Are we prepared for new behaviours started with COVID-19? Is your business ready to meet these new expectations and position your brand online?

There are certain trends that took on speed because of the coronavirus crisis. Businesses able to quickly adapt to changes will secure their position on the market. Others will fail – it’s inevitable.

Here are 5 emerging consumer trends I’ve been tracking for a while. I hope it will inspire trend-driven innovations of your own.

1. Virtual experience – so many businesses are available in the virtual world. Art, culture and entertainment sector has new offerings ready to adapt to the current situation. Guided tours online do not surprise us anymore. For many museums, it’s a new normal.

Bear in mind that you can create a virtual experience for travel, retail, gatherings and more. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Trends can be used in many different ways.

How will you create virtual experiences that consumers value – and want to share – as much as their real-world experiences?

2. Shopstreaming – shops shut down for no one knows how long but this doesn’t mean they can’t make a profit. Livestreams are available on many social platforms, so why don’t you use it? Show your products during the Livestream, answer the questions, interact with people, reach a new audience and sell. Chinese farmers are making live streams – how cool is that?!

Could you create an online shopping environment where people come just to hang out and chat?

3. Ambient wellness – how to stay healthy in pandemic time? From hand hygiene through meditation practice, diets and physical exercises. The trend is shaping the future of the health and wellbeing sector since 2016 but now it takes on extra speed. Beauty studio shows how to take care of your skin, hair, nails at home. Gyms and personal trainers help on how to exercise at home without equipment. Dieticians speak on what to eat when physical exercises are very limited and all the food is on the reach of the hand.

4. Mentoring – many people stay on Netflix all day, every day, while others want to spend time more productively. Mentors, Teachers, Experts gives an opportunity to learn new skills. And this trend doesn’t apply only to mentors, coaches, consultants, advisors… Do you run a restaurant – how about cooking class online? Are you a school teacher – show parents how they can help their kids… the possibilities are endless.

Think, what skills would our community be interested in developing?

5. Mental SOS – people are stressed, staying at home all day can impact negatively millions of people. Thousands of people are losing their jobs every day. Many don’t have any savings and wake up with a thought of what else is gonna happen. This is where many professionalists and organisations come in, ready to take pressure from you. They teach how to improve mental wellbeing and they spread awareness in society. People try to cheers each other up. TikTok is thriving with videos on how to go through pandemic time, many ideas on how to spend the time at home. Wise words of inspiration and motivation are also available.

!! Some of the trends might look like they won’t work for your business, because what you do is special, what you offer is totally different and your business model won’t match the trends either. Sometimes is just your mentality, other times the way of thinking and missing the creative skills.

Remember the world has changed. Your business will have to change.

On the other hand, I don’t want you to make decisions based on desperation, panicking. Remember who you are, what you do, why you doing it, what your values and rules are. Don’t change your business completely. Don’t produce masks or disinfectant if you didn’t do it before – the virus will be gone soon and your core business will need to show its best on the market.

I hope you will use these trends wisely. Be inspired and draw actionable insights for your business.

Want more?
At infuture.fashion we work with trends every day. We use them to create fashion business innovations across strategy, sales, marketing and product development. We future-proof fashion companies. Get in touch if you want to discuss some options contact@infuture.fashion