right offer. Brands can also rethink their partnerships with retailers, finding ways to connect pricing through retail media activation and collaborating to share data in ways that can further fuel advanced RGM models. — Tailor the portfolio for growth. As disruptive brands, high-velocity trends, and unpredictable consumers continue to define the sector, consumer companies must obsess over their sources of growth. This means leaning into M&A and divestitures (M&A&D) continually. Consumer players should strive to generate 20 to 30 percent new revenue from their portfolio every ten years. Those that leverage M&A&D for growth generate 2.5 percentage points more TSR than those with organic growth alone do. This also means reinventing business capabilities. E-commerce is poised to be among the biggest arenas for competition . Much of this growth will come from higher penetration in developing economies and the acceleration of new business models, such as social commerce. — Rewire tech capabilities. Even if consumer players manage to achieve each of these strategic imperatives, they will struggle to maintain a competitive advantage without rewiring their tech capabilities , including restructuring their organizations to accommodate technology investments. Among the 140 agentic AI and gen AI use cases that consumer players should prioritize, shaping consumer insights and demand and managing customers and channels represent the greatest value . Consumer businesses that make long-term, transformative investments in rewiring for growth could unlock up to a 15-percentage-point improvement in EBITDA margins. Outcompeting in the years ahead means anticipating the needs of an often-unpredictable consumer. Brands that can swiftly adapt to the new realities will be well positioned to grow, regardless of the uncertainty ahead. -flfffi ffi    fiff ffi      fiff -flfffi ffi   ffff  fl   fl  ff    -flfffi ffi ffififfi Designed by McKinsey Global Publishing Copyright © 2025 McKinsey & Company. All rights reserved. Becca Coggins is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Chicago office, Christina Adams is a partner in the Dallas office, Kari Alldredge is a partner in the Minneapolis office, Alyssa Hopcus and Laura Bucklin are consultants in the Bay Area office, and Justin Shamoun is an associate partner in the New York office. The authors wish to thank Andrew Pitakos, Christina Sexauer, and Sandra Cong for their contributions to this article. This article was edited by Alexandra Mondalek, an editor in the New York office. 13 State of the Consumer 2025: When disruption becomes permanent