13 Trends to Watch for Retailers . . . and Everyone Else
Read on and start thinking about how you can leverage these trends to the advantage of your business or at least mitigate any potential issues.
1. You and me = "co". The prefix "co" will be everywhere. We will seek to "co-parent" and "co-produce". To be a "co-preneur" versus an "entrepreneur" will be the new aspiration. We'll also push to a higher level of intimacy with others, transitioning from "coworkers" to "co-creators." Retailers need to present their offering to capitalize on this.
2. Make solutions, not problems. Don't talk negatively. Instead, frame issues in terms of how to solve them. For example, retailers should say: "You didn't know you needed this product or service. Here you go!" Increasingly, people do not want negative events and approaches. So talk less trash about competitors and place an accent on the positive aspects of products and solutions. Find your happy place.
3. Austerity living with double-dip frugality. There will be more sites like Renttherunway.com and options like Zipcars. People will aspire to a fraction of ownership or engagement. Notice how the storage business is booming: it's because we have more things than we can fit into our homes. As a result, we are starting to ask ourselves, "Do I really need to own this stuff?" We will still buy electronics but there must be a positive message about them. And content will migrate from paper we can hold in our hands to digital content we can access anytime, anywhere, anyhow. That is why the tablet is the new "cloud catcher."
