What will the legal landscape look like when the pandemic passes?
That’s the million-dollar question. And nobody can answer it with certainty, because we are living through unprecedented events.
But consumer trend forecasters have some guesses. Looking to the future, they see an explosion in new technologies – particularly in the communications sector –and an accelerated move towards a more digital lifestyle.
“Consumer behaviors stand to shift dramatically, influenced by weeks of social isolation, shopping online, working from home and not working at all,” writes Jackie Chiquoine for the US Chamber of Commerce.
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3 Client Trends Post-COVID 19
Here are three forecasts from top consumer trend-spotters, as reported by Jackie Chiquoine in her article:
Prediction #1: Technological Innovation Will Flourish
The specifics: a rise in facial recognition technology; a preference for grocery delivery over restaurant takeout; the popularization of obscure technologies; a growth of community at the local level using digital tools like bulk buying online; creative, contactless alternatives to formerly in-person activities like concerts, personal fitness, and shipping and delivery. (Piers Fawkes, PSFK).
Prediction #2: Anything That Can be Digitized Will be Digitized
The specifics: “People who have been forced to adopt digital practices will continue. Consumer appetite for delivery services is going to continue after the crisis is over … retailers [that] are unable to fulfill are unlikely to succeed. The companies which are best placed to benefit are those which offer comfort, convenience or necessity for consumers. For brands there’s space to think about the digitization of your product, not just the delivery.” (Joe McDonnell, WGSN Insight)
Prediction #3: No “Return to Normal”
The specifics: A future “that looks and feels different from the reality we experienced just weeks ago. Even if things rebound 100 percent, you can’t live through something like this and not remember it. Consumers have every reason to be cautious now and for the foreseeable future. Big events like this have a way of accelerating nascent trends. For instance, we were already seeing consumers pulling back on buying new clothes in favor of thrifting. I think you will continue to see an embrace of thrift, but across more and more sectors. Not just a turn away from fast fashion but a stronger embrace of craft, of do it yourself, of self-sufficiency. Brands need to be asking themselves what really matters. That covers everything from workplace practices — Do I need to go to that conference? Do I need to be in an office? — to how they approach consumers.” (Devon Powers, Ph.D., author of “On Trend: the Business of Forecasting the Future”
(All quotes and citations are from Chiquoine’s article)
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