Consumers are increasingly preparing food and drink at home for on-the-go occasions rather than making purchases while out and about, helping retailers capture spending that may previously have gone to food to go operators.
The findings from IGD reveal a significant shift in convenience behaviour, with the proportion of on the go occasions fulfilled by picking something up on the way falling from 75% in 2024 to 36% in 2026. Over the same period, the share of occasions involving food and drink prepared at home before leaving has nearly tripled from 10% to 29%.
Routine occasions now account for 67% of all consumer occasions, while 73% take place at home. Increasingly, consumers are using products already purchased during their regular grocery shop, making repeat purchase and everyday relevance more important than occasion-led sales.
The shift is helping retail capture spending that may previously have gone to cafés, food to go operators and impulse purchases.
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.”
Younger shoppers are redefining convenience
Separate IGD generational research also suggests younger consumers are playing a major role in reshaping convenience behaviour.
Gen 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.
The research also identifies a growing divide within the Millennial generation. Younger Millennials increasingly mirror Gen Z behaviours, favouring convenience-led missions and easy solutions, while older Millennials are becoming more planned and value-conscious as household responsibilities grow.
Different generations, different convenience needs
While younger consumers are embracing convenience through flexible missions and multiple channels, older generations continue to take a more traditional approach.
Baby Boomers remain more likely to favour familiar stores, trusted products and established shopping routines, using fewer channels than younger shoppers.
This highlights a growing challenge for retailers, suppliers and operators. Although convenience remains important across all age groups, the way consumers define convenience increasingly differs by generation.
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.” Free samples of the reports, ‘Occasions: routine occasions grow’ and ‘Winning with generations’, are available on the IGD website.