Understanding Sales Trends And Insights

The Evolving Face of the US Homebuyer The National Association of Realtors' (NAR) 2024 report provides a fascinating snapshot of the US housing market’s buyer profile that looks significantly different than it did just a few years ago. The data reveals a changing homebuyer. The average buyer age has climbed to a record 56, underscoring the impact of high housing costs and rising interest rates that have sidelined younger would-be buyers. For first-time buyers, the average age is now 38, nearly a decade older than it was in the early 1980s. These changes signal a more mature buyer who brings accumulated wealth and likely more significant financial security to the table. Additionally, a fifth of all home purchases were made by single women, a notable demographic shift reflecting both a societal change in homeownership goals and an economic shift in who can afford to buy. By contrast, single men comprised only 8% of recent buyers. This snapshot highlights what many are calling a “bifurcated housing market,” where those able to buy homes are increasingly established, wealthier individuals, often using home equity from previous properties to secure cash purchases or make substantial down payments. This market has been largely inaccessible to younger buyers, who continue to face affordability challenges, limited savings, and reduced opportunities for financial support in the form of lower mortgage rates. With affordability gauges near record lows, first-time homebuyers hold a mere 24% share of the market, down dramatically from the 40% share held in pre-Great Recession years. Rising prices and interest rates have compounded these barriers, leading to a market where nearly three-quarters of all buyers have no children under 18 at home, reflecting an older and more established buyer profile than in decades past. While this report offers a look back, the trends it captures underscore a potential turning point. Recent mortgage application data suggests that prospective buyers who had previously been priced out or sidelined may begin to re-enter the market as interest rates stabilize. If these sidelined buyers do return, particularly younger and more diverse demographics, the profile of the typical buyer could again start to shift, gradually increasing diversity in age, household composition, and race among homebuyers. At Havas Edge, we’re continually analyzing these demographic shifts to support brands in delivering timely, targeted strategies that meet the realities of today’s buyers and the anticipated resurgence of those who’ve been waiting on the sidelines. #RealEstate #Homebuyers #MarketTrends #HousingEconomics #ConsumerInsights

Following user feedback is a Product Management virtue. Is there an actual way to implement it, between all the noise, bugs, and stakeholder requests? Well… Most teams claim they are customer-driven. Yet the moment you open Zendesk, App Store reviews, survey results, and Slack threads, you instantly remember why everyone quietly avoids this work. Feedback is everywhere, contradictory, emotional, duplicated, and nearly impossible to turn into decisions.  It is chaos disguised as “insights.” This is why the new Amplitude AI Feedback release caught my attention and made it all the easier to decide to partner with them on this update. It successfully connects what users say with what they actually do, in one workflow. No extra tools.  No extra tabs. You see their words, frustrations, and praise. You see their behavior. And AI transforms it into ranked themes, rising trends, top requests, and complaints. Noise turns into clarity. Opinions turn into patterns. Patterns turn into action. And because it is native inside Amplitude, it kills the biggest problem in feedback work: Fragmentation. Everything flows into analytics, session replay, and cohorts, creating a full loop from insight to fix. You can trace why an issue matters, how many users care, how it impacts behavior, and which actions you should take. Finally, a single source of truth for PMs, UX, CX, and marketing. I’m also genuinely impressed with the supported sources of feedback: App Store, Google Play, Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, Salesforce Service, Gong, Trustpilot, G2, Reddit, Discord, and X. Slack arrives in Q1, and there will be more! If you ever felt overwhelmed by feedback, this is one of the first attempts I have seen that genuinely solves the operational pain, not just the reporting part. It launches… Today! Take a look: https://lnkd.in/dAJKeTez What was the most successful update you know that came from the product’s users? Let me know in the comments. #productmanagement #productmanager #userfeedback

There is a healthy debate going on about the surge in truckload tender rejections and spot rates the past few weeks. One camp argues this is mostly capacity driven due to regulatory enforcement. I believe a different mechanism is at work in that this is mostly a surge in e-commerce demand coupled with unseasonably poor weather. Data below support my e-commerce surge thesis. Thoughts: •The top chart shows not seasonally adjusted e-commerce sales in nominal dollars (https://lnkd.in/g7a9SdjB); price adjustment isn’t feasible because there isn’t a price deflator for such data (aside, given e-commerce centric categories, adjusting for price isn’t as important as, say, groceries). We see a typical multiplicative trended seasonal pattern in that seasonal swings become larger as the series trends upwards. I’ve added a Q4 2025 estimate based on using Q4 2024’s year-over-year percent change and applying this figure to Q4 2025. •The bottom chart shows the quarter-over-quarter change in Q4 relative to Q3. Here we clearly see the increase in seasonality; back in 2018, e-commerce sales increased just $34.4 billion in Q4 from Q3. In 2024, that figure was $61.1 billion (almost double!). That means there is a lot more e-commerce freight needing to flow today than six or seven years ago. •The same pattern holds using e-commerce sales as a percent of all retail trade sales (https://lnkd.in/gwBs-3gg). •Now consider the destinations of those e-commerce shipments: major population centers like Boston, New York City, and Miami. What do these locations have in common? They have far more inbound freight than outbound freight. Consequently, contact carriers are more likely to reject surge freight (e.g., you have a contract for 10 loads a week but were just tendered the 14th load of the week) into these markets, and carriers making bids on subsequent spot shipments will inherently place higher $/mile bids to compensate for the possibility of deadheading out of these markets. Implication: We won’t know whether the truckload spot market has turned until February or March 2026 once we are past the December holiday sales surge and the early January returns surge. #ecommerce #economics #supplychainmanagement #freight #trucking #truckload #logistics

(FMCG Blueprint) Sales forecasting in FMCG is both an art and a science. Let’s break it down using some basic matrices with a relatable example. Imagine we’re working for a brand that sells a spicy instant noodle, “HotBowl Ramen”. 1. Historical Sales Data (Your Crystal Ball) The first step is to look at past sales. For example: Month Sales (Units) January 10,000 February 11,000 March 10,500 April 12,000 Now, let’s assume you notice a 5% growth trend every month. For May, you might forecast: May Sales = April Sales * (1 + Growth Rate) = 12000 * (1 + 0.05) = 12600 Tip: This works well unless your sales suddenly nosedive because people discovered a new health fad: “No-Spice Life!” 2. Seasonality (Your FMCG Calendar) People eat more noodles in winter because “cozy food” vibes. Let’s adjust for seasonality: • Winter months: Add 10% • Summer months: Subtract 15% If your May forecast is 12,600 units but May is peak summer, adjust like this: Adjusted Sales = Base Sales * (1 - 0.15) = 12600*0.85 = 10,710 Reality Check: Your product is spicy. Some brave souls will still eat it even in May, sweating like they’re in a sauna. 3. Market Dynamics (Your Frenemy) Suppose your competitor, “MildBowl Ramen,” launches a huge promotion in May. You estimate a 10% impact on your sales. Final Sales Forecast = Adjusted Sales * (1 - 0.1) = 10710*0.9 = 9,639 4. Promotional Impact (Buy One, Cry One Free?) Now, your marketing team swoops in with a “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” promo. Promotions can boost sales by 20%, so: Promo Adjusted Sale = 9639*1.2 =11,566.8 Realistic Case Summary Step Forecasted Sales Base Sales Forecast 12,600 Seasonality Adjustment 10,710 Competitor Impact 9,639 Promo Impact 11,566 Funny Perspective Imagine your boss: • Before Forecast: “We need 15,000 units this month!” • After Your Analysis: “Hmm… okay, but let’s add another promo to reach 12,000 at least!” Your real hero? The customer who eats your spicy noodles even in May, sweating but happy. Moral: Forecasting is like cooking ramen—balance your ingredients (data) and adjust for taste (market trends)!

Every sales leader I talk to at the moment is struggling with some version of the same issue. The symptoms are different, but the underlying cause is the same. - Sales cycles elongating - Deal slippage - Prospects not showing up to meetings - An uptick in ghosting - Poor forecast accuracy - A drop in deal volumes - A drop in conversion rates What's actually happening out there in Buyer land? I've been delivering win-loss reviews for B2B companies around the world since 2011 and I'm seeing buyer behaviours I've never observed before... Let me break down some of them quickly for you and share some guidance on how to use these lessons to your advantage: Trend #1: Risk has jumped up the decision tree in order of importance, to the very top of the list for many clients, even more so when it's a new vendor. Action: Go deeper on risk in your discovery conversations, recognise that risk is both organisational and personal...find ways to better manage, mitigate and share risk with your clients...Be the low risk option. Trend #2: Value for Money, Responsiveness and Cost are consistently selected as the most important decision criteria by many clients. Action: Responsiveness should be an easy one to get right, but many sellers are stretched too thin right now...do less, but do it better. Trend #3: Change in Strategic Direction is the most frequently cited reason for customers coming to market for a new solution at the moment. Action: Try to reverse engineer this reason, to understanding what caused this change in direction and what it actually means for the business. These are your keys to the kingdom, when building a rock solid business case. Trend #4: Feedback from Peers and Colleagues has emerged as the most trusted information source for almost all respondents. Action: Case studies and customer references are losing their luster...find ways to tap into the trust which prospective clients have in their own peer network, as a way to unlock deeper connections and build trust. Trend #5: Customers are demanding more detail in the proposal documents, tender responses and business cases which they are receiving. Action: Put in the work, avoid the cookie-cutter responses, find your win themes and weave them in, share the detail they need to make an informed decision. I haven't got a crystal ball, so I can't tell you if/when the pendulum will swing back the other way, from a buyer behaviour perspective. What I can tell you with a high degree of certainty is that prospective customers have raised the bar, in terms of their expectations from their vendor partners. It's our job now to to elevate the preparation, patience and professionalism of B2B sellers everywhere, to meet these changing needs and maintain our relevance to the customers we serve.

Two major updates to Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) today: First, the long-awaited 5-year historical purchase data view is now available for everyone. This shows us customer behavior patterns we've never seen before. Here's what I mean: I recently looked at data from a CPG manufacturer: * 1-year window: 37% repeat purchasers, $24 average GMV * 5-year window: 85% repeat purchasers, $185 average GMV The difference is striking. With five years of data, brands can now: * Spot product lifecycles * Map seasonal patterns across multiple years * Track how customers move through product portfolios * Understand actual customer value over time Second announcement - Amazon is removing cost barriers for AMC features. For example, Amazon Insights, which was previously a paid feature, is now available at no cost. These signals allow you to Analyzes custom audience segments to show behavior patterns, media exposure, shopping activity, and purchase trends. This Helps to refine your media strategy by showing what’s resonating with your most valuable audiences and enables advanced segmentation for future targeting or suppression strategies. For anyone wanting to try the 5-year data view, or learn about building AMC audiences, reach out to your AMC tool provider or contact your Amazon Ads PDM.

𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟰 – “𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹” "We launched a sustainable product, but no one is buying it.” This is one of the most recurring discussions. Let’s unpack this, because in most cases, it’s not the sustainability that’s the problem. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲-𝗢𝗳𝗳 One of the biggest mistakes? Designing a “green” product with the planet in mind… and forgetting the customer. I’m thinking of Nike’s Trash Talk shoe: launched with the best intentions, made entirely from factory waste, a pioneering attempt at circularity. But it flopped. Why? Because, quite frankly, it looked like trash and didn’t perform like a Nike shoe. Fast forward to Nike Flyknit: same ambition, better execution. Engineered from 60% less waste, lightweight, durable, high-performing. It didn’t just meet the bar for a performance shoe, it raised it. And it became one of Nike’s best-selling shoes. 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣? Sustainability is a feature, not an excuse. The best sustainability products elevate the customer experience, they don’t reduce it. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲-𝗢𝗳𝗳 Here’s another hard truth: many sustainable products are simply overpriced. True, oftentimes they are more expensive to produce - but is it really fair to expect the consumer to absorb 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the extra cost? A Kearney study found that most green products are nearly twice (!) the cost of conventional ones. They also found that a simple shift from a relative to a fixed margin pricing could solve the issue. Fair Milk, for example, was introduced so farmers could make a decent living. Instead of applying the typical relative margin across brand owners, wholesalers, and retailers (which would have brought the liter of milk well over €1), they added a fixed 10-cent premium, one that the majority of customers accepted right away. 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣? If you add your sustainability premium to the production cost, all the other profit margins stack up quickly. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲-𝗢𝗳𝗳 And now for the part we don’t talk about enough: sales. Companies have sustainability products in theory, but they never make it into the client conversation. Why? Because your sales team is either not incentivized or not confident enough to sell them. Sometimes it’s structure: bonuses tied to volume, not value. Sometimes it’s discomfort: salespeople feel like they don’t know enough about sustainability to bring it up. And sometimes, they just don’t believe in the story. If your sales team isn’t trained to sell your sustainable offering, they won’t. And that’s not a sales issue, it’s a leadership and communication one. 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣? If sustainability is part of your offer, it needs to be part of your sales muscle. 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: If your sustainable product isn’t selling, chances are it’s not the sustainability that’s broken. It’s the pricing. It’s the performance. It’s your internal incentives. Sustainability doesn’t excuse bad business logic, it demands better.

2 weeks ago, I called one of our longest-tenured sales reps about a deal. In general, I love the chance to phone Gainsters out of the blue and talk to them 1-1. And this teammate was someone with whom I had been in the trenches with for many years. Since I had him on the line, I asked him how he keeps on top of all of the products and roadmap in our portfolio right now. He said (paraphrasing): “That’s not how I approach my role. My first priority is to be there for the client. I’m not the expert on everything at Gainsight, but I’ll get them to the right person. I’ll always be there to listen to them and advocate for them. And they know that when they reach out, I’ll reply right away.” Don’t get me wrong. Sales reps like this one wouldn’t be successful without the support of technical specialists behind the scenes. And if we were still a point product startup, the customer would want the rep to know everything. But to expect a sales professional at a multi-hundred million dollar revenue company to know 5 distinct products in detail isn’t reasonable. I realize this is counter to the trend that many of us thought was inexorable a few years ago - Product-Led Growth. The thinking then was that relationship sellers would go away and that products would sell themselves. Of course, PLG has had a huge impact. Many of us start with dev tools like Cursor or devops products like Datadog in a self-service fashion. But I believe customers still value diligent and consultative account executives - particularly in categories where the product is a solution, versus a tool. Indeed, I think relationship selling will become MORE important in the era of AI and agents. Agentic businesses allow companies to finally sell solutions. Marketing technology companies can provide demand, not email engines. Recruiting software companies can offer candidates versus an “Applicant Tracking System.” And Gainsight can deliver retention-as-a-service. In a world where you are selling a solution, your company becomes more like a consulting firm. And in consulting, human skills are everything. The old aphorism is that “people buy from people that they like.” It's easy to think AI will make that adage seem anachronistic. But in some categories, buyers will value relationships more than ever.

What’s the biggest breakthrough in sales in 2025? I asked that question to some of HubSpot’s top sellers this week. The same answer kept coming back: customer conversation data. For years, reps had access to only a sliver of what mattered. Roughly 20% of a deal lived in fields, notes, and CRM updates. The other 80%, the real substance of the conversations, sat in emails, call transcripts, chat threads, and support tickets. That’s where intent shows up. That’s where objections surface. That’s where deals actually turn. Until now, that data was invisible. AI flips the equation. Our top reps and many of our best customers are now pulling signals from every interaction and using it to sell smarter. They can: Capture next steps, objections, risks, and key moments from every call and email Personalize follow-ups based on what buyers actually said, not what reps remembered Spot at-risk deals early, with evidence to back it up And I’m seeing sales managers using it to: Identify what top reps consistently do and replicate it across the team See exactly where deals stall and coach with precision Track which competitors show up most in different segments and regions The shift is simple but profound: Sales teams are finally operating on the full dataset of their customer conversations, not just what made it into the customer record. Data has been the foundation of great selling. What’s new is that the richest data, the messy, unstructured, human data is now accessible and actionable. That’s not just a breakthrough. It’s a fundamental shift in how reps and managers will work in 2026.

Is alcohol in structural decline? Not quite. Here’s what’s really happening: 👇 Post-COVID sales dips 📉  have sparked headlines about the “death of alcohol,” especially among Gen Z. But the truth is more nuanced, and far more optimistic. Yes, sales boomed during COVID, triggering massive supply chain ramp-ups. Think about it: people were stuck at home with high disposable income (not travelling nor going out with low interest rates on their mortgage). What we’re seeing now is a reset from those historic highs, not a collapse. Strip out pandemic noise, and sales are still above 2019 levels. The long-term trajectory remains strong. The graph below published in NY Times clearly illustrate the trend in the US. Meanwhile, Gen Z are drinking less but not for the reasons we’ve been told. Rabobank’s recent report (https://lnkd.in/gF8dS4BA) challenges the overused “wellness” and “social media shame” narratives. The real reason? Disposable income. Most of Gen Z consumers are still too young, early in their careers, and financially constrained just like millennials and boomers were at that stage. When adjusted for income, their alcohol spend is actually right on trend. The real shift is demographic: Gen Z are more diverse, more digital, and less tied to traditional drinking rituals. RTDs and Spirits are gaining ground early. Wine? Maybe not so much. There is a big job to do to dust off this category and create exciting wine innovations, to attract and recruit Gen Z, and make them start their journey into wine. The key for brands: Don’t misread a life stage as a generational rejection. Gen Z will come but they’ll demand more authenticity, representation, and relevance. ✅ The alcohol category isn’t dying. It’s evolving. Slowly, strategically, and still full of opportunity. #AlcoholIndustry #ConsumerTrends #GenZInsights #BrandStrategy #SpiritsBusiness #RTDs #WineIndustry #InnovationInBeverage #CategoryGrowth #Rabobank #Wines Credits & sources: https://lnkd.in/gF8dS4BA, https://lnkd.in/gYrGD97S https://lnkd.in/gKEtQ5H8 Noah Sanborn Friedman