Datamonitor, the leading research office, has identified ten mega trends that our products have to fulfil if they want to remain successful. The trends vary from ease to gender confusion and individualism. Manufacturers and supermarkets that take proper advantage of these trends are set for the future according to Datamonitor.
Trend 1: Ease
Consumers are looking to save even more time. 82 percent of consumers in both Western Europe and Northern America list timesaving as a priority. The consumption of ready-to-eat meals is expected to double in the next ten years.
Trend 2: Healthy
Nearly every consumer sees health improvement as an important aspect. This is why companies that produce functional food have a future. But consumers are also looking for health in pure products, which makes the use of organic ingredients increasingly important. The annual growth in these segments exceeds 10 percent according to Datamonitor.
Trend 3: Age
Older consumers are acting younger every day, whereas young consumers would prefer to grow older as quickly as possible. Manufacturers who develop products that take advantage of the consumers’ age aspiration have the future in hand. Young consumers more often have a larger independent budget and develop brand loyalty at an increasingly young age. Older consumers want products that support a society in which old age is denied.
Trend 4: Phase in Life
The traditional family as a basis for consumption is vaporising at a rapid pace. People are more often on their own, live a lot longer and more and more children return to live at home, after their studies for example. This is changing the consumption patterns.
Trend 5: Income
An increasing number of consumers with a low disposable income has become used to buying luxury products at a low price. Well-to-do consumers have become just as price conscious. Top brands with a top quality at a low price are set for the future.
Trend 6: Individualism
Consumers are increasingly on the look-out for products that support their personal lifestyle. They are buying more and more products that they can also enjoy. Manufacturers will have to aim their future products at smaller target groups and give consumers more of a say in taste and volume.
Trend 7: Experience
Consumers are looking for products that offer a more intensive experience. They are therefore prepared to experiment more with new products.
Trend 8: Luxury
Consumers are increasingly often using food articles as a way to escape the pressures of everyday life. The majority of consumers uses so-called ‘comfort food’ as small temptations to enjoy life for a moment.
Trend 9: Groups
Despite the hunger for individualism, the consumption pattern of many consumers is actually looking to join a certain group with standards and values that attract them. This results in an increase in sale of ethnic products.
Trend 10: Gender
Men are after healthy food at an increasing degree and are leaving behind the traditional macho behaviour. On the other hand, the sale of typical macho products, like beer, is going very strong. By now, both men and women are attaching a lot of value to health improvement through a change in their food pattern.
Source: Datamonitor, written by Joep Meijsen
www.josdevries.eu 
In the last phase of the process of creating a store concept, we make use of a toolbox. This practical toolbox includes instruments required to deliver a complete and discerning shop interior. The toolbox prevents decisions regarding the image of the store from being made at random. These must always be rooted in the framework of the concept. 
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