Feb. 4, 2022 — The Robin Report (TRR), a platform that delivers insights and opinions related to consumer product industries, has identified five consumer trends that business leaders should keep in mind as the year progresses.
In the article, “Will 2022 be the Year of the Dark Horse in Retail?,” author Arick Wierson names the five trends hiding in plain sight as follows:
- “Livestreaming commerce enters the U.S. in tour de force.”
According to TRR, the combination of entertainment, interactivity, and instant purchasing elevate our idea of e-commerce into a sales channel where retailers and brands interact with consumers in a live, social digital platform. This livestreaming commerce trend is tantamount to e-commerce in Asia, where it accounts for 44% of Asia’s eCommerce market, and venture capital is betting this trend is global. TRR reports that it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.”
- “Buy now, pay later goes mainstream.”
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is a payment plan for consumers that breaks a purchase down into interest-free installments. Sezzle, Afterpay, Klarna, SplitIt, and Affirm are the leaders of this new financial tool, enticing younger, more tech-savvy consumers who are fed up with the high-interest rates of credit cards. The fact that PayPal and Visa have jumped on this trend, TRR reports, is a good indication that this payment model “has some serious staying power.”
- “Virtual influencers become a thing in the U.S.”
TRR shares that U.S. companies are “completely oblivious” to the rapidly growing trend of virtual, nonhuman influencers. Popular, successful examples of this include Lu, Brazil’s largest retailer Magazine Luiza’s nonhuman icon that has over 25 million followers on social media, and Japan’s Imma, which has represented brands like Porsche, Nike, Calvin Klein, and more. “In a world in which real human influencers and celebrities are just one drunken tweet away from a scandal and demanding increasingly absurd paydays,” TRR explains, “nonhuman influencers offer a powerful alternative.”
- “Consumers demand a completely new Covid-era store redesign.”
While it’s no secret that the pandemic has upended brick-and-mortar retailing, the answer to proper, safe store redesign will cause companies to partner with innovative architects and health professionals. According to TRR, the redesign will require far fewer employees, which will lead to major overhead and profit and loss restructuring.
- “The rise of retail crypto.”
TRR deems this as the “real dark horse among the heard,” claiming that nearly 60% of consumers want to use crypto for purchases. According to TRR, it is “pretty much a given” that companies will have to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. What is not certain is whether retailers and brands will issue their own currencies, like Amazon’s AmazonCoins.
Read the full article here.