13 Trends to Watch for Retailers . . . and Everyone Else
8. Tiring of fatigue. We are on overload and don't know where to turn. "Respite" will be a new personal goal. Zen-like environments will be developed and promoted by retailers, airlines and others. We will still want maximum experiences but with minimal challenges. Start planning for the redesign for your retail outlets now and think about products and services you can offer while still being true to your brand. What kind of premium could you charge for friction-free transactions?
9. Quality of life. What is the number one city in which recent graduates aspire to live? It's not one of the major markets. The winner is Austin, followed by Portland. To offset the hectic pace, we will be interested in slow cooking, slow eating, slow courtships, slow colors and scents, etc. Consumer overload will cause us to freeze up and stay home, in an uncluttered and unstressed space. There will be no more sensory exhaustion. Rather, we will romance the single idea of an object. Your offering and your marketing will have to demonstrate how you solve the problem.
10. Place-making. Brands will be redefined in four ways: person, place, purpose and passion. The biggest driver will be place. Consequently, we have to incorporate "lore" in the stories we tell about products. Place is a magnet for people looking for others like them. What place do your products evoke and how can you adapt advertising and other marketing to reinforce this the lore?
11. Native. This trend jibes with the others. Things that are natural and ground zero are those in which we can believe. We will want to know more about where things are from and what they are about as part of a "nature culture." Essentially, we want to be rooted will embrace the authenticity of the past. Retailers need to focus on what is native and real about their offers. In response to consumer preferences, retailers will over-label: what are the contents, where they are from, how they were delivered for production and more.
