Salsify’s “Ecommerce Pulse Report: Q4 2025” found that 72% of shoppers have bought a product from a new brand instead of their typical go-to in the past year.
This stat alone tells us everything about how modern loyalty really works. Consumers aren’t necessarily walking away from brands they like, they’re just more willing to experiment with something else. That “something else” might be a better price, higher ratings, or a product more aligned with their needs in that exact moment.
In other words, today’s consumers are brand agnostic rather than anti-loyal. They’re loyal to what works, not who provides it. Someone might still like your brand, but if you’re not top of mind and meaningfully differentiated at the moment of purchase, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out.
The challenge here is that you have to continually earn the next purchase. But there’s good news: Because loyalty is fluid, it’s also winnable. You can win back switching shoppers just as quickly as you lost them, but only if you understand what pulled them away in the first place.
What’s Driving the Shift Toward Brand Agnosticism?
Consumers aren’t drifting away from brands for no reason. It’s usually down to price, proof, and relevance. Here are some common reasons customers jump ship.
Price Sensitivity Meets Selective Trust
The number one driver of brand switching isn’t a mystery. More than 50% of shoppers say they switched for a better price or promotion, and this is becoming increasingly common in this economic landscape.
Financial uncertainty means shoppers are way more value-aware and, unlike a decade ago, “deal hunting” isn’t just happening during peak sales seasons. It’s now a part of everyday decision-making.
But there’s nuance to this. Price might trigger someone exploring their options, but it doesn’t always win the sale. In fact, 87% of shoppers are willing to pay more for a product from a brand they trust. So, cheap alone isn’t enough, because credibility is still very important.
Experience and Perceived Value Have Gained Power
When you pare it all back, shoppers really just want to feel confident with their purchase decisions. Nearly 30% say they switched because another brand had better reviews or ratings, while 22% switched because the product content or overall shopping experience was better.
Basically, shoppers want certainty before they buy, and reviews, rich product detail page (PDP) content, visual demos, user-generated content (UGC), and product comparisons all feed reassurance.
AI and UGC Are Reshaping Product Discovery
Another massive disruptor to loyalty is that discovery now starts with a collective opinion rather than with a brand. Almost 65% of shoppers use AI shopping tools to research or discover new products, and these technologies rely heavily on UGC, reviews, Reddit threads, and real consumer sentiment to surface relevant recommendations.
Trust is essentially outsourced to third parties before a shopper even reaches your PDP. In fact, by the time they get to your brand, their mind is partly made up, shaped largely by what others have said about you.
Who’s Switching the Most, and Why?
While brand agnosticism is on the rise across the board, it’s most notable among younger shoppers. Four out of five millennials and 76% of Gen Z have bought from a new brand instead of their typical go-to in the past year.
Gen X sits in the middle. They’re still happy to switch, but are slightly less restless (or maybe more discerning) than the younger groups, with 72% having tried a new brand this year. Baby boomers are the most loyal cohort overall, with 57% buying from a new brand in the past year.
Younger shoppers tend to do more research, they read more reviews, and they expect a richer brand experience. They’re also highly influenced by UGC, their peers, and AI recommendations. Gen Xers are more pragmatic. They simply want a smooth shopping experience, so the easier it is to check out, the more chance you have of winning them over.
Boomers often try new brands out of necessity. If their usual is out of stock, or prices have dramatically gone up, they have no qualms about going elsewhere.
How Brands Are Not-So-Successfully Responding to This Shift
Well-intentioned brands are aware of this shift and are attempting to put measures in place to keep customers on side. The problem is, they often go about it in the wrong way.
- They rely on short-term promotions too much. Many brands try to fight churn with constant discounts, but shoppers stop assigning full-price value to products when this is a recurring theme.
- They have loyalty programs with no real loyalty. Plenty of brands technically have a loyalty program, but most are just point trackers with a discount tacked on at the end. There’s no real sense of exclusivity, so shoppers don’t feel any reason to stay.
- Their PDPs underserve AI (and shoppers). Thin PDPs won’t get surfaced in AI discovery tools. Brands that aren’t publishing rich product information, FAQs, lifestyle imagery, and clear benefits get pushed further down the recommendations.
- They put social proof everywhere but the buy box. Many brands still silo UGC and influencer content on social platforms instead of integrating it directly into the shopper journey. By the time someone gets to the PDP, the proof is basically gone.
4 Proven Strategies To Win Back and Retain Brand-Agnostic Shoppers
If shoppers are willing to switch, they’re also willing to switch back, as long as brands give them a compelling reason to stay. Here are some ways you can do that.
1. Rebuild Meaningful Loyalty Through Memberships
Loyalty programs are still a hit with shoppers. In fact, 39% say they’ve made a purchase because of a membership or loyalty discount. But you have to do more than offer a good deal these days.
What works better is some kind of meaningful access or exclusive offers. Something like an early release, product drops before the general public, and personalized perks based on what someone actually buys.
2. Use Promotions Strategically (Not Constantly)
Promotions are a good way to attract new customers, but they can quickly become a turn-off if everything is always on sale. Instead, think about offering specific kinds of promotions that have structure and are time-based. For example:
- 62% of shoppers convert for limited-time discounts
- 45% do so for product bundles;
- 39% do so for personalized discounts (i.e., based on past browsing history).
3. Personalization as a Retention Engine
Personalization is such a hit today because it’s convenient for shoppers and it makes them feel understood. You’re far more likely to convert a customer if you offer product recommendations based on their previous purchases or browsing behavior rather than a general promotion.
Young consumers in particular respond well to this, with 53% of Gen Z and 48% of millennials choosing to buy more often because of personalized recommendations.
The key is to be strategic with your personalization (no one wants to feel like they’re being aggressively tracked).
This could be a well-timed reminder when someone’s about to run out of their favorite product, or it could be as simple as tailoring a promotion to what someone’s already shown interest in.
4. Leverage Influencer and Trust-Based Content
Almost 40% of shoppers have bought something because of an influencer, but high-profile celebrity partnerships aren’t a necessity. The industry pros and relatable influencers who look and sound like your customers work just as well, if not better.
The reason social proof like this is so effective is because trust is formed outside of your brand first (e.g., through UGC, smaller creators, honest reviews).
Spotlighting this content on your PDPs can shorten the decision cycle because shoppers can see that people like them are already buying from you and loving it.
The Future of Loyalty: Winning in an AI-Shaped Marketplace
Bigger ad budgets can’t buy brand loyalty anymore. As product discovery shifts further upstream into AI tools, social platforms, community threads, and peer recommendations, brands will have to actually help shoppers make better decisions and not simply market to them.
The real change here is the order of influence. People used to start with a brand and then look for validation that they’d made the right decision. Now, they start with validation and choose the brand after. It’s a completely different loyalty model.
AI pulls from public sentiment and conversations, so it tends to surface whichever brands look most credible and useful, rather than the ones with the longest history or biggest market share. This is a major change for brands that have relied on their time in the market.
This what matters most to loyalty moving forward:
- Trust: It needs to be built outside of your brand.
- Relevance: You need to show up with the right information at the right time.
- Consistency: The experience should feel the same wherever and whenever someone encounters your brand.
- Community: Shoppers want to feel a part of something bigger.
The takeaway is simple, really: Loyalty is harder to assume, but much easier to earn. Despite all this, shoppers are still actively looking for brands worth sticking with. If you can embrace this change and meet customers with the info, proof, and messaging they need to make better decisions, you stand a far greater chance of being successful.
The New Retention Playbook
This new behavior of brand-switching doesn’t mean consumers have stopped caring about loyalty completely. It just means they’re no longer loyal by default. They’re simply keeping their options open until a brand gives them a reason not to. So, be that brand.
The way to do this is to remind them why staying feels (and is) better than browsing elsewhere. The best part is that when a shopper chooses you under this new model of loyalty, it’s because you’ve proven your value. And that means they’re more likely to stay.
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