• by Teresa Buyikian , Yesterday

A new report on the top consumer trends for restaurant and convenience store operators highlights what consumers are looking for in brands this year.

The 2026 Trends & Predictions report, produced by guest engagement platform Paytronix, pulls from the company’s own research as well as additional industry reports.

Topping the report is the insight that health-conscious consumers will continue to prioritize “personalized, wellness-focused experiences” in 2026. The report cited a recent survey by Innova Market Insights that found an increasing number of global consumers identifying health and wellbeing as “one of the top spending categories” after other basic needs such as living comfortably. 

As mentioned in last week’s Insider, value here is also measured by experience, not just low price, with several demographics recently reducing visits due to price increases. “They measure it by how seen, served and understood they feel in every interaction,” according to the report, with value = relevance + experience, rather than cost alone.

Next, millennials and Gen Z-ers were found to “demand mobile-first, gamified experiences, while older generations seek digital convenience.” What this means to marketers is that they must address all generations with an adaptive engagement strategy that “works seamlessly for Gen Z mobile-native users, as well as Gen X/boomer users who value usability, trust, and service continuity.”

AI integration is now standard in 2026, driving personalized offers and operational optimization. The best users of AI are increasingly incorporating “predictive ordering and staffing models; personalized recommendation engines that tailor offers based on individual behavior; dynamic pricing based on demand insights and loyalty status and automated data analysis to identify performance gaps in real time.”

"The consumerization of AI, and technological advances in hardware are making automation accessible like never before," said Tim Ridgely, vice president of engineering at Paytronix, in the report. "This convergence of lightweight automation and intelligent data interpretation isn’t just a tech trend. It’s also a lifeline for small operators navigating rising costs in an already high-risk industry. It’s happening quietly, but it’s going to redefine what ‘small business’ can achieve.”

And the “ghost” kitchen is now a lot more visible, becoming “a mainstream part of the food industry” in 2026. Cloud kitchens and other hybrid models for off-premise ordering continue to redefine food service in general, with every order providing customer “specific behavioral data, frequency, items, modifiers and geography.”

The collabs and merch drops will also continue into the new year. Paytronix found in a recent study that “a 40% rise in cross-brand partnerships led to greater redemption of dual-channel loyalty rewards, which shows that interconnected loyalty programs can dramatically improve consumer engagement.”

And of course loyalty programs remain a key business driver, with what Paytronix refers to as “Loyalty 3.0”  now emphasizing the “integration of subscription models, gamification and cross-brand relationships.”  Paytronix found that the new subscription models, where customers opt-in to emails and other marketing, “improved guest retention rates by 18% and increased the average revenue per user.”