progress

Decades ago, people always had some cash to buy products they needed. They used to go to local markets, spending their money mostly on food, scarce on technologies. Today, it would be almost impossible to live without a credit card or a mobile phone, food is no longer an important part of spending. 

Changes have occurred in consuming patterns creating new illnesses.

Our society has changed. 

Indeed, baby boomers became adults, got married and had children. Women worked more and more and they earn money. Families decided to go and live in suburbs and buy online. Before people bought a car, a house and goods to equip it (a washing machine, a hoover…) Nowadays people are buying in supermarkets and online. Consumption has changed due to several factors.

WORK CHANGES

People are working a lot and don’t have time to go to local markets. They prefer to go to the supermarket once a week or use ready-to-eat dinners. Supermarkets drives are developped. 

GLOBALIZATION

We buy standardized products, disposables.

THE AGEING POPULATION IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES

People are buying products that would help them to stay home longer or that would simplify their lives in the future. 

(against falling, burglary)

COMMUNICATION IS DEVELOPPED

People are buying differently, using discount, sales period.

They are asking for the best quality price ratio and are switching from brand to brand very rapidly. Hard-discounters are numerous and DIY (do it yourself) stores are a new trend, or DIY on internet Virtual stores are using strategies such as visual pages, massive discount.

NEW PRODUCTS EMERGE

• Convenience food

Pre-cooked products, ready to eat food, fast food, take away dinner. Women are spending less time in their kitchen because they work and on weekends people do not want to spend time to cook, because they prefer to share some quality time with their family or their friends.

• Organic food

it is an environmental awareness People are ready to pay much more in order to have quality food without any pesticides.

NEW STRATEGIES ARE USED

Companies are focusing on the Customer loyalty with a one to one marketing. They propose loyalty cards and use the information they collect to create their own data base. Then they send you newsletters in order to influence your purchasing.

New services are also created: ordering, home shopping or services like having a personal coach, finding friends, sharing a cooking session, health sites, educational sites.

In fact, new technologies have completely changed the way people are consuming and how they are influenced by advertisement.

NEW TARGETS

Children under 12, teenagers seem to be the new targets of industrialists who know that their purchasing power is huge and that they have a great influence on their parents.

These companies are relying on parents’ fear that their progeny is not going to succeed if they don’t have these trendy products. They are ready for sacrifice.

The products proposed to the category are mostly based on electronics and garment (image of the self is very important at that age as a vector of integration and acceptance by the group).

The main reasons of this spending can be found in the rise of divorces, the appearance of a new category: 

• Single parents

Most people nowadays enjoy freedom, work full-time and have very different values when it comes to family life and traditions.

Businesses adapt itself and target them with specific products ready to cook meals with one portion, or portionable or tools adapted to women 

(tools are lighter and tutos on internet to fix something are numerous).

• Old people 

They are also a new target. This part of the population in industrialized countries is increasing. People are living longer and in better conditions. They travel more, practice some sports and spend their money on themselves. They are not reluctant to use new technologies.

New products are designed especially for them (easier to use, with bigger letters for instance). Companies are even using older people in their commercials to reach this category.

PAYMENT HAS EVOLVED SO QUICKLY

Very few people are still paying everything using cash.

It is almost impossible to pay invoices with cash. 

In some countries, people are not using checks for instance in Scandinavian countries. 

Nowadays you can pay with your iPhone or with your credit card even without giving your code. Your invoices, your taxes can be paid on internet with a single click. You can transfer some money without moving from your couch. These cards are therefore convenient for customers and are safer thanks to the PIN code.

For shops these cards favor impulsive buying (it is difficult to materialize what you have spent, some people are becoming shopping addicts or game addicts), and they can send you promotions on your email box in order to keep you buying their items (private sellings or hard discounts on their products).

A NEW TREND: HOME SHOPPING

Firms are stocking in warehouses in low-rentals districts (Amazon for example has huge warehouses), therefore they have low overheads (frais généraux).

• The advantages for the consumers are :

➜ the possibility to have very competitive prices.

➜ the possibility to save time and to order out of the opening hours.

➜ a protection with a seven-day cooling off period law.

The main problem: you can see the items you are buying and you have to return them every often with charges. 

• The advantages for the company :

➜ a new distribution channel

➜ the possibility to reach customers worldwide, therefore the possibility to develop new markets.

➜ discount operation to sell older items like black friday in the USA.