Understanding Consumer Buying Trends - Building Dynamic Product Lines

The ability to detect trends and to interpret thatyou to be trendy. It requires disciplinemake it a habit
knowledge can tell you what consumers want now,to research trends daily. There are many avenues
but also help you predict what theyll be looking foryou can use to help you research:
tomorrow. This can really give a retailer a big edge,Most major search engines offer keyword tracking
particularly when it comes to selecting product lines.tools that show you how many people are searching
What is a Trend?for a given item. Worldwide Brands offers a Market
A trend is not a group of popular items thatResearch Wizard that can show you how likely a
everyone is buying. A trend is an expression of whatproduct is to be successful based on market
matters to consumers at the momentits a sign ofstatistics.
what theyre excited about. A trend can actually giveConsumer magazines and websites are great sources
you many ideas of what products might be popular infor gathering information.
certain groups. The trend towards natural living, forCheck out trade shows, associations, and publications.
example, could inspire a whole line of productsThough trade publications tend to be pricy, the
because thats what people are concerned with andinformation in them is the result of millions of dollars
are thinking about. And trends grow and evolve andof research and projects out from 12 to 18 months,
morph, but they have rhyme and reasonunlike fads,which really gives you a jump on buying trends that
they dont just come out of nowhere.havent even evolved yet.
Trend AnalysisThe media can provide some really valuable trending
Lisa Suttora of defines trend analysis as looking at astatsnewspapers often give numbers and
definable group of customers that you can getdemographics. Look for indicators of growth and
coming back time and time againYoure not sourcingdecline. You want to get in on the upswing of a
products in a vacuum, because you know exactlytrendnot when its on its way out. Document
what types of products people are looking for.everything so that you have it all in front of you and
Though it may initially take you more time to studydont forget anything important when you sit down
market trends in the beginning, it will save you a lotto analyze the results of your research.
of time in the long run. You wont be trying to figureThe key is to be consistent and do your research
out why you cant move products, and you wont bedaily. Says Suttora, Trending information is not
wasting money on just guessing at what you thinksomething you do once and then stopEvery
will sell.successful business owner is going to continually be
How Do I Become a Trend Spotter?reinventing their product lineon an ongoing basis.
Spotting trends is a learned abilityit doesnt require