Your 2027 customer is shopping with purpose. They're choosing more carefully, and treating themselves more often. 

That's where next year's sales sit. WGSN, Mintel, Circana and leading independent forecasters all describe the same shopper: someone looking for comfort, small joys and a sense of control. Stock for them and your shelves will work harder. 

Here's what to look out for across gift, licensing, home, fashion and beauty as you source for 2027. 

The mood behind the money 

WGSN's Future Consumer 2027 forecast puts emotion at the centre of spending. Its headline emotion is Witherwill, a longing to be free from responsibility, alongside Strategic Joy and Suspicious Optimism. 

WGSN also predicts digital disconnection will become a normal form of self-care. Fashion forecaster Jan Agelink agrees, calling his forecast Age of Agency as shoppers look to take back choice and control. 

What it means for your buying: your customer wants comfort, little treats and control, and they'll buy deliberately. Products that feel calming, tactile, familiar or joyful will earn their shelf space. 

Gift: small, frequent and for me 

Gifting is no longer saved for big occasions. Mintel's US research shows micro gifting and little luxuries stretching gift frequency beyond the holidays, with self-gifting framed as emotional maintenance. 

The appetite is there. In Circana's US research, 73% said small indulgences matter to their quality of life. And 49% of US Gen Z plan a self-gift this year, against 18% of baby boomers. 

In the UK, Mintel sees wellness reshaping gifting, with self-care moving from quick fixes to long-term health. For Easter 2027, it urges retailers to upgrade gifting areas to drive cross-category sales. Personalisation matters too: 45% of UK shoppers rate a personal touch above anything generic. 

Value still counts. Over 70% of UK shoppers bought Christmas gifts during Black Friday and 63% are open to second-hand gifts, but quality, originality and convenience increasingly tip the decision. 

Look out for: 

• Treat-sized products at accessible price points for impulse buys 
• Wellness and self-care gifts with lasting value 
• Personalised and made-to-order pieces 
• Cross-category ranges that build a gifting edit, not just a gift shelf 

Licensing: nostalgia, collectibles and kidults 

Licensing is in good health. Licensing International reports European licensed sales of $82.4bn in 2025, up 3.8%. Circana shows licensed toys across the EU5 growing 20%, about two and a half times faster than toys overall. 

Adults are a big part of that. Kidults now account for 31% of toy spend, worth £1.2bn, and collectibles grew 12% in 2025, with Pop Mart and Miniso fuelling demand for blind boxes and mini figures. 

Character and Entertainment is still the largest IP type, but Publishing (up 18.8%) and Sports (up 13.4%) are growing fastest. Retro brands from the 60s, 70s and 80s are selling strongly, alongside a return to screen-free, analogue play. 

2027 properties to plan around: 

• Harry Potter: Hasbro becomes global primary toy licensee from 2027, and the new HBO series is due to debut that year 
• Peter Rabbit: the 125th anniversary lands in 2027, a natural fit for UK gift, nursery and heritage ranges 
• Lord of the Rings: activity is building towards the 2027 release of The Hunt for Gollum 

Look out for: blind-box and collectible formats, heritage and retro licences, and tactile, screen-free play. 

Home: the familiar, refreshed 

WGSN and Coloro's 2027 key colours are Luminous Blue, Energy Orange, Pop Pink, Meadowland Green and Clay. Think new retro lighting in orange, hyper-tactile soft furnishings in pink, and Clay floor to ceiling on products built to last. 

Paint brands are leaning green, from Dulux's Soulful Sage to Sherwin-Williams' Celery and Benjamin Moore's deeper Webster Green. Pantone's Home + Interiors forecast, Sense-Abilities, wants colour to engage every sense, not just the eye. 

Future Snoops' SS27 theme, Reworking Beauty, sees shoppers favouring what is refined, renewed or rediscovered over simply buying new. Two of its narratives stand out for home and gift buyers: 

• Combe: rustic heritage, with florals that feel like your grandmother's wallpaper and pale yellows paired with sage 
• Swift: Mediterranean slowness, with updated herringbones, argyle, jacquards, checks and grown-up tropical prints 

TrendBible sees interiors moving towards authenticity and intelligent functionality, while WGSN's empowered play turns everyday objects into joyful design features. 

Look out for: sage and deeper greens, Clay neutrals, tactile textiles, heritage florals, Mediterranean patterns and quirky homeware that doubles as a gift. 

Fashion: accessories that make classics personal 

FW27 forecasters agree that classics are being made personal. Christine Boland's Individual Familiarity direction combines the blazer, skirt, trousers and suit in individual ways. Accessories are the most affordable way for shoppers to add that twist, which makes them your opportunity. 

Scarves lead the way. At Dior, Jonathan Anderson showed a netted bag with hooks for a silk square, so a new scarf means a new bag. Printemps' accessories buying director names personalisation as the biggest trend, with layering, charms and the art of accumulation especially strong. 

Look out for: 

• Printed scarves and botanical accents, from floral brooches to silk squares 
• Belts, cummerbunds and anything that emphasises the waist 
• Chandelier earrings, long necklaces and layering jewellery 
• Gold, bronze and antique silver in matte finishes 
• Bags in sharp colour pops: green, red, purple, deep fuchsia and bright yellow 

Beauty: scent, ritual and proof 

Fragrance is the growth story. Shoppers are building fragrance wardrobes, mixing perfumes, oils, hair mists and body products to suit their mood. Demand is splitting between richer parfums and lower-priced minis and body sprays, while gourmands are moving towards layered, grounded scents. 

Scent is also becoming a wellbeing ritual, used to ground, reset or support sleep. Croda Beauty sees hair care following suit, with hair perfumes where the two trends meet. 

In skincare, Croda calls the shift from anti-ageing to skin longevity the defining movement of 2027. Makeup is getting louder, with easy glitter and chrome formulas and bold satin and matte lipsticks, purple leading the way. 

And plan for Mintel's Trust Is Earned in Public prediction: reviews, demos and user-generated content will carry more weight at the point of sale. 

Look out for: discovery sets, minis, mists and layering bundles that work as gifts, self-gifts and impulse add-ons, plus hair fragrance, longevity skincare and statement colour. 

Five ideas that connect every category 

The same customer shows up in every forecast. Build your 2027 buying around these five threads and your ranges will tell one clear story in store. 

• Comfort spending: accessible price points, gift-with-purchase and treat-sized formats in every category. 
• Engaging the senses: scent, knit, plush and textiles merchandised together for a screen-free story customers can touch. 
• The familiar, refreshed: heritage prints on new formats, nostalgic licences and classics in new colours, like a traditional scarf in Luminous Blue. 
• Collecting and accumulation: blind boxes, layered jewellery and fragrance wardrobes, all made for add-ons, multi-buys and curated sets. 
• A shared palette: sage to deep green, earthy neutrals, purple and saturated blue, ready-made for a cross-category colour edit. 

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