Ten Global Consumer Trends For 2021
Spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, outdoor pursuits, digital convenience and safety obsession are seen having a lasting impact.
Spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, outdoor pursuits, digital convenience and safety obsession are seen having a lasting impact.
Many of the new habits consumers formed during the coronavirus pandemic are here to stay, market researcher Euromonitor International predicts.
In 2021 consumers will be demanding, anxious, and creative in dealing with change, Euromonitor forecasts in its annual trend report. People will expect increased activism from brands they use, new options for digital services in their daily lives, and more help in achieving mental and physical wellness.
Though some of this year’s trends are directly related to Covid-19—like heightened safety concerns and demand for more open-air spaces—these shifts will continue after the pandemic wanes, says Alison Angus, Euromonitor’s head of lifestyle research. “These changes happened so quickly and have quickly manifested for the long term,” she says.
Euromonitor, a global market-research firm based in London, has released its forecasts since 2010. Last year, just three months after publishing its January 2020 predictions, it revised its expectations to reflect dramatic shifts in consumer behaviour spurred by the pandemic, flagging new trends like the home’s transformation into a multifunctional refuge used for work, school, leisure and exercise. It also noted the pause of other trends like previously rising privacy concerns.
Its forecasts haven’t always come true, at least so far: Euromonitor’s 2018 prediction that DNA-informed personalized nutrition and skin-care products would quickly accelerate didn’t come to pass because such regimens remain too onerous, Ms Angus says. Last year’s expected boom in demand for reusable products also didn’t materialize amid consumers’ sanitary concerns during the pandemic. “Sustainability really took a hit last year,” Ms Angus says. “But I think consumers are reverting back to it.”
Here are some of Euromonitor’s predictions for this year’s big global consumer trends:
Consumers paid closer attention to companies’ actions during the covid-19-fueled lockdowns and will take social and environmental issues more seriously after the pandemic ends, Euromonitor says. People will increasingly demand that companies protect the health and well-being of their workforce, help local communities, and promote ambitious sustainability goals. During the pandemic, “all of a sudden the air cleared, wildlife came out to play and everything was so much nicer,” says Ms Angus. “It’s made consumers realise that actually we want this greener, cleaner climate.”
People miss the spontaneous activities and impulse purchases of their pre-pandemic life—running errands, attending social events, dining out—and they want digital commerce to offer a similar experience, the market researcher says. (It also noted that younger consumers prefer digital interactions while 68% of consumers over the age of 60 prefer speaking with human customer-service representatives.) “We really want that on-the-go coffee, that walk and stop for lunch somewhere, that flexibility and ease,” says Ms Angus. “Companies have to find alternative ways to enable that spontaneity in some form.”
Even after the pandemic, people’s desire for outdoor spaces for work, events and recreation will remain strong, Euromonitor says. “Businesses need to create their own outdoor oasis,” the report says. “Adaptation might become more complicated and costly depending on the weather, but open-air structures and heating and illumination systems will pay off due to heightened demand for safe venues and the aesthetic that could continue attracting consumers.”
Video calls, connected appliances, smart phones, and technology such as augmented reality have helped consumers stay virtually connected during the pandemic despite being physically separated. Time spent straddling physical and digital worlds is what Euromonitor calls “phygital reality”—a hybrid where consumers seamlessly live, work, shop and play both in person and online. Offering new ways for consumers to combine digital and physical capabilities—say, personal-shopping appointments via video conferencing—will be necessary for businesses to boost sales (and collect data on their customers). Consumers quickly embraced “phygital reality” in the pandemic, but its use will remain long after, Ms Angus says. “Our kids don’t even think about whether something has technology or not, they just expect even a stuffed toy to have interactive technology,” she says. “As those generations become older, it becomes the new normal.”
Staying home more has pushed consumers to be more creative with their time and more deliberate in organizing their daily schedules as they juggle their work, family, and personal lives. So much multitasking means that consumers now expect businesses to offer more flexibility, too. Euromonitor predicts that consumers will demand a 24-hour service culture. “As more and more consumers try to cram more into their day, they’re trying to get time back through services and products that help them do it,” says Ms Angus.
Many people are distrusting of leadership and government, and bias and misinformation are feeding a crisis of confidence, Euromonitor says. That’s driving some consumers to rebel by placing their own needs and wants first. Lockdowns world-wide have led some to “revenge shopping,” or splurging, after being homebound for months, as well as seeking out illegal parties and online gambling, Euromonitor says. Affordable luxuries like alcoholic drinks, indulgent packaged food and video games are also on the rise. “Revenge spending is evident among those who can afford it or have saved money from being homebound and not going out,” says Ms Angus. “These consumers are spending on indulgences for themselves or their homes in order to make them feel better.”
In contrast to those who want to splurge, another group of shoppers is suffering financial hardships from job losses and economic instability that is forcing thrifty spending behaviour, Ms Angus says. Some consumers will identify with both trends, she says, trading down on some items in order to be able to spend more on others, like affordable luxuries and experiences that boost their physical and mental well-being during this crisis. This “trading down to trade up” is an accelerating trend during the pandemic. “Thrifty yet restless consumers are reviewing and adjusting their spending to support diverse and contradictory needs,” says Ms Angus.
Safety is the new wellness movement, according to Euromonitor. Frequent hand-washing and wearing masks have become widely normalized habits, and contactless payments became more common as people shy away from handling unclean cash. “Consumers will be more fearful going forward about any future health concern,” says Ms Angus. “I think we will care a lot about safety for a long time.”
The global pandemic forced consumers to reconfigure their lives and test their mental resilience amid health risks, economic hardship and isolation. Now they are reassessing their priorities, identities and work-life balance, Euromonitor says. Targeting these consumers includes offering access to goods and services that promote self-improvement and lifestyle balance. Global sales of educational, hobby-related toys and games, musical instruments, sports equipment and nostalgic comforts like childhood snacks are expected to rise.
The trend of working from home was already on the rise before the pandemic, but last year’s social-distancing measures made it a reality for many overnight. When the pandemic lifts, many people are expected to continue working from home, at least some of the time, for the long term. This shift affects many aspects of daily life, from technology spending to eating habits to clothing choices. Loss of commutes and office workplaces limit spending on coffee runs, lunch breaks and socializing with colleagues after work. Though workwear and beauty routines have become more casual, food and beverage purchases could become more high-end as people try to create restaurant-quality meals at home, Euromonitor forecasts.
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
New research tackles the source of financial conflict and what we can do about it
When couples argue over money, the real source of the conflict usually isn’t on their bank statement.
Financial disagreements tend to be stand-ins for deeper issues in our relationships, researchers and couples counsellors said, since the way we use money is a reflection of our values, character and beliefs. Persistent fights over spending and saving often doom romantic partnerships: Even if you fix the money problem, the underlying issues remain.
To understand what the fights are really about, new research from social scientists at Carleton University in Ottawa began with a unique data set: more than 1,000 posts culled from a relationship forum on the social-media platform Reddit. Money was a major thread in the posts, which largely broke down into complaints about one-sided decision-making, uneven contributions, a lack of shared values and perceived unfairness or irresponsibility.
By analysing and categorising the candid messages, then interviewing hundreds of couples, the researchers said they have isolated some of the recurring patterns behind financial conflicts.
The research found that when partners disagree about mundane expenses, such as grocery bills and shop receipts, they tend to have better relationships. Fights about fair contributions to household finances and perceived financial irresponsibility are particularly detrimental, however.
While there is no cure-all to resolve the disputes, the antidote in many cases is to talk about money more, not less, said Johanna Peetz, a professor of psychology at Carleton who co-authored the study.
“You should discuss finances more in relationships, because then small things won’t escalate into bigger problems,” she said.
A partner might insist on taking a vacation the other can’t afford. Another married couple might want to separate their previously combined finances. Couples might also realize they no longer share values they originally brought to the relationship.
Differentiating between your own viewpoint on the money fight from that of your partner is no easy feat, said Thomas Faupl, a marriage and family psychotherapist in San Francisco. Where one person sees an easily solvable problem—overspending on groceries—the other might see an irrevocable rift in the relationship.
Faupl, who specialises in helping couples work through financial difficulties, said many partners succeed in finding common ground that can keep them connected amid heated discussions. Identifying recurring themes in the most frequent conflicts also helps.
“There is something very visceral about money, and for a lot of people, it has to do with security and power,” he said. “There’s permutations on the theme, and that could be around responsibility, it could be around control, it could be around power, it could be around fairness.”
Barbara Krenzer and John Stone first began their relationship more than three decades ago. Early on in their conversations, the Syracuse, N.Y.-based couple opened up about what they both felt to be most important in life: spending quality time with family and investing in lifelong memories.
“We didn’t buy into the big lifestyle,” Krenzer said. “Time is so important and we both valued that.”
For Krenzer and Stone, committing to that shared value meant making sacrifices. Krenzer, a physician, reduced her work hours while raising their three children. Stone trained as an attorney, but once Krenzer went back to full-time work, he looked for a job that let him spend the mornings with the children.
“Compromise: That’s a word they don’t say enough with marriage,” Krenzer said. “You have to get beyond the love and say, ‘Do I want to compromise for them and find that middle ground?’”
Talking about numbers behind a behaviour can help bring a couple out of a fight and back to earth, Faupl said. One partner might rue the other’s tightfistedness, but a discussion of the numbers reveals the supposed tightwad is diligently saving money for the couple’s shared future.
“I get under the hood with people so we can get black-and-white numbers on the table,” he said. “Are these conversations accurate, or are they somehow emotionally based?”
Couples might follow tenets of good financial management and build wealth together, but conflict is bound to arise if one partner feels the other isn’t honouring that shared commitment, Faupl said.
“If your partner helps with your savings goals, then that feels instrumental to your own goals, and that is a powerful drive for feeling close to the partner and valuing that relationship,” he said.
When it comes to sticking out the hard times, “sharing values is important, even more so than sharing personality traits,” Peetz said. In her own research, Peetz found that romantic partners who disagreed about shared values could one day split up as a result.
“That is the crux of the conflict often: They each have a different definition,” she said of themes such as fairness and responsibility.
And sometimes, it is worth it to really dig into the potentially difficult conversations around big money decisions. When things are working well, coming together to achieve these common goals—such as saving for your own retirement or preparing for your children’s financial future—will create intimacy, not money strife.
“That is a powerful drive for feeling close to the partner and valuing that relationship,” she said.
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’