I'M CONFUSED

I’ve been in sales and marketing for over 50 years. I have ridden the good economic times and the bad ones – recessions, gas shortages, wars, the Dot Com boom (and bust), Covid and more. I understand consumer dynamics. I built my sales and marketing career creating campaigns that would influence the next sale in good times and when getting an incremental sale was tough.

So why am I confused in 2026. Because nothing makes sense. Consumers are not acting like I expected them to act. We are sort of supporting one war (Ukraine) while bombing Iran into the Stone Age (Not my words). We’re cozying up to Russia and China while aggressively turning away Canada (America’s second largest trading partner), Great Britain, Germany and France among others.

Consumers traditionally would be pulling back their spending in these chaotic political and economic times. Gas prices are over $4.00 a gallon nationally. Diesel is inching toward $6.00 a gallon and airlines are running out of fuel. The price of vegetables are all up double digits at Target… and the list goes on. These statistics don’t confuse me. How consumers are reacting to these dynamics is what’s confusing.

What’s confusing is that consumers are still making impulse purchases. And not just lipstick. (Remember the “lipstick effect” that Leonard Lauder (of Esty Lauder Cosmetics) coined back in the 80s?) According to a recent survey by PartnerCentric, 81% of consumers have already made an impulse buy this year – either online or in store. Consumers are walking contradictions, tightening their budgets while making quick impulsive purchases at the same time. And it gets even worse… it is happening across all demographic cohorts – from Boomers to Gen Z.

And here’s the hook that compounds my confusion. The research found that 62% of those impulse buyers said they regretted making the purchase and 34% said it caused financial stress.

I believe there are two words that describe this change in buying behavior. SPEED and EASY. Let's begin with SPEED. We are exposed to products and services today faster than ever before thanks to electronic communications (the internet). We are targeted – all the time. We cannot hide. The bots know everything and the smart merchants and service providers are learning how to move your needle and influence your next sale… whether you need it or not.

And it’s EASY… 22% of survey respondents said their impulse shopping behavior included purchases made directly on social or merchant platforms.

This leads to my bottom-line question. Are you in the game? I hope so. And here’s my INsight for this blog. Remember one number – just one number. And that number is ONE. Develop marketing messaging and delivery tactics that get ONE more customer or client to buy ONE more thing every time they engage with your brand. Just ONE. Send out ONE more email to your list. Promote ONE more item – and if you have enough sophistication that ONE item or service does not have to be the same for everyone. Just get ONE customer to come back ONE more time in a year and watch the dollars add up – and while they are there (online or in store), get them to buy ONE more item or try ONE more service. The research says consumers are ready. The question to still be answered is “Are You?”

ONE is about as basic as it gets. ONE is a gamechanger. This is our EndGame Marketing Solutions strategic marketing sweet spot. Let it be yours.