Home furnishings industry regains footing... and opportunities

Observation:   A recent story in the High Point Enterprise suggests that 2011 was a year of stabilization for the home furnishings industry.  While it may not be what one could call a robust recovery, 2011 saw increases in orders, shipments and employment, and that trend seems to have momentum going forward.  Click here to see the story.  HPE is a publication serving the home furnishings industry.

Implications:   Just a few years ago, it seemed like many people were buying and selling houses they same way they would trade-in their car every few years.  But that cycle was snapped, for many consumers, by the real estate meltdown.  Upside-down in their property, in terms of equity, a lot of folks have come to accept that they won’t be moving into a new-and-improved McMansion anytime soon. 

So, like many business categories, the home furnishings industry finds its customer base in a state of reconciliation.  In effect, once people accept that a new Dream Home is not in the cards, many begin taking steps to make the house they are in the home of their dreams.  From home improvements to home furnishings and accessories, they’ll be looking for ways to be happy with their current home.  Are you speaking to this new benefit… sought by so many consumers?

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Emotion vs. Logic: Does your customer buy based on one, the other, or both?

Observation:   One marketing cliché suggests that consumers buy with emotion, and then rationalize that purchase with logic.  But today’s IPSOS newsletter includes an important perspective on that old aphorism.  Click here to see it.

Implications:   The opposite of emotion is not logic, and the opposite of logic is not emotion.  Just because people love your product or service doesn’t mean it is irrational. 

Also important… just because a consumer might be loyal to your product or service does not mean they love it.  It could be that they just don’t want to shop for an alternative because they are completely un-interested in the category or loathe the idea of shopping in the category.  They choose a product by default, sometimes, as a means to avoid the complexity of shopping at all.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

A little good news to end the week: Unemployment drops again

Observation:  This morning, the labor department announced that 200,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in December.  Click here to see the story as reported by the Washington Post a few moments ago.

Implications:   One of the goals of this blog is to amplify the optimism when good news is available.  This seemed like a high point on which to end the week.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

QR codes should have a reason for being

Observation:  According to a story in today’s Marketing Daily, while many consumers have experimented with scanning a QR code with their smartphone, few have actually used the links to any substantial benefit.  Click here to see the story.

Implications:   Like any other messaging that can be used in the marketing process, there should be a purpose for any use of a QR Code, beyond simple novelty. 

The Quick Response codes you’ve seen on store signs, product packages and even clothing have the capacity to connecting the real world to the virtual world… and along the way, increase consumer-product engagement, deliver meaningful (helpful) product information, or even an “act now” incentive. 

Have you incorporated QR codes into your advertising or in-store promotions?  What has been your most compelling and successful use of the tactic?  Do your codes link to something that is intended to serve your company… or your consumer?

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

A new life stage term: Emerging adulthood

Observation:   During years of both advertiser analysis and in-field workshops for media companies and marketers, I’ve referred to a set of fluid life stages which help organizations anticipate consumer behaviors of the people in those groups.  Life stages make you think beyond simple age-based demographics, and focus more on the experiences that are shaping behavior during those years.  Generally speaking, the main life stages we cover are Teens (12-17), Age of Acquisition (18-34), Age of Upgrades (35-49), Age of Increased Equity (45-59), New Age Seniors (60-69), and Matures (70+).

But in the newsletter I received yesterday, Iconoculture has a new, thought-provoking life stage for all of us to consider.  It is a subset of the Age of Acquisition that they call “Emerging Adulthood” (18-25).  Click here to see the story.

Implications:   The economy, the labor market, and willing Boomer parents have colluded to create a population of young adults who are more likely to live with mom and dad for a longer period of time, rather than striking out to create their own household. 

Does that make this an unattractive market to reach for?  On the contrary, this life stage is often composed of people who are stashing-away cash until they can do it big.  In the meantime, they’re living in a place with low or no rent, so more of their income could be considered discretionary.  To be sure, some folks in this life stage and living arrangement could be examples of a “failure to launch.”  But this group also includes people who are fueling-up… so that when they leave, they can reach for the sky.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Never anger a reporter (and we are all reporters)

Observation:   Yesterday, I engaged one of my colleagues in an email conversation about the recent negative press surrounding Best Buy.  The conversation was sparked by this story from Forbes (click to link), which focused not only on Best Buy’s reported failure to deliver some online purchases on time during the holiday season… but also the experience of the article’s author during a recent visit to a bricks-and-mortar store.

This morning’s edition of the Research Brief newsletter offers a more widely-researched set of issues that can cause customers to become disenchanted with a service provider, whether that provider is an online entity or a physical store.  Click here to see the online version of that brief.

Implications:   These articles inspire thought about what to do when a customer service mechanism breaks down.  First, have a team of folks fix it as immediately as possible.  At the same time, take immediate ownership of the problem, and acknowledge it to those customers who are affected… in a manner that demonstrates transparency and accountability, rather than simply appropriating blame or making excuses.

If you take nothing else away from the Forbes piece, let it inspire these two pieces of cautionary advice:

1)    Make sure your site includes inventory controls that help you avoid failing to deliver online purchases within a reasonable time, and

2)   Never offend a reporter during his or her shopping experience.  (And by the way, in an age of blogging, Facebook and Twitter, we are all reporters.)

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Research is not a game, but this gaming device is delivering research

Observation:   A story in today’s Springwise newsletter explains how Microsoft’s Kinect device is being used for in-store research about how consumers interact with products on the shelf.  Click here to see the story at Springwise.com.  To watch a video demonstration of the process on Vimeo, click use the player below.

Shopperception: tracking real world conversions like web analytics from Administrator Agile Route on Vimeo.

Implications:   As technology evolves, expect the way you can observe and serve customers to continue evolving!

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Consumer trends for food and packaged goods

Observation:   Today’s Marketing Daily shares insights from the Hartman Group related to consumer packaged goods.  Among the notable trends they offer:  44% of adult eating happens alone (contrary to the visuals in a lot of CPG advertising).   And roughly 11% of CPG products are consumed within an hour of purchase… meaning many items are purchased and consumed spontaneously (they call it compulsively) or as a just-in-time meal or snack solution.  Click here to see the full Marketing Daily story, or to request a download of the complete report from Hartman Group, click here.

Implications:   This report helps illustrate both the spontaneous nature of today’s food shopper, and the incredible velocity at which consumers seem to be living.

For years now, we’ve been talking about how today’s food consumer is different from those of years past; today’s shopper is less likely to back the station wagon up to the supermarket and load it up with groceries for the month… and more likely to stop in on Thursday just to find a meal to serve that night when she/he gets home.

For many consumers, the supermarket is increasingly being treated like a pantry, where one stops in for what they need in the near term or to solve an immediate meal incident.   

What kinds of changes are you seeing in the way people buy in your category?  Has your company, product or service adjusted to those shifts?  Has your messaging?

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Consumer to remain cautious for the foreseeable future

Observation:   The premise of Elm Street Economics is to avoid the collective noise that tends to come out of Wall Street or Washington, and refocus on what your consumers are trying to tell you.  To that end, a great story from yesterday’s New York Times takes a consumer-point-of-view in helping us understand the current situation faced by many folks, and the behaviors we might therefore anticipate.  Click here to see the full story.

Implications:   This story seems to suggest that consumers are not going to single-handedly pull us into a robust recovery, at least not in the next few months.  They remain cautious and careful; reconciled to spending in a way that matches their current financial realities. 

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Trade-in value: It's not just for cars anymore

Observation:   Back in October, we shared a posting about “Re-commerce,” where more consumers are trying to sell something they own before buying the replacement for that item (i.e., listing a couch on Craig’s List before spending the money for a new sofa).  Click here to see that Elm Street consumer trends story from October 4, which was based on an article from Trendwatching.com.

In today’s Marketing Daily, there is another story of interest to this trend.  It suggests that more women are considering resale value before they buy a product (and we’re talking about everything from clothing to electronics, no just cars).  Click here to see that story.

76% of the women surveyed indicate that they participate in a site where consumers buy or sell from each other.

Implications:   Should your company consider adding a trade-in policy for the products you sell?  Should it at least start thinking about the long-term resale value of the products you offer, and talking about those attributes with customers?

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

2012: A year of (continuing) empowerment?

Observation:   Because the intent of this site is to share consumer trends, I typically avoid offering forecasts or predictions.  I consider myself a trend watcher, not a futurist.    But that having been said, one collection of trends—when considered as a whole—seems to have gained enough momentum that I could safely suggest we’ll see more of it and in more variations than ever before:  Consumer Control.

Holiday spending through online and mobile site channels out-performed all other sales growth, and by a significant margin.  Digital devices helped consumers find the best deals, while reducing the time required to shop for those items. 

Reconciliation—changing one’s household financial management—is another example of taking (or regaining) control.  For more on the topic, see “The reconciliation of 2011,” posted 1/2/12 (earlier today).   Over the past two or three years, many consumers have paid-down some of their consumer debt over the past few years and reduced their overall spending so as to enjoy more discretionary income (discretion = control). 

A recent New York Times article suggests that younger women are leaving the ranks of the unemployed… to re-enter the classroom (click here to see that story).    Lots of people are setting-up shop at Me, Incorporated; starting their own company or working as independent contractors after having difficulty finding a good job in their career field.  Either of these alternatives are good examples of consumers asserting greater control, in this case, in the way they buy into the job market (or lack of one). 

While the efforts have been somewhat less visible with the onset of winter weather in northern parts of the U.S., the Occupy Wall Street movement might be yet another example of consumers trying to assert greater control… over a system that they perceive to be broken or a financial landscape that they do not see as fair and equitable.  One might even argue that the roots of this empowerment reach all the way back to the Arab Spring of 2011, when thousands of people decided to wrestle control over their destiny away from a dictator or regime, from Tunisia through Egypt, Libya and beyond.  (If people on the other side of the world are prepared to protest even under a hail of gunfire, setting up a pup tent in a park just doesn’t seem all that difficult.) 

 

Implications:   Once consumers have had a taste of control, it is unlikely they’ll decide they want less of it… unless relinquishing that control results in a major convenience gained or a major stress lost. 

How is your company, product or service sharing control over the purchase experience with the customers who buy it?  Do you offer a digital channel for them to do research or even buy through?  How about mobile?  How can you offer appreciated choices/control that your competitors do not or cannot?


Certainly, this is not the first time I've written on the topic of Consumer Control; indeed, more than 100 stories in the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog contain a reference to the issue (click here to see the category).  But 2012 stands to be a year where Consumer Control becomes more and more conspicuous, to more and more companies and categories.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Political discontent

Observation:   Before you read this, note that I’m focusing on the political race purely for its’ consumer trend value, not because I want to talk politics.

A seemingly constant stream of different GOP candidates have taken their turn at “leading in the polls,” including everyone from Michele Bachmann to Rick Perry, and then from Herman Cain to Newt Gingrich.   At this writing, this week’s initial primary in Iowa now seems to be somewhat of a toss-up between Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and most recent surge candidate Rick Santorum.   

Now—politics aside—think about that.  Without considering the platform of any candidate or any scandal that might surround their candidacy, think simply about the churn of the race.  It is as if voters (aka Consumers) are finding favor with a fresh face, and then holding that candidate up for greater scrutiny, until scratches or dents are found, and they decide to move onto the next option.

We seem to be living through a season of political discontent… where the electorate is searching for a candidate they can live with (sometimes, by trial and error, it seems).  And it might be worth noting that the person they’re comfortable with today may not be the candidate they’ll prefer tomorrow, next week or next month.  The winner will be that candidate who peaks at just the right time… as voters arrive at their caucuses or walk into a voting booth.

Implications:   How long does your company, product or service have to establish itself as contender?  (How long is the buying cycle or consideration process for the products or services you sell?)  How could your messaging be time to make sure that you’re a strong contender when it matters most… when the consumer is ready to buy or commit?

As many campaign managers could tell you this year, being an incumbent might not necessarily be an advantage.  Have you talked with your constituents (aka “Best Customers”), lately, to see if you’re really earning their continued business?  (The alternative would be consumers who buy from an under-performing provider simply because it’s easier than shopping around… for the moment.) 

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.