Four Big Consumer Trends in 2015

Market research and analysis firm Mintel has revealed four key US consumer trends for 2015: Get Smart; My Wallet, My Way; Fight for Your Rights; and Gender Agenda. Here's a closer look at them:
 
Get Smart
The world of synced devices, including wearable technology and smart home appliances, will mainstream as trusted retailers and manufacturers satisfy consumer appetite for collecting data and controlling devices.
Smart devices appeal to consumers because they save time and money but they also promise convenience and control.
 
“Smart innovations are no longer the domain of start-ups,” said Stacy Glasgow, Mintel's consumer trends consultant. “Major players, such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Samsung, as well as retailers are embracing the trend and raising consumer confidence in it.”
 
According to Glasglow, in 2015, we’ll see smart devices advancing into new annexes. “Consumers will demand that wearable technology offer more than the convenience of connectivity and provide personal devices that are secure and fashionable. Style matters in the smart home, too, where systems will go beyond economizing utilities by embracing ambience and blending in with the decor, which we've already seen from Philips 'Hue' LED lighting systems and oPhone fragrance diffusers.”
 
Smart devices also go beyond health and home economics, with telematic devices that monitor driving habits. Going forward, data-collecting device manufacturers will invite companies to become analysis providers. The next stage will be for banks, grocers and doctors to do more to develop data relationships. Consumers are so hungry for analysis, we may see that data analysis software develops more quickly than the actual data-collecting hardware.
 
My Wallet, My Way
Consumers' expectations for on-demand convenience are blurring the lines between digital and brick-and-mortar retail, driving immediacy not just in shopping, but also expanding it into any consumer interactions with businesses. The internet has disrupted traditional approaches to shopping, setting up an expectation not just for convenience, but for immediacy. Brick-and-mortar retailers have melded with the digital as more locations offer in-store pick-up for online orders, and on the other side, virtual-only services open physical stores.
 
“Companies are also bridging the customer relationship gap left by online-only interactions with unique service approaches like creating community spaces, as insurance provider State Farm did with its Next Door Café,” said Glasglow.
 
Expanded Wi-Fi plans for trains, planes and even Uber-mobiles will ease the ability to shop while in transit, and thus encourage more “click-and-collect” services, such as the grocery pick-up service being tested by Walmart.
 
Shoppers also are open to new formats, with 32% of US facial skincare users interested in products that can be purchased on the go, such as through a vending machine or kiosk.
 
Fight for Your Rights
Growing awareness of customer rights and corporate misbehavior will see consumers demand more fairness and justice from companies, with consumer input becoming almost integral.
 
“The desire to sit-down-and-click to share one's thoughts will likely continue because consumers have begun to see the power these viral revolts can have,” said Jenny Zegler, Mintel's trends analyst. “In 2014, 'clicktivism' forced companies to revise marketing campaigns, to reformulate ingredient statements or to simply acknowledge consumer sentiment.”
 
Gender Agenda
People are questioning traditional notions of gender, rejecting the restraints of stereotypes and embracing the freedom to be themselves and do what they want, according to Mintel.
 
Globally, conversations about female empowerment, modern manhood and gender expression are growing louder. People are dispelling the constraints of gender expectations and empowering each other to express their genuine selves.
 
“With the world's focus on gender this coming year, we expect to see much more conversation — and controversy — about equality in the professional, political and social spheres,” said Zegler. “People will speak louder and clearer about progress on the part of governments, businesses and brands that shape the opportunities and social expectations that they face in their daily lives.”   
 
Mintel data show shifts in consumer behavior that reflect attitudinal changes to traditional gender stereotypes. Nearly three-quarters of US men say they feel more attractive and 70% say they get a confidence boost when they are well-groomed.
 
Marketers need to show that they understand consumers' modern perceptions of gender, namely that consumers are much more complex than the social constraints built around them. Brands from beauty and personal care to financial services must recognize consumers' individuality or prepare for consumer backlash if they stick to age-old archetypes. Retailers will need to take note that men are doing more shopping and spending more time on their personal appearance. And manufacturers will need to wise up and see that many parents don't want their daughters to receive the same perpetually pink messaging of the past.
 
A copy of the 40-page report can be downloaded for free on Mintel’s website.
 
More info: www.mintel.com