The tastes and preferences of consumers keeps evolving year after year and so are the ways marketers deal with them. There’s no two thoughts about the fact that the way consumer needs were addressed years ago is way different from the current times! And this is a global phenomenon now , be it China or Brazil, Russia or Mexico, things will keep evolving. Let us look at some of the trends that is governing consumer behaviour currently and in the near future.
- Welcoming the Chinese Consumer – In the first half of 2011, the Chinese made 30 Mn overseas trips and this number is going on increasing. The world is welcoming the Chinese consumer and laying the red carpet for them. From customized hotel packages from Hilton and Starwood to employing Mandarin speakers in London Department stores, the Chinese have set a new trend of making global business houses customize their offerings based on a nation and not just the consumer!
- Do it Yourself Trend for Health – Apps, gadgets, devises – all help the consumers to take measures to improve their health all by themselves! The global health app market is expected to grow to $4.1 Bn by 2014, a testimony to the fact that consumers are open to this idea and marketers have these apps and devices on the platter.
- Deal Hunting– Deals, offers and discounts- these are what consumers look forward to nowadays! Be it a car or a mobile phone, today’s consumer looks forward to those deals!
- Recycle old products – Business houses as well as consumers have realized the need to stay green, which is why many of them are taking back old products as part of recycling and consumers also oblige!
- Cashless Technology – No we are not talking about plastic money! Technologies like Near Field Communication (NFC) have enabled many players to enter the cashless transaction space. This includes the likes of Google, Master card, PayPal and so on, that enable consumers to make payments through their mobile phones!
- Rise of the lower urban class – There seems to be more value for marketers in the lower urban class, especially in India. Many products and services are being developed to cater to the needs of this group. Aakash- the low cost tablet is one which address to the not so affluent mass market.
- Crowd sourcing- Many marketers are taking to the masses to come up with contributions on product development, promotions and so on.
Other trends include the dependence on screens be it on tabs or navigation at a mall, screen culture has become a new trend; even reselling your old products through the web is catching up. We sure hope that marketers do well in responding to the changing consumer requirements from time to time!
