RETAIL TRENDS

THE FUTURE IS NOW

ARE YOU READY? GET THE 5 MUST-KNOW CONSUMER TRENDS THAT WILL DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS IN 2017

BY BARBARA THAU

SPONSORED BY FOSSIL

From online shopping to smart phones that access the endless aisle, technology has empowered consumers in unprecedented ways.

That impact continues to unfold, redefining today’s savvy shoppers’ very notion of themselves, their sensibilities, and their lifestyle wants and needs—including how they shop and what they expect from retailers.

How will this affect your business? To learn more, we checked in with the global consumer trends forecasting firm TrendWatching (trendwatching.com), which identified five critical consumer trends here that will help define your business in 2017.

Dig in to discover the consumer insights that are reshaping the retail landscape right now—and get performance-enhancing insider tips for putting these trends into play in your own business.

Trend 1 Global Citizens + Nation Nurturers

In 2017, these distinct consumer trends will coexist: New global citizens will embrace businesses and brands that tap into international trends and traditions, while nation nurturers will be drawn to their own locality, from their neighborhood to city, state, or country.

For example, Indonesian taxi company Go-Jek worked to siphon business from Uber by appealing to consumers’ national pride, says Lauren Williams, trend analyst with TrendWatching.

Meanwhile, amid the growth of online retail, “regional boundaries effectively disappear,” says Scott Lachut, president of PSFK Labs, a leading provider of innovation insights, which recently released its “The Future of Retail 2017” report.

Case in point: The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism set up a K-Pop training academy—in Mexico City. More than 400 people applied for the 60 class spots in the Korean pop-music class.

PUT IT IN PLAY: Appealing to global citizens and nation nurturers is not necessarily an either-or proposition. It’s a matter of knowing what your customers want, experts say.

“For those global citizens, tap into their desire to explore other cultures and ideas,” Williams says.

At the same time, appeal to nation nurturers and the notion of locality by playing up scarcity and exclusivity. “Retailers should consider how to bring the desire [for regional fare] in-store through limited-edition or local collections that cannot be purchased anywhere else,” Lachut says. “Start with a small subset of products and consider how local manufacturing or craftspeople can play into their desirability and uniqueness.”

Trend 2 First Responders

In 2017, consumers will expect brands to harness their resources to respond with urgency to crisis situations, a prediction underscored by the “better business” megatrend whereby “purpose precedes profit,” according to TrendWatching. First Responders marks the evolution of conscious capitalism, as consumers increasingly look to brands to run their businesses with integrity.

“Transparency, whether from the standpoint of price, health, or impact, is an increasingly important consideration to consumers,” Lachut says. “In today’s social media marketplace, information both positive and negative is going to get out. A brand or retailer can either choose to ignore this reality or own it by actively participating in the conversation.”

PUT IT IN PLAY: “Understand your customers’ concerns and make a commitment to changing one or more practices,” Lachut says. “Give yourself a deadline and communicate what’s happening along the way.”

Lush cosmetics, for example, ran a campaign featuring a line of limited-edition soaps, says Williams. Proceeds from the line went to families that welcomed and resettled Syrian refugees arriving in the U.S. and Canada.

Trend 3 Incognito Individuals

In 2017, new technology tools, services, and platforms will empower consumers to move beyond demographics and circumstance to embrace their authentic selves—that is, the one they choose to construct, versus the one that society imposes on them, TrendWatching predicts.

“We see a lot of consumers embracing tools and online platforms that liberate them” to explore identities, Williams says. Options range from persona apps that provide users with a window into someone else’s point of view to job interview platforms “that mask the speaker’s voice to tackle gender bias,” Williams says.

PUT IT IN PLAY: Forget segmenting shoppers into reductive silos, and help your customers define themselves. These days, shoppers are the brand.

For retailers, “look beyond broad demographics and instead consider connecting with consumers around their own specific passions and interests, which cross all labels,” says PSFK Labs’ Lachut. “Understand how this idea aligns with your [business] and its products and find ways to bring it to life through education, curation, and community expertise.”

Trend 4 Motivated Mindlessness

In 2017, consumers will turn to artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools and platforms to steamroll their own self-improvement. They’ll be outsourcing the planning and motivation of their activities via tech-enabled coaching and encouragement “to better themselves,” says Williams.

Examples include AI platforms such as calendar apps that manage your time, and even those that track your life goals, like calculating and scheduling time to learn a new language. Even “intelligent eating assistants” today deliver food advice and personalized meal plans based on one’s eating habits.

PUT IT IN PLAY: Retailers can apply this trend by exploring ways to offer services that integrate AI within “the tech ecosystem their target customers are already immersed in,” Williams says. Implementation at retail could mean using consumers’ purchasing data to offer them alternative products that are better in some way, “be it healthier, or serve their needs more,” she says.

What’s more, retailers can offer an in-store experience that helps shoppers pick out products “and explore a brand in the digital sphere, or a marketing tactic that your consumers can share with their friends online.”

Trend 5 A Virtual Experience Economy

Rare, surprising, and shareable real-world experiences have long served as markers of status. But in 2017, digital experiences—including virtual reality and artificial intelligence experiences—become a status currency in their own right, TrendWatching predicts.

The phenomenon of Pokémon Go, the location-based virtual reality game that inspired grown men and women to roam the streets in search of virtual creatures, is a prime example.

The game changed expectations “around connection and status,” she says. “There’s a Pokémon bar crawl and Pokémon dating app—[it’s tied to] connecting with things around you,” Williams says.

PUT IT IN PLAY: The opportunity here for retailers is in integrating visually rich digital experiences into their business models that address the virtual experience megatrend and its consumers—“playsumers” who are motivated by the ageless quest for fun, according to TrendWatching.

Marriott Rewards and Expedia, for example, got in on the Pokémon fun. The hotel and travel sites co-sponsored a promotion whereby the first person to catch all of the Pokémon monsters could continue to play the game around the world. The winning prize went to a man from Brooklyn, who was sent to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Sydney to play, Williams says.