The global economy is in a period of unprecedented uncertainty. Global tariffs, trade tensions, shifting geopolitical alliances, and supply chain disruptions are putting pressure on most industries, as companies try to protect margins, sustain growth, and maintain customer loyalty.
The consumer and retail space is one of the most heavily impacted, as it sits directly at the intersection of global supply chains and discretionary consumer preferences. This dual exposure leaves the sector particularly vulnerable to both supply-side disruptions and demand-side volatility.
Moreover, the consumer and retail industries are highly sensitive to shifts in consumer psychology, attitudes, and preferences. In times of economic uncertainty, consumers tend to shift their spending patterns and behaviors, often in unpredictable ways.
Below, we dive into some of the strategies companies in this space can leverage to navigate market uncertainty. We also explore how AlphaSense can be a critical tool to help companies not just survive, but thrive, during this uncertain time.
Key Strategies for Navigating Market Uncertainty in the Consumer and Retail Sectors
Develop Supply Chain Resilience
In times of market uncertainty, companies can safeguard themselves by developing supply chain resilience. According to research sourced from AlphaSense, some proven ways to do so are investing in digitization and AI, improving communication and collaboration with suppliers and customers, and reducing dependence on single suppliers or regions by establishing multiple sourcing options.
One example of a CPG company effectively enhancing its supply chain resilience is Procter & Gamble (P&G). According to an AlphaSense expert call with a former P&G senior director, the company is insuring itself against current and potential future tariffs with its regional sourcing strategy — having a strong manufacturing presence across global regions and selling products in the same place where they are manufactured. This approach reduces dependency on global supply chains and minimizes the impact of geopolitical disruptions. P&G also focuses heavily on supply chain diversification by reducing reliance on single-source suppliers and instead qualifying multiple suppliers and materials. This helps P&G mitigate risks such as supply disruptions and enhances bargaining power.
On the retail side, beauty industry leaders such as L’Oréal, Shiseido, and Estée Lauder are all diversifying their ingredient sourcing strategies in response to heightened U.S. tariffs. Not only are they exploring alternative sourcing regions, they are also exploring synthetic and biotechnological alternatives to traditional ingredients. In this way, they are insulating themselves from tariff risk, while also increasing innovation and competitiveness in the global beauty market.
By investing in supply chain resilience now, consumer and retail companies can build critical agility and flexibility into their supply chains, which will help them not only survive this period, but any future economic turbulence to come.
Prioritize the Customer Experience
Economic uncertainty means that consumers are no longer driven by brand loyalty. Rather, they are choosing products that will give them the most value per money spent. This could mean choosing higher-cost or higher-quality products that they see as investments for the future, or it could mean choosing a lower-cost option because the value per dollar is deemed greater than the higher-cost alternative.
One of the key ways consumer and retail companies can increase the value they offer to their customers is prioritizing the customer experience. An example of a company doing this well is Trader Joe’s, which recently ranked as the top company in the Axios Harris Poll 100 corporate reputation rankings. Widely seen as a budget-friendly grocery store that keeps prices low by relying on private label, Trader Joe’s still manages to create a premium shopping experience for its customers that keeps them coming back.
Its shelves are stocked with a variety of novelty items shoppers cannot find anywhere else; its customer service is stellar; its products are highly convenient without sacrificing on quality; and the entire shopping experience is designed to incite delight and whimsy. In a time when consumers are expressing frustration about rising grocery costs, Trader Joe’s has managed to improve its reputation score, largely because of their commitment to keeping prices fair and keeping quality and value high.
Increase Value with Technology and Innovation
In today’s market, every industry is touched by technology and artificial intelligence (AI). These are great assets for increasing value for customers, as well as for gathering and analyzing critical data to drive further improvements and growth.
AI can be used to collect, process, and analyze customer data, which companies can then use to create more personalized and high-value experiences and products. It can help optimize operations and create more efficiency in supply and fulfillment chains, forecast demand more accurately, and improve R&D efforts. AI can also be instrumental in market intelligence efforts, such as conducting market research and competitive differentiation.
With the advent of generative AI, the possibilities have expanded even more. GenAI can be used to provide smart product recommendations to consumers, streamline supply chain operations, optimize the product development process, and more. Fast food chain Wendy’s recently reduced drive-through wait time by 22 seconds using generative AI.
One strong example of a retail company increasing value with tech is Walmart. The multinational corporation is working on integrating AI shopping agents into its ecosystem, which will shop for consumers based on their preferences and past purchases, creating a more personalized and streamlined shopping experience. Similarly, Alibaba is using AI-powered virtual assistants to handle millions of customer inquiries daily, improving customer service and conserving human resources for more complex tasks.
Leaning into technology and innovation is a great way for consumer and retail companies to provide additional value to their customers, become more agile and proactive in their strategy, and stay ahead of macroeconomic developments — all of which will provide a competitive advantage in times of economic uncertainty.
Strengthen Omnichannel Capabilities
Offering a compelling omnichannel experience used to be the mark of a highly innovative and forward-thinking organization. In today’s market, it’s a necessity for survival. Consumers expect a seamless shopping experience that blends the digital with the physical and maximizes value.
According to McKinsey, over one-third of Americans made omnichannel features — such as purchasing online and picking up in store or curbside — part of their regular routines in recent years. Two-thirds of those people plan to continue doing so in the future. Additionally, a report by Deloitte found that omnichannel customers have a 30% higher lifetime value than customers who shop through a single channel — which can have a big impact on a retailer’s bottom line.
In addition to just creating value for the customer, having a strong omnichannel strategy is a strategic hedge against market volatility. It helps build customer loyalty even as price sensitivity increases, improves inventory and fulfillment efficiency, and facilitates a more adaptable and resilient business.
Retail company Abercrombie & Fitch plans to deliver around 100 new store experiences in 2025 that integrate physical and digital retail in new ways. The company is doubling down on its omnichannel capabilities like purchase-online-pickup-in-store, ship-from-store, and cross-channel returns — all features that have been proven to improve the customer experience.
Keep a Pulse on Emerging Trends and Macroeconomic Landscape
Always, but particularly in times of economic uncertainty, it is crucial for companies to stay aware of emerging industry and market trends, and to have a deep understanding of the macroeconomic landscape. Only then can they be proactive, rather than reactive, in their strategy and avoid being blindsided by unexpected market events or movements.
Consumer and retail companies use AlphaSense to stay ahead of industry developments, keep a pulse on the macroeconomic environment, and forecast market movements. AlphaSense’s vast content universe and customizable monitoring tools, such as watchlists, dashboards, and real-time alerts, help avoid research blind spots and mitigate the risk of falling behind. A proactive approach is important always, but never more so than during periods of uncertainty, which is why 88% of the S&P 100 trust AlphaSense to help them stay ahead.
The first thing I do when I log on for work is check AlphaSense. It pulls in the news a lot better than other platforms that we have been using. Now, if one of our competitors does a product launch, I know I can trust that AlphaSense is going to have that news at the top of the page when I log on in the morning. For example, inflation has been a huge topic for us and how pricing is going to be impacted, so I’m able to see in real time if there are any updates, especially in the U.S. about pricing.
Monitor Regulatory and Trade Policy Developments Closely
Keeping a close watch on regulatory and trade policy developments is integral for consumer and retail companies when navigating market uncertainty because these policies can directly and rapidly impact costs, supply chains, pricing, and compliance. Tariff policies, for instance, can affect profit margins overnight. By staying ahead of these changes, companies can make adjustments to their supplier contracts and sourcing strategies.
Policy shifts that restrict goods from certain regions can also result in supply chain disruptions. Companies can take action to avoid stockouts and delays if they are aware of these policy shifts in advance. Similarly, staying aware of evolving laws and regulations is integral for companies to avoid fines, delays, or reputational damage associated with noncompliance.
AlphaSense is a powerful tool for monitoring regulatory and trade policy developments in real time. The platform aggregates content from government and regulatory bodies, as well as global news sources and trade publications. In addition, company documents, expert calls, and broker research provide additional color and context to any evolving policies that may impact pricing or operations.
Learn more here about how companies are quantifying, mitigating, and navigating 2025 tariff challenges with AlphaSense.
How AlphaSense Helps Companies Navigate Market Uncertainty
Two key elements to successfully navigating economically uncertain times are access to the right information and speed. AlphaSense is an all-in-one market intelligence platform that delivers on both accounts.
Access to the Right Information
AlphaSense’s extensive content universe provides access to 10,000+ sources of private, public, premium, and proprietary content — indexed, searchable, and all in one place.
Analysts, researchers, and decision-makers in the consumer and retail space have access to documents including but not limited to:
- Company reports, global and SEC filings, ESG reports, earnings call transcripts, and press releases
- Industry reports, government and trade publications, and regulatory documents
- Over 1,500 broker research providers including Wall Street Insights®, a premier and exclusive equity research collection for corporate teams
- Expert call transcript library that gives access to hundreds of thousands of insightful interviews with former employees, customers, competitors, and industry experts in the consumer and retail space
- Patent filings and intellectual property data
Generative AI for Speed
Having access to the right information is only one part of the equation — it’s important to be able to parse through the data efficiently and effectively, so you can filter out the noise and extract the meaningful insights. AlphaSense’s industry-leading suite of generative AI tools is purpose-built to help you do just that:
Generative Grid
Generative Grid applies multiple genAI prompts on many documents at the same time to quickly provide organized answers to research questions at scale, in an easy-to-read table format. This enables clients to summarize documents using pre-built criteria to save time when executing repeatable workflows.
Generative Grid pulls data from both premium external documents in the AlphaSense platform and users’ internal content. From there, users can choose preset templates or create their own to automate routine workflows. Each summary provides a direct citation to the source material it was pulled from.
Generative Search
Whenever you search for information, Generative Search helps you get up to speed on a company or topic by instantly getting you the answers you need, sourced directly from the AlphaSense platform. You can dig deeper into topics by asking follow-up questions or choosing a suggested query. Each answer will always provide citations to the exact snippet of text from where the information was sourced.
Generative Search made it much quicker to get insights on a topic, making me much more likely to use it. I end up investigating more questions as it doesn’t need to reach as high of a bar as it used to for me to invest the time.
Smart Summaries
This feature allows you to glean instant earnings insights (reducing time spent on research during earnings season), quickly capture company outlook and bull/bear cases from analyst research, and generate an expert-approved SWOT analysis straight from former competitors, partners, and employees. All Summaries provide you with citations to the exact snippets of text from where the summaries are sourced — combining high accuracy with easy verification.
Thrive Through Market Uncertainty With AlphaSense
With AlphaSense’s vast content universe and advanced AI search technology, you can conduct deep, comprehensive, and accurate research — in a fraction of the time it takes your competitors. No matter the state of the economy, utilizing AlphaSense for your market intelligence will help you make better, smarter decisions and keep your organization on the leading edge.
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