Connecting with a Fast-Changing Consumer

By Al McClain

In a wide-ranging keynote address at the recent IIR Shopper Insights conference, Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst of The NPD Group, discussed the ever-changing consumer and how best to reach that moving target. Highlighted below is a sampling of the trends he identified:

• 51 percent of adult women in the U.S. are single - retailers need to rethink their relationship with them and provide lifestyle tips via trunk shows, in-home parties, etc.
• Kids influence the purchasing habits of their parents on almost everything - marketers can reach adults through their kids. For example, who knows more about cell phones or computers - parents or kids? One example of a brand successfully doing that is Cheerios, which has four versions of their home page - for kids, for new parents, for adults, and for families
• Skin Care sales were up two percent last year but anti-aging products were up 10 percent - and a surprising 56 percent of those purchases came from consumers 25 years old or younger. Said Mr. Cohen, "The daughter loves mom but doesn't want to look like her when she reaches the same age."
• The younger generation drinks coffee and likes to dress up sometimes - coffee sales for the 13-24 group are up 54 percent, while men's suit sales are up 21 percent for men 18-24 - they are separating themselves by style.
• Impulse sales are dropping around the holidays due to gift cards - retailers need to find ways to reward gift card shoppers so they will pick up extra items when they buy or redeem a gift card. Retailers can also promote self-indulgent items such as flat screen TV's as "family gifts."
• With everyone "going green," consumers don't necessarily buy in completely to natural/organic products, which they may think are overpriced and of questionable integrity.

The bottom line for Mr. Cohen seems to be that too many marketers are doing things the old-fashioned way - pushing too many trends and new products at consumers, without doing the "heavy lifting" of really understanding these consumers and figuring out how to connect emotionally with them.

Discussion Question: What trends from the above list do you see as most important? What should marketers do - specifically - to capitalize on them?