Creating Tomorrow: what consumers want next

After months of Covid-19-dictated lockdown, countries are beginning to ease their restrictions, some slowly, some at faster rates, with U-turns and plenty of reflection along the way.

I might write to you today sitting at the desk in my bedroom in the UK – where we are finally allowed out to exercise more than once a day, but family visits are still heavily curtailed – but my thoughts come firmly with my global hat on and are informed by what the WGSN team are seeing around the world.

Where one of my team in Hong Kong today posts pictures of her newly manicured hands on Instagram as she walks to our office, thanks to spas and salons having opened their doors, another in Los Angeles is settling herself in for a likely three more months staying at home.

However, wherever in the world you find yourself, and whoever in the world you design and create for, consumers everywhere are beginning to think about what comes next. What do they want to experience? What do they want to do? What do they want to treat themselves to? What products will make the ‘next normal’ more fulfilling?

In the interiors space, we’re confident that as quarantine eases, people – many feeling starved of fresh air and blue skies – will seek to gather outdoors for shared meals in small groups. The WGSN Lifestyle & Interiors team are predicting increased sales of pizza ovens, sustainable picnicware and outdoor bar carts.

In fashion, with foreign holidays still a distant dream, the swimwear team have reimagined what this category looks like for staycations, and how swimsuits can be repurposed for beyond the beach.

In beauty, meanwhile, our strategists forecast new product opportunities, specifically skincare and make-up blocking the barrage of blue light we’ve become accustomed to while working from home during lockdown, and look likely into the future as businesses adopt a far more flexible working mentality.

Best,
Carla

PS As always, I love to hear from you all. You can contact me via Instagram (@CarlaBuzasi) or email (carla@wgsn.com)

You can follow Carla on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

For the latest trends, follow WGSN on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

The post Creating Tomorrow: what consumers want next appeared first on WGSN Insider.