Twinsumers, social-lites, wellthy will set trends for 2011

The WeMakePrice website offers good deals if a certain number of people sign up to buy goods, a business model similar to the popular U.S. site Groupon.

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia

``Social-lites and twinsumers,’’ ``urbanomics,’’ ``pricing pandemonium,’’ ``Made for China’’ and ``wellthy’’ are just some of the consumer trend buzzwords to watch out for in 2011, according to Trendwatching.com, a leading consumer trends firm.

As 2010 draws to a close, the New Year brings new challenges and opportunities for brands, companies and entrepreneurs. . Trendwatching.com compiled a list of Top 11 consumer trends to keep an eye out for in 2011.

``Major consumer trends are more like currents than one-time killer waves… We’re also not saying there are only 11 consumer trends to track in 2011; there are dozens of important consumer trends worth knowing about and applying at any given time of the year,’’ Trendwatching.com said.

``Pricing pandemonium’’ is one of the trends expected to hit consumers in 2011, with increasing access to special offers and discounts through new technology and services.

More consumers will find out about online deals through social networks, and coupons and discounts through mobile devices. This ``always-on’’ connectivity is fast changing consumer spending habits, for instance, smartphone users can just scan a barcode to get a coupon or compare prices online.

Brands will have to come up with new innovative business models and pricing strategies building on current trends such as ``group buying.’’

Group buying, which relies on consumers’ collective buying power to make deals happen, made it big in 2010. Groupon, the wildly successful U.S. social shopping site, offers deals that are only good if a certain number of people sign up for it and buy it.

In Korea, a similar service Wemakeprice.com was launched by computer games guru Heo Min earlier this year. Last Oct. 8, it posted 1.5 billion won in revenue from selling more than 100,000 Everland theme park vouchers.

Social networks

More consumers are also expected to turn into ``social-lites’’ (consumers who discover and share content, experiences and products to their friends) and ``twinsumers’’ (consumers with similar likes and dislikes). Social networks have allowed people to broadcast information to a wide audience without filters.

``So consumers will talk more about brands in 2011 than ever before, and opportunities for brands that create engaging content that consumers want to share, or that have personalities that actually engage consumers will also be bigger than ever,’’ Trendwatching.com said.

For instance, Levi’s integrated its online store with Facebook, allowing users to share products with their friends. Mombo analyzes Twitter feeds and assigns movie ratings based on the collective opinion of Twitter users.

Trendwatching.com also sees a growing increase of online status symbols, such as the number of Facebook friends and Twitter followers. ``One extra element to watch out for in 2011 is new status symbols that straddle the 'real' and 'online' worlds. From physical manifestations of digital status to online recognition of the physical, consumers will seek to display their online status symbols in all arenas,’’ Trendwatching.com said.

Twitter users can turn their tweets and photos into a real journal through Twournal, while CrowdedInk provides an app that can generate mugs filled with photos of their Facebook friends.

Made for China

A growing number of global brands will be launching new products and brands specifically for consumers in emerging BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) markets.

``It's where the money is right now, and Western brands are still favored over local ones, so the combination of perceived quality with a bit of local tailoring, love or exclusivity makes total sense,’’ Trendwatching.com said.

The Chinese retail market is expected to outpace the U.S., with retail sales expected to hit $5 trillion in 2016.

Already, companies have been introducing new products especially for China and Asian markets. Hermes launched a Chinese luxury brand Shang Xia, while Chloe created a limited edition Marcie purse to mark its 5th anniversary in the country.

Levi’s new dENIZEN brand offers slimmer fitting jeans for Asian consumers. In Korea, pop singer Jay Park was chosen as the model for the dENIZEN brand.

More demanding consumers

Staying healthy will continue to be one of the most important ``status symbols’’ for consumers in the coming year. Consumers will demand more health-related products and services to improve quality of life.

``In 2011, count on even more monitoring technologies becoming portable or even wearable, as well as getting cheaper (the smartphones held by many consumers are now more advanced than most dedicated medical devices),’’ Trendwatching.com said.

A popular mobile app is Sleep On It, which allows users to track their sleeping patterns every night. Microsoft’s X-Box Kinect and Sony’s Playstation Move now include motion-sensing game controllers that enhance the gaming experience, as well as, add physical and health dimensions.

Trendwatching.com also emphasized the ``urbannomics’’ trend, which refers to the growing number of urban dwellers (around 3 billion) in the world. Companies will be catering to more experienced and more liberal urban consumers, who are living in the world’s most developed cities such as London, New York, Paris and Hong Kong.

``In 2011, go for products, services, experiences or campaigns that tailor to the very specific (and often more refined, more experienced) needs of urbanites worldwide, if not city by city,’’ Trendwatching.com said.

Examples of products catering to urban consumers include Smirnoff’s Absolut Cities, a series of limited edition flavored vodkas inspired by vibrant cities such as Los Angeles and New Orleans; and BMW's upcoming Megacity vehicle, an all-electric urban vehicle.

Other trends cited by Trendwatching.com include random acts of kindness (corporations showing a more human touch to its consumers); emerging generosity (brands and businesses from emerging markets will be giving more to charity); planned spontaneity (geo-location becomes a key feature of social networks and apps); ``eco-superior’’ products (eco-friendly but with superior functionality and design); and ``owner-less’’ consumption (based on lifestyle leasing business models).