Hello, this is your one-minute briefing on the rise of the loner consumer. In the grim pandemic years, people got used to staying inside. Outlays on services—from restaurant meals to foreign travel—collapsed, while demand for goods jumped, with a rush for computers and exercise bikes. Such patterns proved remarkably resilient even as life got back to normal. In 2023, The Economist dubbed them “hermit consumers,” and today they’ve evolved into what it calls the “loner consumer.”

These shoppers still favor take-out over dining in, streaming over theaters, and telemedicine over clinics. Services spending has recovered but remains well below pre-pandemic trends, while goods spending is still elevated. The result? Industries from hospitality to health care must rethink how to lure back customers. Will this shift endure? As firms race to win over loner consumers, blending convenience with a sense of experience will be key. Thanks for listening.
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