UK based, trendwatching.com, one of the world’s leading consumer trends firm, recently released their pick of the Top 11 Consumer Trends for 2011[1].
I love a good list of trends to kick start the brain cells for the new year. There are obviously dozens of important consumer trends worth knowing about, and the vast majority of the ones that are highlighted are already happening in some way, but it's an excellent selection to inspire you... it certainly got me thinking.
As a bargainista myself, I’m always on the lookout for special offers and discounts and I loved the emergence in 2010 of group buying deals available from Groupon, and locally JumpOnit, Spreets (recently purchased by Yahoo7), OurDeal, etc. so Trend #3 Pricing Pandemonium really resonated with me. Always-on connectivity has changed consumer spending habits in many ways. For example, coupon clipping needs planning and dedication, and has a bit of a social stigma about it, so it wasn't that popular with consumers, but now it is an almost effortless online activity, particularly with the emergence of the deal aggregator sites, making this trend one of the ones I think will most endure in 2011.
If Gerry Harvey & co think they’ve got problems now, they haven't seen anything yet. Haven’t they heard? Retailing has changed forever.
[1] Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world's leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.
