📈#076: Why global businesses bet $648B on this one consumer trend

Welcome to Market Mosaic, where, in this week's edition, we explore how 88% AI adoption in tech contrasts sharply with just 5% in manufacturing and explore why tariff-driven price spikes of 1.9% on appliances signal broader consumer market fragmentation.

We also analyze how demographic contractions in six major markets are forcing global brands to completely rethink their growth strategies.

Plus, we are excited to invite you to register for another edition of our Market Mosaic webinar here on “how AI and market feedback drive product innovation.”

Now, let’s dive into the insights and enjoy.

— Insights Team, Rwazi

In our edition this week:

• Sector Performance Tracker

• Technology

• Economy

• Consumer Universe

• Supply Chain
  

Our data analysis shows that 71% of employees across 11 major industries are now using generative AI for at least one function, a significant jump from 65% in the previous year.

The technology sector leads this transformation, with 88% of employees utilising AI tools, followed closely by professional services at 80%. What's particularly striking is how AI adoption has become function-specific: marketing and sales teams are the heaviest users, leveraging AI for content creation, customer insights, and campaign optimisation. Product and service development teams follow closely, using AI to accelerate innovation cycles and prototype development.

The enterprise adoption story is equally compelling. 16% of companies deployed generative AI across five or more functions, a twofold increase from the first half of the year. This suggests we are witnessing a shift from experimental AI usage to systematic, organisation-wide implementation.

However, the adoption pattern isn't uniform. Manufacturing and supply chain functions lag significantly behind, with only 5% and 7% usage, respectively.

While overall inflation appears modest at 0.3% month-over-month in June 2025, the reality for consumers varies dramatically by product category.

Imported goods are bearing the brunt of price increases. Appliances saw a striking 1.9% monthly increase, while household items jumped 1% and toys surged 1.8%. They are categories heavily dependent on imports from tariff-affected countries.

Our data analysis tells a tale of two economies. Essential categories like shelter (0.2%) and food and beverages (0.3%) remain relatively stable, cushioning overall inflation figures. Meanwhile, discretionary imported goods are experiencing significant price pressure.

Retailers had prepared for this moment by stockpiling inventory before tariff implementation, which temporarily inflated the trade deficit and even contributed to negative GDP in Q1 2025. However, as these buffer stocks deplete, price increases are becoming unavoidable for categories like basic clothing, washing machines, and electronics.

Although the sector is always dominated by familiar names, beneath the surface, demographic shifts are now challenging market opportunities. Walmart's $648.1 billion in revenue maintains its retail leadership, while Amazon's $638 billion demonstrates the continued power of digital-first strategies.

Apple's $383.3 billion reflects the premium technology segment's resilience, while Nestlé's $105.5 billion and PepsiCo's $91.5 billion show the enduring strength of food and beverage categories.

Luxury remains robust with LVMH posting $89 billion in revenue, driven particularly by Asian market demand.

However, a concerning trend emerges when examining demographic projections. Several developed markets face shrinking consumer classes by 2030. Japan leads with a projected 3.6 million consumer decrease, while European markets like Italy (-480,000) and Germany (-152,000) also face contractions.

The pendulum swing from just-in-time to just-in-case inventory management has stabilised into a more nuanced approach powered by artificial intelligence and real-time visibility tools.

Lowe's partnership with OpenAI for the Mylow Companion app shows this evolution. Beyond answering technical product questions, the app provides real-time inventory information to floor employees, eliminating the frustrating customer experience of discovering out-of-stock items after making a store trip.

Major retailers are embracing predictive analytics with unprecedented sophistication. Rather than relying solely on historical sales patterns, modern inventory systems consider weather patterns, social media trends, economic indicators, and even supplier capacity constraints.

We are pleased to invite you to attend our Market Mosaic webinar on “Building with Data: How AI and market feedback drive product innovation.”

Alongside a high-level panel, this session will explore how today’s most forward-thinking companies can leverage agentic AI and real-time consumer market data to inform product decisions, accelerate iteration, and drive growth across global markets.

Platform: LinkedIn Live
Date: July 31, 2025
Time: 3 PM (GMT)

After years of building the world's most comprehensive market intelligence platform and helping global enterprises understand "what's happening" and "what it means," we are now solving the final piece of the puzzle: "How do we act on this?"

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Thank you for reading and joining us on Market Mosaic this week. We hope this edition provides valuable, actionable insights for decisions with data. 📊

Here are the insightful visuals we shared on LinkedIn. Feel free to check them out, comment or repost if it hits home for you.