Consumer Preferences

In the 21st Century we are living in a ‘buyers market,’ consumers enter this market well informed and armed with extensive knowledge on the quality of a product, its availability and the prices on offer both locally, nationally and often internationally.

In the past the consumer was likely to source all of their needs from the local area, food, fridges and even cars would be priced on a local basis with the sole objective of being one step ahead of local competitors. However as the number of people with access to the internet has increased so has the consumer’s ability to source their products from outside the local area. This trend was started by the move towards catalogue purchasing, but has become even more important now that consumers can not only compare prices, but also use the internet to view recommendations from other consumers.

The internet has also opened up new niche markets which would not have been viable under the traditional market structure. In the past a product could only be sold if you could collect enough buyers into one physical area, this meant that there was a lot of unfulfilled demand in instances when consumers were spread across the country or the globe. The internet allows buyers to find niche suppliers and improved transport networks allow them to have the product delivered to their door. Some experts speculate that the value of this new ‘weightless’ economy could be large than the traditional ‘scale’ economy.

The face of modern retailing has also been changed by the emergence of consumer-to-consumer selling websites such as eBay and Amazon Marketplace. These online stores have created a number of new markets; they have also potentially extended the lifecycle of almost every product and provided individuals with a new income stream. The power of these types of websites is likely to grow as more and more people become engaged with them, what does this mean for the average high street retailer?

The types of products consumers are demanding have also changed. Expenditure on traditional household products has diminished in favour of experience based products such as holidays. There is a move towards eco-friendly products, as consumers become more aware of how their actions and purchases impact the environment around them; they are looking for more sustainable options which can help them reduce their own individual carbon footprint. Consumers have also shown a willingness to pay a premium for products that are ethically sourced; this is mainly due to increased awareness of global issues.

The power of these trends is unlikely to diminish in the future, if anything the influence they exercise will continue to grow as consumers become better informed and more willing to shop around for the best price and quality possible.