Data Tracker: Consumer expenditure is expected to grow in 2018, says report

In 2018 consumer expenditure is expected to grow at its strongest rate since 2011. But Euromonitor’s report on Consumption Trends 2018 says that if marketers are to take advantage of the expected surge in spending, they need to get inside the minds of the new consumers whose behaviour is radically different from those a generation before them. Some of the defining trends for the year are:

Want Less, Need Less

• New consumers are ‘Clean Lifers’, enjoy spending time with family and are more minimalist in their spending choices. Many are part of movements that promote veganism, seek to eradicate animal-based products and so on
• They want to spend on experiences, or healthier social alternatives
• Demand for non-alcoholic beverages, light beer, fitness events on the rise; Diageo’s acquisition of Seedlip, the world’s first non-alcoholic spirits company, and Dutch brewer Heineken’s launch of a non-alcoholic beer, demonstrate the importance of the clean-living trend 

The Borrowers

• In emerging markets, usage of sharing services is set to soar in 2018; from renting household appliances in India (Rentomojo) to bicycle-sharing in China (Mobike and Ofo) and car pools in Nigeria (GoMyWay)
• Big companies are being forced to rethink their business, Citibank is the lead sponsor of New York’s bike-sharing service, Citi Bike. In 2017, Toyota invested in Southeast Asia taxi-hailing service Grab, Volkswagen in Israel’s Gett and Jaguar Land Rover in Lyft

Call Out Culture

• Consumers are demanding more transparency from brands and more ready to boycott those that do not meet their standards
• Marketers are being forced into greater interaction with customers in the public space, a 2017 YouGov survey in the UK found that while 89 per cent of marketers thought social media gave consumers more power over brands, only 18 per cent were confident they could “handle anything social media throws at them” 

Unique And Special 

• People’s growing curiosity about their genetic make-up is fuelling demand for home DNA kits, the global market is expected to soar to $340 million by 2022 according to Credence Research
• Beauty is another area in which genomics has made an entrance. UK company Geneu offers customers a same-day DNA testing service and a customised plan based on the reports

Adaptive Entrepreneurs

• Consumers want flexibility, are prepared to take risks. Euromonitor International’s 2017 Global Consumer Trends Survey shows that nearly half the respondents across all generations aspire to being self-employed
• Risk-seeking entrepreneurs are attracted to the same brands or marketing techniques of the past. They favour products enhancing their adaptable work and personal lives
• Co-working spaces are growing at a staggering rate. A 2017 study by real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle noted that the co-working industry in India is expected to receive $400 million of investment by 2018, and to grow 40–50 per cent from 2017–2018