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See the future at Tendence

Tendence Lifestyle, 22 to 26 August in Frankfurt am Main:
Using lifestyle worlds to counteract consumer frustration

The world’s largest consumer goods fair in Autumn has been given a new and unique image this year: for the first time, the Tendence Lifestyle will be arranged according to lifestyle worlds for the international consumer goods sector. From now on, lifestyles instead of product groups determine the look of the trade fair. Considering the developments in this sector which have led to this change, giving the fair this new image was a logical and necessary step.

In the recent past, trading and consumer practices have undergone far-reaching changes: whilst "the more, the better" was still the governing principle up to a few years ago, nowadays "simplicity" is very much more the determining factor. Less is more - particularly in a situation where in retail outlets very much the same products are courting the favour of the consumer. For retailers the result of this is not very conducive to sales: the same products next to each other result in confusion and overtax the consumer.

The supposed inestimable rich array of similar products which, at a first glance, surrounds consumers with a paradise of different products they can freely choose from soon emerges in reality to be a trap - not for the consumer, but also - and particularly so - for the retailer. A plethora of ranges of barely differentiated products is not very attractive and motivating for the buyer – and in the worst case the result can be the decision not to buy, because of sheer apathy and desperation. But what can we do to improve the lot of the frustrated consumer?

Overfeeding consumers with "all-in-one" shop concepts results in modern-day consumers resorting to the search for traditional values. Although they need mass-produced goods - so-called "accelerators" - for rapid daily consumption, the products that have actually increased in significance belong to a different group - that of the so-called "decelerators". This group consists of products that they feel comfortable buying, because they have a character of their own, thanks to their style, design, materials and quality. They are not bought on the hop - consumers take time to consider buying them. "Authenticity" is the keyword here.

These products reflect individuality, the personal lifestyle and the feeling for life - they are exactly what "suits" the consumers who buy them. Their added-value is obvious the moment they are chosen and bought: consumers take some time out for themselves and focus their decision on their very own needs. This all happens with the awareness that, with the product they have selected, they are buying not just an object, but a piece of quality of life, a piece of "themselves".

Retailers have no choice but to respond to this change in consumer behaviour and to rethink their old sales concepts. For these purposes, the "all-in-one" concept has had its day. The future - and therefore also the success - of the retail business lies in the internal reflections, the critical observations of its customers and the way it conducts its business, and, when all is said and done, adapting to and serving the wishes of its consumers. In doing so, retailers must decide not only whether they wish to position themselves in the market segment of the "accelerators" or "decelerators" - they also have to have the courage and creativity to revolutionise existing business concepts, and go on to seek success in a completely new direction. Particularly the "decelerator" segment offers a multitude of possibilities to achieve this.

The advantages for retailers and consumers are obvious: by concentrating on a particular style trend, retailers expand their traditional range with completely new aspects of product selection and product presentation. In doing so, they open up their business not only to more customers, but to completely new customers. And these customers are given more than just a new selection of products to choose from. Above all, they are given a completely new image of the quality that the retail sector has to offer. Customers rediscover the fun of looking, experiencing and buying, and this creates the desire for more time, more products, and more "for me".

As an organiser of trade fairs, we see it as one of our prime duties to offer retailers new directions, perspectives and potentials with our events, and in doing so, to actively support business. And this, of course, also includes reacting to changes in the marketplace by adapting existing trade-fair concepts.

The Tendence Lifestyle is not only our direct response to such changes. It is more: with its unique concept of the four lifestyle worlds "Modern Living", "Emotion", "Joy" and "Function", it offers retailers innovative ideas in the long term for new style directions, the right products in each case, and ideas for sales promotion that range from appealing display ideas right up to clever marketing concepts. Retailers who visit the Tendence Lifestyle are turned into trend scouts for their customers. This means that the Tendence Lifestyle acts as a pioneer and guide for future business in the consumer goods sector, pointing the way to the future.

September/October 2010
issue 61
available now