory and dependent on drastic discounts to clear shelves—the exact opposite of lean.

Supply Chain-Aware Consumers Are Emerging

Fast forward to the present where consumers have 24-hour access to endless selection across various channels, plus a nearly infinite amount of relevant information about what they’re buying. In fact, since 2000, investments in digitizing demand-side operations in marketing, sales, and consumer support apps are approximately 6x greater than on the supply side.

Five-star reviews, TikTok influencers, YouTube explainer videos, e-commerce aggregators, special interest websites, subscribe-and-save deals, self-checkout, smart appliances, and more have created a new kind of consumer—one who is intensely informed about their shopping options.
Some of these consumers are now ready to see behind the curtain and help supply chains optimize cost, quality, and speed, provided they can share in the gains. It starts with recognizing that consumers are on a journey of discovery.

Beyond just caring about what supply chains do to deliver, a significant share also cares about how they function. Politically sensitive supply chain topics like reshoring manufacturing, outsourcing operations, and the use of automation and AI are on the radar now.



One persona that stood out in their responses here are the Engaged Adapters. The different options, like AI, automation, outsourcing, and reshoring, all got 49–64% of Engaged Adapter support (compared to 26–38% average), and only 4% responded “none of the above” compared to the 26% average.

Along with Practical Realists, they were the only group where automation was the top pick instead of outsourcing (or “none”). These findings reveal that supply chain operations are no longer invisible to consumers—they’re becoming part of the brand story itself. Companies that proactively communicate their supply chain strategies, particularly around automation and reshoring, have an opportunity to build trust with an increasingly sophisticated consumer base, turning transparency into competitive advantage.

The Consumer Journey Is Intertwined with Supply Chain Engagement

Every consumer starts as a shopper. They have a problem to solve—what to feed their family, how to get in shape, what to wear to a wedding, how to keep their driveway clear of snow. At this point, they need information about the value propositions available, and they expect the seller to answer questions honestly about the product they are considering. Whether they’re in the store, shopping online, or speaking to a salesperson, they are still just a prospect—not yet a paying consumer—and only worth a fraction of their potential value to the business.

Once the shopper chooses and is ready to pay, they become a buyer, which is worth much more to the business. Their information and service needs change from the value proposition pitch of a merchant to personalization and details that match the item to their use case: “Will it arrive assembled?”, “Can I return it if it doesn’t fit?”, “Is it compatible with my printer?”—questions that require supply chain engagement to answer consistently and profitably.

Buyers then become clients who have chosen a product with your brand. The relationship is worth more to your business because you have won the right to deliver the value promised, solving their problems and earning their loyalty. They expect not only competence, but also fairness as the client adopts your product: “How do I get a replacement filter?”, “Will it dissolve in water?”, “Can I change my weekly delivery from Tuesday to Friday?” Again, this is supply chain engagement more than merchandising.

The greatest enterprise value comes from ensuring that this consumer journey never ends. They are a partner, loyal to your brand, promoting your products to their friends, and willing to try new innovations you bring to market. The merchant skills that drew them in have been complemented through the consumer journey with supply chain engagement that inspires them to collaborate and look for shared value in the future.

This is a John Deere owner proudly wearing the logo on his hat, or an Apple devotee willing to wait in line for the latest iPhone, or a Nestlé’s Quik lover who will go to a different store rather than switch brands. These consumers will stay with you on the journey forever if you engage them with supply chain skill as well as merchant skill.

Let’s examine a few examples of supply-chain-aware consumer offerings.

Low-Cost, High-Quality Consumer Retail

• Limiting complexity with small SKU assortments
• Minimizing logistics handling costs with shelf-ready secondary packaging
• Lowering unit costs with bulk buying
• Locking in demand with paid subscriptions
  
  
  
  

High Availability, Reasonable Cost, High-Trust Capital Equipment

• Improving service parts availability while controlling costs with IoT and user-managed field diagnostics
• Ensuring high uptime via quick service with long-term service contracts
• Achieving extreme brand loyalty via product quality and service excellence
  
  
  
  

Low-Cost, High-Quality, Wide-Assortment Home Furnishings

• Minimizing manufacturing costs with consumer-owned assembly
• Reducing logistics costs with small-format packaging of parts rather than fully assembled furniture
• Offering low-cost shopping format with big box, dedicated consumer use cases, complemented with D2C e-commerce
  
  
  
  

Affordable D2C Prepared Cooking Kits

• Minimizing waste with pre-measured ingredients for each recipe
• Lower cost/effort ratio for consumers with small households and a desire for healthy home-cooked meals
• Ensuring minimal customer acquisition cost and high demand visibility with auto-renewable contract
  
  
  
  

Accessible Home Fitness with Refurbished Exercise Bikes

• Offering low-cost, high-quality consumer durable based on repair of pre owned equipment
• Ensuring minimal manufacturing cost with near-zero new materials required
• Providing lock-in opportunity for consumers to join and use low-variable cost monthly content contract
  
  
  
  

Instant Ink

• Minimizing demand leakage with easy reorder of printer ink cartridges
• Creating high demand visibility with IoT data supporting SKU-specific demand forecasts
• Maintaining high consumer convenience, low downtime with auto-reorder options
  
  
  
  

Refillable Windex

• Lowering unit costs with reduced packaging
• Offering large refill container alongside daily use spray bottle so customer never runs out
• Locking in consumer demand with finished goods inventory held at home
  
  
  
  

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Squire Association

• Minimizing demand volatility with consumer loyalty scheme
• Providing news, event information, recipes, and a membership program
• Reinforcing customer loyalty via distillery tours offering view of production and supply chain details
  
  
  
  

Shopping Habits Are Changing Due to Price Increases

The evidence of supply chain-aware consumer offers is clear. However, the reality is that over three-quarters of consumers changed their shopping habits in the six months preceding the survey because of price increases.

What’s worse is that across all personas, 53% are willing to switch to cheaper brands to deal with price increases.



The ongoing combination of challenging economic conditions with dramatically more consumer access to information about supply chains creates an opportunity to understand how different shoppers might respond to targeted supply chain innovation.



Cautious Traditionalists and Disengaged Pragmatists have changed habits the least, but of the ones who have, they stay close to baseline in their high rates of switching to cheaper brands. However, these personas under-index on buying in bulk and buying second-hand.

Practical Realists are middle of the pack in terms of changing their habits, but their top behaviors—switching to cheaper brands (26%) and buying fewer products (26%)—are a lot less common than others (48% and 53%, respectively). That means that the average person in this cohort has changed their behavior in fewer ways than other personas.

Engaged Adapters and Strained Switchers have changed their behavior the most. Engaged Adapters are the most likely to use coupons and loyalty schemes and/or sign up for delivery services, while nearly three-quarters of Strained Switchers have switched to cheaper brands and 63% have scaled back purchases. These are critical groups for companies to keep an eye on.



The question, then, is: For companies looking to grow market share, what can turn more shoppers into partners? And perhaps more importantly, how do you ensure that you retain partners for the long-term through strategic supply chain design? That’s what we are exploring with this new data set.

Inflation Is Exposing Supply Chain-Aware Consumer Segments

Two-thirds of the companies (in the Zero100 Community) have significant cost savings initiatives to achieve in the next few years. Price increases are, of course, a common lever to pull to increase profit margins, and in many cases a must-do. But increasing prices doesn’t necessarily mean you alienate shoppers.
In 2025, consumers clearly experienced inflation, with 82% overall saying prices have increased at least “somewhat.” The total respondent pool of 14,000 split almost evenly according to how “fair” they consider price increases.

What they consider fair reasons for price increases, however, varies substantially, according to consumer awareness of the supply chain causes of these price increases. Data describing how different personas feel about the justifiability of price increases begins to expose very different habits, capabilities, and demographics. And to our surprise, most consumer segments feel that price increases due to raw material costs in the supply chain are “fair.”



We cross-referenced all answers to our 25-question survey, clustering together respondents with similar tendencies, and cut each answer according to five personas. How each feels about acceptable reasons for price increases varies widely, with some significantly less likely to blame it on “inflation” in general and more likely to see other reasons as valid, including sustainability investments, transportation costs, and labor shortages. These supply chain-aware segments show a much more thorough understanding of what drives prices than the others.

• While 82% of consumers have noticed prices rise, only one in three consider those increases unfair when framed as the result of supply chain challenges such as raw material costs or sustainability investments.
• 33% say they’d stay loyal to brands that demonstrate sustainability or social responsibility.
• 30% cite product quality and reliability as key reasons to stay loyal, even when cheaper options exist.
• 53% have switched brands in response to prices, 48% are buying less overall, and 40% are using coupons/loyalty programs.
• Consumers are least likely to accept (and angriest about) price rises for everyday essentials (58% say unacceptable), but are more OK with discretionary and lifestyle goods (44% say unacceptable).
• Consumer trust is most damaged by unexpected price increases or reduced product quality.
• Most commonly blamed for product shortages and price increases are: global economic conditions (24%), politicians (20%), corporate greed (16%).
• Many consumers blame trade wars specifically for product shortages and price rises (46%). Other contributing factors are: Ukraine (31%), extreme weather (24%), and Covid-19 repercussions (23%).
• However, there could eventually be a dividend to the push for onshoring, though it’s not certain—21% would be likely to pay more for products from brands that moved production closer to home, while a further 27% would consider it.
• Product and service excellence can trump price increases and mean customers stay loyal—a majority (51%) say as much.
  

Supply Chain Disruptions Raise Consumer Awareness

Port strikes, material shortages, and natural disasters have also heightened consumer awareness of how supply chains work. In questions four and ten of the survey, we asked respondents how they respond to supply chain disruptions like significant price increases (25%) or products being out of stock.

Strained Switchers are decisive but not loyal—they prioritize affordability and convenience above all else. The majority say they would switch brands or buy a similar alternative—65% for everyday essential items and again slightly less for other product categories. Their willingness to switch brands or walk away from purchases reflects both financial pressure and a transactional approach to shopping.

When faced with a 25% price increase on everyday essentials, Disengaged Pragmatists are most likely to switch to a cheaper alternative (26%), though this is well below the baseline average of 38%. Nearly as many say they would buy the product less frequently. However, for other product categories “none of the above” is their top response (26% vs 4% average). About a third would switch brands, and the rest are less likely than average to shop elsewhere or wait for restocks. Cautious Traditionalists mirror other personas in their most common responses. This group, however, is the most particular about the product type, showing that they adapt their purchase strategy depending on what they’re buying.

Finally, there is a group that just goes with the flow. When faced with a big price increase, Engaged Adapters over-index on just accepting it. That means, for everyday essentials, this group is just as likely to accept the increase as they are to swap to a cheaper alternative (36%). For other product types, they are most likely to purchase it less frequently or switch to cheaper alternatives though. Perhaps this group is more understanding and sympathetic to supply chain operational disruptions, but for both price increases and stock outages, their most likely action is still to swap to an alternative.

The bottom line is: Availability is a loyalty engine. For companies looking to grow market share, investing in precision forecasting, local buffers, and Continuousf Planning synchronisation disproportionately improves loyalty in everyday essential categories.

• Engaged Adapters and Practical Realists will wait for restocks (24–28%).
• Strained Switchers will immediately defect (65% switch to alternative).

Supply Chain Strategy and Consumer Brand Loyalty

With a significant share of consumers now aware of supply chain as a driver of prices, availability, and quality, many are looking to brands to stand behind their products with operations that are transparent, fair, and aligned in terms of values and politics. This data shows that the customer journey is not only about shopping or even enjoying products but also communication and messaging from supply chains.

We asked about how supply chain issues impact brand trust, preferences for item variety, and whether consumers value reshoring of production. Again, the more supply chain-savvy segments seem open to engaging for strategic change as a means of dealing with inflation or other supply chain disruptions.



This is a question that divided personas. For some groups there was a stand-out issue, like unexpected price increases for Strained Switchers or reduced product quality for Cautious Traditionalists. But every potential supply chain issue we listed got some traction from at least one persona.

As usual, the takeaway for supply chain practitioners is we’ve just got to get the job done. But, more reasonably, comms strategies can be aligned to behavioral characteristics to better target mitigation tactics.



Meanwhile, communicating strategic decisions like nearshoring or reshoring can pay dividends. Respondents were more likely than not to pay more for reshored products (48% likely vs 29% unlikely). But once again this appears to be a targeted play, with some personas literally not buying it. While we’ve mostly avoided geographic nuances for the sake of this report, it’s worth noting that Chinese respondents were significantly more likely to want to pay more for reshored products (75% net likely).



It’s no surprise that product and service excellence is the leading choice here, but there’s a healthy appetite for a commitment to sustainability, employee wellbeing, creating a positive social impact, and having an exceptional digital experience. Particularly encouraging is seeing commitment to sustainability as the second leading response—which we hope these consumers back up with their dollars.

Supply chain strategies intended to build or retain brand loyalty depend heavily on targeting the right consumer personas. Quality is a top concern for all consumers, but for those most supply chain-aware, especially the Engaged Adapters, communication is nearly as important. Consumers who do care about sustainability and are most willing to pay more for reshored manufacturing need clear messaging of that intent.

Segments that are most price sensitive are also least interested in considerations around how the supply chain operates, including sustainability, domestic manufacturing, and worker wellbeing. Tactics that may help retain these consumers could include brand splitting to offer a low-cost alternative designed to cut corners without tainting the core brand.

The bottom line is: Unexpected price increases destroy trust, but the reason why differs by persona. Supply chain must be positioned as a consumer-facing capability, enabled to serve a variety of different personas in each region.

• „ Transparent cost drivers for Engaged Adapters
• „ Quality assurance for Cautious Traditionalists
• „ Predictable pricing and promotions for Strained Switchers

THE MAIN TAKEAWAY

Segment According to Shopping Behavior to Engage "Partner" Consumers

Each of these five persona segments has a slightly different story in terms of their understanding of supply chain and willingness to engage with shopping behaviors that might save them money while also doing good for causes they care about.

At one extreme, the Engaged Adapters understand cost drivers and how to use tools and information to get better deals as shoppers. They are interested in and willing to pay for a more responsible supply chain.

At the other end of the extreme, the Strained Switchers have already changed their shopping habits the most, switching to cheaper brands and buying less overall. Their appreciation for why prices rise is low and the ability to engage as shoppers to help create savings limited.

The gap can be seen in wildly different responses from these two segments in relation to rising prices. Strained Switchers are nearly twice as likely to switch to cheaper brands while Engaged Adapters are 7x more likely to subscribe to delivery services. One is a pure price shopper, the other an ally in creating new ways to use supply chain to serve consumers better.

Segmented Strategies to Handle Price Increases

Supply chain strategies meant to hold on to consumers facing higher prices start with cost control to keep any increase as close to zero as possible. Given the strong tendency across personas to switch to cheaper brands and the relatively high acceptance of raw materials costs as a justifiable reason for higher prices, transparency might be useful in partnership with brand marketing.

For consumers in the Engaged Adapter segment, however, a higher propensity to use subscription services, loyalty schemes, and coupons means developing targeted programs that hold or even cut unit prices could work. Partnering with your marketing colleagues to develop such programs might even grow market share if well targeted.

Segmented Strategies to Handle Supply Chain Shocks

Sudden price increases or out-of-stocks are experienced by consumers as supply chain shocks. For some segments (ie, Strained Switchers), price sensitivity is severe enough that no tactical response is likely to help. For others (Cautious Traditionalists, Practical Realists), inertia can be strong enough to keep them from switching or trading down much, so higher inventories may help weather the storm of short-term disruptions.

Other tactics may help hold or even gain share with some segments (Engaged Adapters, Disengaged Pragmatists). Since these segments are more likely to wait for products to be back in stock and less likely to trade down for lower price, offers that make alternatives more convenient to shop for or just shift the timing of purchase could keep the consumer loyal. Offering discounts for slower shipping, or notification services when product is back in stock, or available on promotion could be effective and trust building.

FIVE HIGH-IMPACT PLAYS TO DRIVE GROWTH

Today’s consumers demand a segmented supply chain strategy and are equipped with powerful digital tools for discovery, collaboration, and market influence. In a highly competitive landscape, the data reveals five high-impact consumer-facing plays to drive commercial growth through supply chain strategy and transformation for companies looking to grow market share and grow and retain partners (not just shoppers).

Subscription and Scheduled Delivery Models That Smooth Demand and Increase Retention and Lifetime Value: Tie subscriptions to supply chain levers with discounts for flexible delivery windows, VMI, medication auto-fill programs, or slow delivery incentives to reduce spikes.

Pack/Price Architecture That Reduces Complexity and Protects Quality: Build a regionally tuned “SKU simplification blueprint” that reduces long-tail SKUs in Europe to improve availability and reduce complexity costs while retaining a variety of premium tiered offerings in China. Implement platformed formulations and modular packaging to unlock fewer global SKUs with local differentiation where it matters; reinvest savings into quality signaling.

Transparent Supply Chain Communication: Introduce supply chain "stories” on digital channels to amplify the message of efficiency improvements, sustainable sourcing efforts, and resiliency investments. Tailor messaging regionally: sustainability in Europe, technology investments in China, and cost drivers in the US.

Rapid Availability Recovery (Stock-Out Loyalty Insurance): Build differentiated availability strategy by region and category. In the US, prioritize on-shelf availability. In China, invest in near-market safety stock for priority SKUs to ensure stock-out recovery speed and offer real-time availability alerts. In Europe, offer low friction alternatives with variant swap incentives.

Value Engineering for Strained Switchers Without Damaging Premium Brands: Create a dual track supply chain architecture: nearshored sustainable manufacturing with advanced quality controls for premium products and simplified formulations and larger pack sizes produced in high-efficiency manufacturing hubs for value products.

We may only be at the beginning of a time where consumers see themselves as partners to the brands they buy from, but the potential value is huge. If supply chain leaders can proactively work with brand managers, commercial teams, and merchants to segment consumers according to supply chain awareness and co-develop holistic offers that create value for both, we may end up turning the current inflationary period into a growth opportunity.

APPENDIX

Who Are the Five Personas?

Having a picture of how each of these personas thinks about the relative “fairness” of price increases, we need to flesh out their demographic and behavioral traits.
The Practical Realists: Practical Realists are younger, financially secure consumers who approach price changes with calm pragmatism. They are the biggest group and make up 30% of all respondents (and 50% of Chinese respondents). They rarely make multiple adjustments when prices rise, preferring to reduce frequency or quietly accept increases rather than switch brands. They are broadly accepting of inflation and see a range of valid reasons for higher costs, from raw materials to sustainability investments. Their trust depends on clear communication and transparency, not perfection. They embody a middle ground: balanced, informed shoppers who adapt rationally to change without overreacting.

The Strained Switchers: 23–29% of Western respondents, but only 2% of Chinese respondents, are Strained Switchers. This group consists of slightly older than average, lower-income consumers who feel the impact of price rises most acutely. Highly aware of inflation, they have reacted decisively by trading down, cutting back, and shopping at discount retailers. They find price increases unfair, show higher distrust both in governments and corporations, and view unexpected price hikes as the clearest breach of trust. Their brand loyalty is low: products must be affordable and convenient, or they move on. Financial pressure drives most of their behavior, leaving them pragmatic but frustrated consumers navigating inflation out of necessity, not choice.

The Cautious Traditionalists: Cautious Traditionalists are slightly older, steady consumers who dislike price increases but change their habits only minimally. They value reliability, quality, and consistency over novelty or convenience. Price rises on everyday goods feel unfair to them, yet they typically adapt by buying a bit less or switching selectively rather than overhauling their routines. They place far greater importance on product quality than on brand messaging or ethics and are the most likely to lose trust if quality slips. In short, they are pragmatic, loyal shoppers who prioritize stability and value over experimentation.

A lot of their responses fall close to the average and baseline, so they’re a good group to use as a comparison. They are the biggest group in the UK (30% of respondents), 21–24% of continental EU respondents, but only 12% of Chinese and American respondents.

The Engaged Adapters: Engaged Adapters are the most affluent and digitally savvy group, skewing younger and globally minded. 17% of all respondents (and 32% of Chinese respondents) belong to this group.

They actively manage their spending through loyalty schemes, online subscriptions, and smart shopping tactics. They understand and tolerate price increases more than most—especially when tied to sustainability or supply chain improvements—but expect brands to communicate clearly. They’re flexible yet attentive, willing to accept tradeoffs when they make sense, and aware of how logistics and economics shape pricing. Engaged Adapters are the most forward-looking and resilient consumers, representing the adaptive, informed end of the spectrum.

The Disengaged Pragmatists:Disengaged Pragmatists make up the smallest cluster (only 7% of all respondents, 12% of US respondents) and are characterized by indifference more than conviction. Slightly older and with limited disposable income, they notice price increases less than others and rarely change their habits. They often choose “none of the above” or “not sure,” showing low engagement both in shopping and survey participation. They dislike price increases in principle but seldom act on those feelings, showing minimal brand loyalty and little interest in supply chain issues. Whether due to survey fatigue or genuine detachment, they represent a consumer segment that feels disconnected from the marketplace.