Consumer Trends: why bother?
 |
| Identifying what buyers want today and tomorrow is powerful! photo credit: snivdesign |
As a farm / food retailer we may occasionally wonder what
drives not only our current customers, but also those elusive potential customers.
One source of insight is “consumer trends.” While these trends may not exactly
match the demographics we chase with our retail products; they can be quite
helpful in understanding what is happening and what might happen next in the
retail shopping environment. You never know – you may actually get ahead of a
trend, and end up being the next big thing?
When I consider some research into consumer buying
behaviors I check with a hand full of widely recognized experts. Many of these
experts are willing to share quite a bit of research and guidance at no-cost.
Listed in no particular order are possible sources:
And don’t forget to participate with your local Extension
Education system when exploring consumer trends. For example; at the widely
acclaimed Mid Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable
Conference at Hershey Penn
State Extension Educator Heather
Mikulas will be sharing her research on Food Trends the morning of Tuesday,
January 27th .
One axiom of retail I stick by is that our customers are
telling us what to do. Our challenge is to listen to them. Consider spending some
time and effort understanding purchasing expectations of your customers – you will
likely be well rewarded.
