As the cost of food purchased from restaurants and takeaways continues to rise, IGD says a “significant shift” in consumer behaviour is emerging.
The proportion of on-the-go occasions fulfilled by buying items while out and about has fallen from 75% in 2024 to 36% in 2026, while the share of occasions involving food and drink prepared at home before leaving has nearly tripled from 10% to 29%.
Notably, IGD says this may indicate that retailers are now capturing spending that would previously have gone to food-to-go operators, as customers continue to revise their budgets downwards.
Routine occasions now account for 67% of all consumer occasions, with 73% taking place at home, illustrating a decrease in impulse purchases and spontaneous food occasions.
Increasingly, IGD adds, consumers are using products already purchased during their regular grocery shop, making repeat purchase and everyday relevance more important than occasion-led sales.
Shannon Goldsmith, away-from-home senior insight analyst at IGD, commented: “With convenience shifting from the high street into the home, retailers are increasingly capturing occasions that were once won by food-to-go operators.
“This makes winning a place in shoppers’ regular repertoires more valuable than ever.”
Generation Z shoppers are the most likely to engage in food-for-now and food-for-later missions, while also using a wider range of channels than any other generation.
They are significantly more engaged with convenience-led shopping behaviours and are among the heaviest users of quick commerce.
Baby Boomers, however, remain more likely to favour familiar stores, trusted products and established shopping routines, using fewer channels than younger shoppers.
Rosie Young, shopper insight analyst at IGD, said: “What’s changing isn’t consumers’ desire for convenience, but how they achieve it.
“The idea of a typical convenience shopper is disappearing as generations build very different habits around food, shopping and consumption. This creates opportunities for businesses that can tailor convenience missions to evolving routines.”
