Shopping Trends 2006

Last year, on a whim, I did a post about Shopping Trends.  It turned out to be one of the most popular posts I wrote.  So, in the spirit of getting more folks to the blog - here's this year's version.

The five trends I listed last year were:

1. Online Shopping is taking off.  If you are selling something, you better sell it online.
2. Transparency - Be Open -  List your product and prices upfront - or someone else will do it for you.
3. Consumers increasingly trust and turn to other consumers to find out the truth about products and services.
4. Shopping is an Experience, it's a Lifestyle, it's Entertainment, it's News
5. Shopping for a Better World - Go Green

I would say that these still hold true - some have moved from the trend stage to being embedded in our culture.  Though #5 has grown:

Trend #1 - Shopping for a Better World - Shopping as Societal Force. 

Now this has been around forever (think Newman's Own) - but this year it took on new dimensions.  Consider:

• Red - A company founded this year by Bono and Bobby Shriver.  Red's Manifesto states:  "As first world consumers, we have tremendous power.  What we collectively choose to buy, or not to buy, can change the course of history and life on this planet."    A percentage of the profits from each (RED) product sold is given to The Global Fund.  Apple, Gap, American Express, MySpace, and YouTube have attached themselves to the Red cause.  On World AIDS Day, Google ran a red ribbon that clicked through to the RED homepage.  The retailers have committed to sell Red products for the next five years.
• More Non-profits are raising awareness and funds at the same time by opening stores.  Dan Pink wrote earlier this year in The Trend Desk column he writes for Yahoo!--

Strolling one afternoon in Manhattan last month, I peered through a storefront window near Rockefeller Center and saw a real live fire truck parked inside. Since I was with my three-year-old son, I had no choice but to take a look.

I'm glad I did. We had entered The Fire Zone, a hands-on learning center operated by the nonprofit FDNY Fire Safety Education Fund. Visitors can explore that fire truck, look at fire-fighting equipment, chat with a firefighter, and participate in fire-safety simulations.

Admission is free. But toward the back, to help raise money for the foundation that operates the facility, is a small store that sells all manner of firefighter paraphernalia. Stopping by gave me a new appreciation for what firefighters do -- and, yep, I decided to support the cause by buying a toy fire truck (for my son).

Then a week or so later, here in Washington, D.C., (which doubles as both Trend Desk world headquarters and the U.S. capital), I noticed a store run by the Human Rights Campaign, a group that advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans. Inside you can find more information about the organization's advocacy efforts and purchase HRC T-shirts, caps, and watches.

This is more than Kenneth Cole ads that tout a good cause. 503(c)3-tail makes retail -- the experience of shopping and the merchandise itself -- a fundamental part of nonprofits' efforts to raise funds and take their message to the people. Expect to see more of it.

Trend #2 - Men come into their own as Shoppers

The post-Thanksgiving shopping weekend (called Black Friday weekend)...Though more women went shopping than men (47.9% vs. 37.4%), men undoubtedly outspent their counterparts. According to the survey, men who hit the stores this weekend outspent women by 38.1 percent, with men spending $420.37 on average and women spending $304.30. Over the weekend, more than one-third (39.5%) of men bought consumer electronics or computer-related accessories compared to one-fourth (27.5%) of women. Half of the men surveyed (49.2%) purchased books, CDs, DVDs, videos or video games compared to only 34.1 of women who purchased the same products.

• Men are spending about 10 percent more for apparel than they were two years ago, according to data from NPD Group Inc., a consumer and retail information company.  (Source: Contra Costa Times, 10/12/06)
• Thanks to the two-career household and fathers' increasing interest in raising their kids, men are putting in their two cents when it comes to buying for them. The makers of the high-concept Bugaboo stroller deliberately went after dads, designing a black-and-chrome contraption with a set of tires that wouldn't be out of place on a dirt bike. No kids or tear-jerking moments in Bugaboo International's ads. They focus on engineering and design. (Source: BusinessWeek, 9/4/06)
• “The surge in men’s apparel sales came from some of the most unexpected places, such as young men buying a suit. Teens and young adult men have finally ‘discovered the suit.’ When exploring that further, NPD found that young men never owned a suit, never wore a suit and never saw their father in a suit - yet, they have migrated towards dressing up to be ‘cool.’ We are seeing a shift in the younger generation reaching their image through grooming and dressing up,” said [NPD chief industry analyst, Marshal] Cohen.
• A study commissioned by GQ found that Generation X men are more likely than Baby Boomers to pay a premium for:

Jeans                                     89% more
Fragrance and Grooming   70% more
Men's watches                      50% more
Men's jewelry                        41% more
Business casual clothing     39% more
Casual clothing                     37% more
Dress Shoes                         36% more

According to the study, Xers are 80% more likely to buy items that are stylish and reflect their lifestyle. (Source:  Bret Smith, Man Oh Man blog, "More Vain or Less Frugal," 10/3/06)

• "The '90s, after all, produced the lad mags FHM, Maxim, and Stuff. These publications are the guy variant of Good Housekeeping and Vogue. They have provided macho camouflage for men to shop without taking abuse from buddies." (Source: BusinessWeek, 9/4/06)

• Nearly as many men as women experience compulsive buying disorder, a condition marked by binge buying and subsequent financial hardship.  Researchers had initially thought 90% of those with the disorder would be women. 
  (Stanford University School of Medicine Research, 9/30/06)

Trend #3 - Celebrity Wannabe Shopping - So In, So Easy

Though celebrities may have a negative influence on our purchases when they endorse a product (according to a survey by The NPD Group) - what they wear and how they take care of themselves is a different story.  There's been a trend we've followed for sometime here at New Persuasion - we call it "I want to be a star."  I've written about it before and it makes sense that if we want to be stars, then we'll want to dress like stars.  This particular shopping niche has always been the purview of magazines like People, US Weekly, Star and others.  But with television shows like Project Runway, Ugly Betty and America's Next Top Model (not to mention the recent movie "The Devil Wears Prada") bringing high fashion to the masses, we're starting to feel a sense of entitlement.  And the Internet -as with many things - has made it possible for so many more people to "dress like the stars."

• Like.com - from The New York Times, 11/13/06 : Visitors to the site search for products in one of two ways. First, they may type in ''red strappy shoes'' or silver earrings and receive pages filled with images that match the description, along with prices and links to the product pages of the Web sites where the items are sold. Or users may browse through selected items in the wardrobes of about a dozen celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Simpson and choose, say, a pair of the dangling silver earrings Ms. Johansson wore to the premiere of the Woody Allen movie ''Scoop.'' The site then searches for similar earrings, returning more than 8,000 pairs ranging in price from $40 to $8,000.

Last week, Like.com announced:  "We are automatically adding eBay items in the categories of shoes, handbags, jewelry and watches, so we will be driving people to buy from eBay without them having to do a thing," Munjal Shah, CEO and co-founder of Riya, the San Mateo-Calif.-based company that created and operates Like.com, said yesterday.

Here's video from Like.com explaining the site:

Disclosure:  I wrote some time ago about Munjal Shah and his company Riya - I love this guy and I'm so happy that he's found a way to make money off his visual search technology.  There, I said it.

• SeenON! -  from their website: Watch. Click.  Find.  It's that simple.  SeenON! brings you the who,what, and where behind the products seeon on screen.  There's even a blog.  Here's a typical entry:

The doctors on Grey’s Anatomy clearly spend a lot of time on their feet and most of the characters have "shoe staples” that are worn in nearly every episode. Addison is always polished and posh in her Manolo Blahnik Mary Janes while Izzie goes a slightly more practical route in a pair of grey MBT sneakers. Meredith can usually be found in her Chuck Taylor All Stars although last season she was quite attached to Nike Shox (as was Cristina,/a>!). Both Bailey and Alex are rarely seen in Seattle Grace wearing anything besides a pair of Klogs (hers are hot pink) and of course, Richard always looks polished in a pair of Allen Edmonds loafers. See? Even actors-who-play-doctors-on-television sometimes have to wear the same old pair of shoes....

• Star Style - opened in March of this year - the site allows you to shop for both clothing ensembles worn by TV stars and the furnishings that decorate show sets.

• Tons of other websites/blogs telling you where to find what Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton was wearing last night (or at least a cheaper knockoff)- here's a small sample:
  • Dress Like the Stars...
  • The Celeb Life
  • Couture Candy Celebrity Style blog
  • Style Bytes
  • Famous Fashions Found
  • UK site - LA Star Style, Real Celebrity Fashions
  • The Budget Fashionista
  • High MTNC
  • Fashiontribes
  • About.com has a page under Teen Fashion on "Steal Celebrity Style and Make it Your Own"
  • Frugal Fashionista - probably the best of the bunch--

from Frugal Fashionista's blog - Jessica (Biel) takes a stylish turn:

 

• I wish I could find something similar for the U.S. market - The Australian Daily Telegraph wrote in August:  WANNABE Australians are plunging into the red with an $8 billion shopping splurge in a bid to ape their favourite celebrity stars. Nicole Kidman and Johnny Depp topped a new poll of stars driving a consumer spending spree on clothes, personal grooming and fitness expenses. The survey found Australian women aged 18-34 splashed out $4.6 million or almost $2000 each every year to look like celebrities.  NSW women spent $1894 to style themselves like the stars, spending the bulk of their money on clothes and luxury accessories. The Galaxy Research poll showed Australian men also spent $4.1 billion annually in pursuit of celebrity style (See Trend #3 above)...Virgin Money spokeswoman Kirsty Lamont said the spending figures had almost doubled since their last survey.
• Lots of books on this subject too:
  • US Secrets of Celebrity Style: A Crash Course in Dressing Like the Stars
  • Teen People: Celebrity Style Guide
  • Celebrity Style Secrets: An Insider's Guide to Looking A - List

Trend #4 - Social Shopping

This is the blossoming of last year's Trend #3 (Consumers increasingly trust and turn to other consumers to find out the truth about products and services.)

David Beisel of Genuine VC blog defines social shopping as:

... sharing the act of shopping itself with others, and I view it as a subset of social commerce as a whole. Just as some people enjoy shopping with others in the real world, some will enjoy doing it virtually within a social network. 

To qualify as a site offering social shopping, Beisel says it has to offer three activities that people can do together:  discover/find, collect/organize, and promote/share/connect/recommend/publish.   He points to these five sites as the leaders in the social shopping arena:

• Stylehive
• ThisNext

• Kaboodle -

• Wists

• Crowdstorm

And there are other social shopping efforts out there:

• readysetholiday - The site (also available as a choice from the main Sears.com and Kmart.com sites), is a first for Sears Holdings because it cross-promotes merchandise across its properties. Gift suggestions are provided from Sears and Kmart, while brands such as Lands' End apparel, Craftsman tools and Joe Boxer are showcased. The site also provides tools like e-cards and a holiday planner...The site also creates a community, inviting moms to vent about Christmas movies they hate and discuss whether they need to buy their hair stylist a gift, as well as swap gift and product ideas. A separate KidZone offers online games and activities for kids. (Source:  Mediapost's Marketing Daily, 11/1/06)
• Yahoo!'s Shoposphere - with its personalized Pick Lists.

Trend #5 - Shopping for Temporary Ownership - The Shopper as Buyer and Seller

I'm not convinced this qualifies as a trend - but the idea is fascinating - Daniel Nissanoff wrote a book called Futureshop - which says:

...that the eBay auction phenomenon is about to explode in a big new way, revolutionizing how all consumers-not just eBay mavens-do their shopping, not only online but offline as well. The big payoff of this revolution is for consumers: They will be able to "trade up" more often to buy the brands they most want by embracing a new norm of temporary ownership: We will be able to buy more of the things we really want, because we'll also be regularly selling off the things we no longer want or need. We'll be transformed from an "accumulation nation" into an "auction culture." Consider this intriguing fact: In the new auction culture, Manolo Blahnik shoes, a Louis Vuitton handbag, a Hermes tie, or a Bugaboo baby stroller will actually be the better deals....

...Nissanoff reveals that a massive growth of online auction "facilitators" is under way that will make buying and selling online so hassle-free, so reliable, and so lucrative that the masses of consumers who have stayed away will jump aboard. Most prominent among the facilitators are dropshops, where you can bring your goods for sale and they'll handle the whole auction and shipping process. Thousands of such locations have opened in the last two years; they will soon be as pervasive as Starbucks shops....

I think there's something to this - though I'm not sure it's as imminent as Nissanoff believes it to be.  But there are signs:

• Re-Gifting is morphing into Re-selling - Ebay released a survey that found that over half of Americans surveyed say they "re-gift" presents they do not like, will not use, or do not fit. A large number - 11 per cent - say they have previously sold an unwanted gift online. In the 25-34 age group, that number doubles to 22 per cent.  (Source: Financial Times, 12/27/05)

• The Paradies Shops - in airports - have a Read & Return Program - simply put:  Buy a book. Read it. Return it within six months (to any city). Receive 50% of your money back!

• CompUSA set up a pilot program earlier this year called Easy to eBay to let customers drop off goods to be auctioned on eBay: In addition to offering the usual menu of listing, packaging and delivery services for a cut of the final eBay selling price, CompUSA is offering something its rivals don’t: the option to receive credit toward purchases in CompUSA stores, in lieu of cash as payment for goods sold on eBay.
• Callaway Golf recognized the opportunity in the resale auction market.  And to battle counterfeit goods set up it's own site for pre-owned and certified Callaway Golf products.  That way, customers can trade-up for new clubs  and it increases loyalty to the company. 
• Tourneau, the world’s largest watch retailer, allows you to trade in any Tourneau watch for credit towards a new, more expensive one.  Tourneau also has a certified, pre-owned site like Callaway.

Not Trends, but other Shopping Items of Note in 2006:

In a move that signals that importance of Shopping in our lives, Consumer Reports this year began publishing ShopSmart magazine:  ShopSmart is designed to appeal to the same audience as successful women's shopping magazines like Lucky from Condé Nast, which has a paid circulation of over one million. The new magazine may also expand the traditional audience of Consumer Reports, which is currently over 60 percent male. Mr. Sateja said ShopSmart would seek "a different, younger, female audience."  (Source:  The New York Times, 7/24/06)

Online shopping still growing:

• Shoppers will use the Internet for an average one-fourth (28.9%) of their holiday shopping this year, according to a National Retail Federation survey; 47.1% plan to make at least one holiday purchase online, up from 36% three years ago, but many will also browse online before buying in stores.
  (Source:  National Retail Federation, 10/30/06)
• Traffic to retail sites was high on Black Friday; e-commerce spending spiked 42 percent over the day after Thanksgiving last year, according to research from comScore . Additional data from Nielsen//NetRatings and Hitwise show increases in visits to shopping sites for both purchase and research of gift items. (Source: ClickZ Stats, 11/27/06)

Too early to say it's a trend, but it appears that the long-neglected department store is making a comeback.  According to a November 11, 2006 Washington Post article:

For the past two months, department stores have basked in strong sales growth after years of sluggish -- and occasionally downright miserable -- performance. It began with a strong back-to-school season that outpaced all other retail sectors in sales growth. Momentum built in October, with department stores again in the lead. And now industry experts expect them to be among the winners during the high-stakes holiday shopping season...Experts debate the driving force behind the attraction. One theory is that young people are returning after being disappointed by specialty retailers. At department stores they find fashionable private-label brands and DJs spinning music to welcome them.

And this from Mediapost, 11/21/06:

ADD NORDSTROM TO THE LIST of department stores posting excellent third-quarter results: Driven by a resurgence in its women's apparel, the company said yesterday that third-quarter profits jumped 26 percent to $135.7 million--while total sales rose 11 percent to $1.9 billion, above expectations...The company said sales improved in every single merchandise category, with intimate apparel and accessories--especially sunglasses, watches, handbags, and UGG boots--performing especially well.

Comments

[michael jones]

The information about the women's outdoor apparel is really accurate
and useful! Thank you so much for it! I will need it

[steven davies]

When it comes to mens outdoor apparel I am very pretentious.And I will tell you why,because I can't spend my whole day with uncomfortable apparel.

[Cara Fletcher]

About trend 2 I can say that men are getting more and more foppish when it's about mens outdoor clothing.They want the best.My boyfriend is shopping more than me.

[Mary]

I love to shop online. Ecspecially for those hard to find collectables! For all the movie and music buffs in the family, I found a great place for them! Check out stage-fright.com! :)