Key Trends that Shape the Future of

Consumer Market
This chapter is about key trends that impact the consumer’s behavior and market. There are two
key trends that they mentioned here are demographic trend and consumer trend and how this
trends impact the market.

1. Demographic Shift:
a) Aging Population: The major demographic shift happens in the recent times due to
ageing population. As the statistics shows that the numbers of U.S people are aging is
huge and the impact of this is significant as well. The generation of baby boomers, people
who are 76 million strong in US has had great influence in economics because as they
enters their senior year their preferences of purchasing changing for discretionary items.
And also people who are the highest earner is between age 45-54, they also loss their
preferences with in 10 years for discretionary items. For marketers, it is essential to
understand that these two are most strong customer segment for market which is going to
be affected by this demographic shift.
Future Trends: The demographic shifts of two generation, baby boomers and millennial
(babies of baby boomers) will create a huge generation wave and in the middle they have
generation x (born after 1994). After surveying 2 years, researchers found that the
consumers are concern about “class” but the majority of these shoppers go for sale or the
discount price for the luxury goods. So these consumers know how to bargain and win
the shopping game for the luxury products.

My observation:

We know that the survey is based on U.S but I believe that the trend is almost same in
Bangladesh. According to information provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, around
7.5 percent (12.5 million) of the country’s total population constitutes the elderly people while
the number is expected to increase sharply and reach around 20 percent (over 40 million) by
2050. So, the preferences of discretionary items will be decreased by the senior citizen in
Bangladesh in future like US. That’s why marketers have to be more considerate in order to
effectively cater to customers’ needs and preferences. As for the generation x is the highest
earner but millennial is also who spend more to maintain “class”. For example we know that
APPLE is expensive brand but over 1 million Bangladeshi people are now using I phone which
is an Apple product (bdnews24.com, 2018).

Screenshot 1: Appromixetly 1.5 million iPhone user in Bangladesh

This means this generation is more willing to spending money on the luxury goods to set or
maintain their class. So, definitely we can relate that statistical information with us and try to
make better marketing strategies for the future.

b) Rising Education Level: The average educational level of consumers is increasing

day by day in US and they also have some strong impact on consumer behaviors. The
most highly educated age group is 25, because 65% of this group is at least having
college education. As a result, they are moving toward a more educated and
knowledgeable consumer base with different spending patterns. They are not only
focusing the goods but also the organization behind it. At this stage Brand image is very
important part of the product or service for the consumers. Educated consumer research
more about the product then the other consumers. So, they look for the creativity al well.
And for marketers it’s really challenging to attack consumers with both their goods and
creative ideas with sophisticated messages. There are different brand in the market of
electronics, art and books, who will be flourishing because of this.

My observation: The scenario is almost same for our country. One of our most popular brands
is Aarong this is my personnel favorite also.
 Picture 1: workers (Aarong)

Thought its price is quit higher than the other local clothing brand in our country but we prefer
Aarong because they help needy people from our rural women and train them for they are future
betterment.

Picture 2: Walton tagline

There is another brand called Walton, they advertise that their products are made by Bangladesh
and price is also cheaper than the other foreign brand in our country. This is quite attractive
advertisement and affordable deal for us.

c) Minority Majority: The composition of American society is drastically changing.

Non Hispanics are already minority in us. Within the 60 year white American and non-
Hispanics origin will be decrease by 50% while Hispanics, black and other ethnic groups
will represent the majority amount. As the population continues to increase, so does the
purchasing power of minority groups. These projections demonstrate that current
 minority groups will quickly evolve into majority groups. The rise of these ethnic groups
is changing Americans’ consumption patterns and therefore also impacting marketing
strategy as we know it today. In recent years, marketing based on ethnicity has slowly
begun to replace the former marketing trend: marketing by generation. This is because
marketers have to come up with new ideas for cope up with the current minority majority
trends.

My observation: As in near future the nationality of population will change drastically so this is the
high time to focus on both majority minority trends. Because there are many survey shows that by 2045,
the U.S. as a whole is projected to become majority minority.

And the changes are already underway: non-white Americans are now the majority of the population in
four states, as well as in the most prosperous and powerful U.S. cities. So, marketer must have to follow
the trend to survive in USA.

2. Consumer Trends:
  Shift from Buying Things to Buying Experience: Baby bombers still buy so
many thing but not as a good but as an experience that they missed at their earlier
time. Now they go for gift for grandchildren or the experience they couldn’t enjoy
earlier. Experiencing the brand allows the consumer to really see and feel its benefits.
It also pushes the consumer to believe that the brand really understands who they are,
deepening the connection. Successfully tapping into this trend allows brands to build
consumer loyalty, which in an age of endless choice is no mean feat. Implementing an
easy-to-understand loyalty program can be a great way to keep Baby Boomers
coming back for more. This increasingly wealthy and growing baby boomers
generation represents a big opportunity for consumer businesses and retailers, and one
they should continue to pursue with interest.

My observation: So I saw that the generation of baby boomers from my family likes to buy
more for others than themselves. For example, my grandparents are more interested in buying
foods or household things than things for themselves.

Picture 3: Things baby boomers more purchase

Except these they prefer to buy things for us. In this case they go for our priorities, try to find
something which can be useful for us.

 Consumer will crave reality: Internet is playing bigger role in the society.
Americans do their work, social interaction, and shopping through the internet. They
are more into “virtual” than the real world. The way consumers shop is forever
 changing as technology integrates the online and offline worlds. Consumers are glued
to a multitude of screens all day — be it smart phone, tablet or laptop. Once they look
up from their backlit retina displays they will be increasingly compelled to seek out
real, palpable experiences. Shoppers will particularly crave more tactile interactions
in-store, and retailers must begin implementing holistic, higher-level sensorial
marketing to create distinct in-store experiences.

My observation: Personally I do prefer technology more often, because it’s more convenient for me
to use and get the solution. But there are still some scopes for reality we crave for.

Picture 4: E Book vs. Paper Book

This is the reason why the things are getting back while technology is still available. I love to read books
thought c-books are available and more convenient but paper book is something more precious for me.

 Time is the new shopping currency: Nowadays no one has extra time in their
hand and people realize that time is very valuable and limited resource. So, they want
to spend less time in the store. The role of technology as the great accelerator of
consumption and the rapid innovation and adaptation of artificial intelligence and
predictive and immersive platforms are having a significant impact on society and.
marketer understand the changes in consumer behavior as a result of these structural
changes will be much better positioned to grow their marketing strategy successfully
because they will better understand the context for growth and the alignment of
strategy to real customer drivers.
My observation: In recent time we don’t have that much free time to go for shopping. If we
have free time we prefer to relax ourselves more.

Picture 5: Online Shopping Among The Bangladeshi Smartphone Users

Though still it is developing in our country but its growing rapidly. The technology make things
more convenient for us, so it’s easy to us for buy things in online and use this time in some
productive way.

 The coming retails crisis-excess retail space: Since 2002 US facing crisis over
office spaces, people are now using smaller space than before. So there are many idle
spaces are available because of that rents are failing day by day. The crisis of retail is
not an entirely new phenomenon but it is clearly getting worse. In the US, many
shopping malls have recently closed down. Not only are internet giants disrupting
retail as we knew it and threatening its traditional model but larger cultural changes
 are also reshaping consumer expectations, leading consumers to increasingly value
experience over ownership, convenience over wide choice, sustainability over low
prices and personalization over standardization. As retailers are trying to reinvent the
shopping experience, many new models are set to replace the traditional ones.

My observation: it’s partially true for our county though many of store doing well but because
of some online services and recent pandemic situation some of the stores losing their jobs and
leave the space idle. Hopefully after the pandemic the situation will be slightly normal but there
is a high change that they will get used to this work or shopping from situation.

References:
 Kight, S. W. (2019, April 29). America is on the way to a majority minority future by

2045. Axios. https://www.axios.com/when-american-minorities-become-the-

majority-d8b3ee00-e4f3-4993-8481-93a290fdb057.html

 Bangladesh faces a challenge to ensure welfare of its aging population | Inter press

service. https://www.ipsnews.net/2019/02/bangladesh-faces-challenge-ensure-

welfare-aging-population/

 Shamim Ahamed,  . (n.d.). IPhone users in Bangladesh unlikely to access 4G network

now over 'software issue'., from

 https://bdnews24.com/technology/2018/02/17/iphone-users-in-bangladesh-unlikely-

to-access-4g-network-now-over-software-issue

 Aarong. (n.d.). The Good Feed. https://blog.brac.net/tag/aarong/

 Jubayer, M. (2019, September 22). Online shopping among the Bangladeshi

smartphone users lowest in Asia Pacific. Future Startup.

https://futurestartup.com/2019/09/22/online-shopping-among-the-bangladeshi-

smartphone-users-lowest-in-asia-pacific/