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2026 Category Trends Report - Pt 1

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Trend Focus: Functional Everything

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This report examines how shoppers respond to functional positioning across consumer categories using large-scale review and discussion data.

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Functional claims now appear across most major categories. This analysis looks at how those claims perform in real-world use, which signals shoppers reward, and where gaps between positioning and experience emerge.

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Download the full report here.

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What This Report Covers

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This edition focuses on Functional Everything, one of five major category trends shaping 2026.

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The report analyzes how shoppers evaluate functional products across:

• Food and Beverage
• Personal Care
• Household Cleaning
• Pet Care

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Findings are based on how consumers describe products after use, what drives positive sentiment, and where skepticism appears during evaluation.

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Key Signals Explored

• Experience-based language consistently outweighs ingredient and claim-based language
• Functional benefits perform best when tied to clear use cases and everyday routines
• Broad wellness positioning shows weaker alignment with positive sentiment than outcome-driven positioning
• Early-stage shopper questions surface in discussion forums and resolve through real-world product use

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Methodology

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Insights are based on analysis of consumer reviews and Reddit discussions collected between October 2025 and January 2026.

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Review data captures post-purchase evaluation, including sentiment drivers, attribute mentions, and outcome descriptions. Reddit data captures earlier-stage evaluation, where shoppers discuss use cases, ingredient concerns, performance expectations, and tradeoffs.

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Together, these sources provide visibility into how functional expectations form, evolve, and stabilize over time.

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Download the Report

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Part of the 2026 Category Trends Series

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This report is the first in a five-part series examining major trends shaping consumer categories in 2026. Additional trend reports will be released throughout the year.

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About Harmonya

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Harmonya brings together review and discussion language to help teams understand how shoppers evaluate products in real-world conditions.

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By structuring and quantifying the language consumers use, Harmonya connects early-stage shopper signals to validated performance outcomes, revealing what is changing across categories and why it matters.

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