In 2026, Cambodian businesses need to make it easier for customers to research, compare and trust them before they make contact or buy. Customers can discover businesses through social media, search engines and AI tools, often using a phone as their main research device. That means a business cannot rely on a single website page, social account or advertising campaign to explain what it offers.
HubSpot’s Consumer Trends research provides useful evidence for understanding this shift, although its underlying surveys were conducted with U.S. consumers rather than Cambodian consumers. The research found strong interest in social discovery, mobile shopping and AI-assisted research. HubSpot’s 2025 update also reported that consumers were increasingly using social media and AI chat for discovery while still showing concerns about trust in AI. These findings should be treated as signals to investigate, not as statistics about Cambodian customers. HubSpot’s Consumer Trends Report and its later analysis provide the supporting research. Written by: Kim
1. Make Your Business Easy to Research Before the First Contact
Customers often want to investigate a business themselves before speaking with someone. HubSpot’s 2024 research found that 59% of surveyed consumers preferred to gather brand or product information themselves rather than speak to a human. In 2025, HubSpot continued to describe consumers as digitally savvy and increasingly likely to research through social platforms and AI chat.
For a Cambodian business, the practical lesson is not that every customer behaves this way. It is that your digital presence should answer common questions before a customer has to ask them.
- What exactly does the business provide?
- Who is the service or product for?
- Where is the business located?
- What does the customer receive?
- What are the important prices, packages or requirements?
- How can the customer contact the business?
- What evidence can help the customer evaluate the business?
For hotels, this could mean clear room information, location, facilities, policies and booking options. For retailers, it could mean product information, prices, availability and delivery details. For service businesses, it could mean explaining the process, expected outcomes, service areas and how to request a quotation.
2. Build for Mobile-First Customer Journeys
Mobile should be treated as the primary environment to test when customers discover and research your business. HubSpot’s research found that consumers used mobile phones more than other devices for online shopping and searching questions, with 71% of surveyed Gen Z consumers saying mobile was their most-used device for online shopping.
This is U.S. research, so it should not be presented as a measurement of Cambodia. Instead, use it as a reason to inspect your own customer journey.
- Open your website on a normal phone, not only a desktop.
- Check whether the main offer is understandable within a few seconds.
- Make important buttons large enough to tap easily.
- Keep contact options visible when they are important to conversion.
- Check that images and videos do not make pages unnecessarily slow.
- Test enquiry forms with real mobile users.
Measure the result through enquiries, calls, messages, bookings or completed forms rather than assuming a mobile redesign automatically improves performance.
3. Treat Social Media as a Discovery Channel, Not Just an Advertising Channel
HubSpot’s 2024 research identified social media as the leading product discovery channel among the U.S. consumers surveyed. Its research also found that 63% considered brand social content authentic or relatable and 63% considered authenticity more important than polished production in marketing videos.
For Cambodian businesses, this does not prove that social media is the best discovery channel for every sector. Instead, it suggests a useful question: when your target customer discovers your business on social media, can they understand and verify the offer?
In 2026, social content should connect discovery with evidence. A hotel might show rooms, location, facilities and the surrounding experience. A property business might show actual listings, neighbourhood information and clear enquiry options. A consultancy might demonstrate its work, explain its process and show relevant expertise.
Do not measure social activity only through views or followers. Track actions such as profile visits, website visits, enquiries, calls, bookings and qualified leads.
4. Prepare Your Business for AI-Assisted Discovery
AI-assisted search is another reason businesses should make their information clear and consistent. In HubSpot’s research with Glimpse, 79% of respondents who had used generative AI for online shopping rated those experiences somewhat or far better than traditional search. The research also found that 72% planned to use AI-powered search for shopping more frequently.
These figures came from U.S. respondents and should not be treated as evidence that Cambodian customers behave the same way in 2026. The practical implication is that businesses should make their important information easy for both people and search systems to understand.
Start with the basics:
- Use clear descriptions of products and services.
- Answer common customer questions directly.
- Keep business names, locations and contact information consistent.
- Explain important differences between packages or services.
- Publish useful information that demonstrates genuine expertise.
- Keep outdated prices, offers and business information from remaining online.
For a Cambodian business serving international customers, provide important information in clear English as well as Khmer where appropriate. The goal is not to write content specifically for AI. The goal is to make useful information clear enough for customers and systems to understand.
5. Build Trust Before Asking Customers to Convert
Digital discovery creates a trust problem. A customer may find a business through a social post, search result or AI recommendation but still need evidence before making contact or paying.
HubSpot’s social commerce research found that consumers had concerns about whether companies were legitimate, delivery expectations and refunds. The report recommended clearly communicating business information, customer service details and policies.
Cambodian businesses can apply the same principle without assuming that Cambodian customers have identical concerns.
- Show the real business location where relevant.
- Explain who operates the business.
- Provide clear contact information.
- Show relevant work, products or facilities.
- Explain booking, payment, delivery or cancellation terms.
- Make important policies easy to find.
- Use customer reviews or testimonials where they are genuine and verifiable.
A professional website should be treated as a business-controlled source where information and evidence can be presented clearly. It should support trust rather than simply claim that the business is trustworthy.
6. Adapt the Journey for Different Cambodian Audiences
A single customer journey may not work for every audience. A Cambodian customer, foreign resident, tourist and international buyer may need different information before taking the same action.
| Audience | Information to prioritise | What to measure |
|---|---|---|
| Local Cambodian customers | Clear Khmer or bilingual information, price, location, contact options and practical details | Enquiries, calls, messages and purchases |
| Foreign residents | Clear English information, location, process, pricing and service details | Website enquiries and qualified leads |
| Tourists | Location, availability, booking process, photos, reviews and key practical information | Bookings, enquiries and booking-page completion |
| International buyers or investors | Detailed evidence, process, requirements, location and professional contact options | Qualified enquiries and consultation requests |
The correct priorities should ultimately come from your own customer data. Review the questions your sales team receives repeatedly and use those questions to improve the website, social profiles and other discovery channels.
7. Use Authentic Content Instead of Producing Content for Its Own Sake
AI makes it easier to produce large amounts of marketing content in 2026. That makes useful, specific information more important, not less.
Businesses should use AI to help research, structure, translate, edit or repurpose content where appropriate, while keeping human oversight over facts, claims and brand communication. A hotel could use AI to help turn frequently asked questions into content. A retailer could organise product information into clearer descriptions. A service company could turn recurring customer questions into practical guides.
The valuable part is the business knowledge behind the content. Generic articles that could describe any company are less useful than information based on the actual products, services, processes and questions customers encounter.
8. Test Consumer Trends Instead of Assuming They Apply to Cambodia
The biggest limitation of international consumer reports is that they do not automatically describe Cambodian customers. The HubSpot research is useful for identifying changes worth investigating, but Cambodian businesses should validate those assumptions using their own data.
A simple 2026 testing process is:
- Choose one customer behaviour to investigate.
- Make one specific change to the customer journey.
- Define one measurable outcome.
- Run the change for a defined period.
- Compare the result with the previous version.
- Keep the change only if the evidence supports it.
For example, if a hotel believes customers need more information before booking, it could add a concise FAQ covering check-in, location, facilities and cancellation terms. The business can then compare booking enquiries or completed bookings before and after the change.
If a retailer believes customers are discovering products through short-form video, it can track how many viewers visit the product page and how many eventually enquire or purchase. If an NGO believes potential donors need more evidence before contacting the organisation, it can improve the transparency of its programme information and measure qualified enquiries.
What Cambodian Businesses Should Prioritise in 2026
Consumer behaviour is becoming more connected across search, social media, mobile websites and AI tools. Businesses do not need to adopt every new platform or trend. They need to make the customer journey easier to understand and easier to trust.
| Priority | 2026 action | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | Improve the information customers see through search and social channels | Qualified visits and enquiries |
| Mobile | Test the complete customer journey on phones | Form completions, calls or bookings |
| AI discovery | Make important business information clear, structured and consistent | Organic and referral enquiries |
| Trust | Show evidence, policies, contact details and genuine customer experiences | Conversion and enquiry quality |
| Content | Answer real customer questions with specific information | Engagement and assisted conversions |
The most useful consumer trend for a Cambodian business in 2026 is not a particular platform. It is the growing importance of being easy to discover, easy to understand and easy to evaluate before a customer decides to contact or buy.
Use international research such as HubSpot’s reports to identify behaviours worth investigating, then use your own Cambodian customer enquiries, website data, sales records and conversion results to decide what actually deserves investment. Save and download for later.