Consumer
Insights

Trend - Employees now expect flexibility, inclusion and higher standards of ethics from their employers. In response to these evolving expectations, businesses are investing in less formal educational toolkits for employees that promote workplace wellbeing, transparency and sustainable practices.

Insight - With remote or hybrid work now being commonplace, corporate culture is more casual than ever before. This shift partially reflects cultural changes like "anti-work" sentiment, where more people are likely to leave jobs that don't align with their lifestyles and values. Adapting to these changing expectations with more expansive training, wellbeing programs and benefits helps avoid high turnover rates.

Trend - Watchmakers are incorporating sustainable materials, such as ocean-bound plastics, into products. This offers customer the combination of luxury build quality and name, with the positivity associated with sustainable goods. This adds further value to luxury timepieces beyond status symbols, enabling new levels of self expression with timepieces.

Insight - Customers interested in collectible luxury goods are typically motivated by exclusivity, quality, and appearance. These consumers value products that fit their lifestyle, such as luxury watches that match outfits. As a reflexive action to these motivations, the luxury watch industry is filled with ultra limited-edition, ultra luxury iterations. However, these products are typically sold only on their complex composition and professional build quality, which may not fit into every consumers lifestyle due to environmental concerns. As a result, luxury watchmakers are now incorporating sustainable materials, such as ocean-bound plastics, into collectible timepieces.

Trend - Workpalces are using generative artificial intelligence to craft training modules, provide feedback, and improve overall onboarding experiences for employees. These AI models deliver accurate feedback more quickly than human workers, saving companies time and money on onboarding.

Insight - For many businesses, onboarding is an expensive process, often requiring time and resources invested from multiple other employees and branches of the businesses. As a result, these businesses continually search for ways to streamline the onboarding process while ensuring that new employees are prepared for their jobs. These businesses desire no-compromises automation that is customizable to suit each required role, leading to generative AI being used to create onboarding models.

Trend - As inflation financially constrains consumers, cashback programs from banks and businesses are becoming more popular. Now, some brands are focusing on consumers with greater or more specific needs with these reward systems--including students, caregivers and those struggling with high costs.

Insight - Rapid inflation, price gouging and stagnant wages are impacting North Americans, and more people are looking for ways to reduce their daily expenses in order to manage. Consumers are now turning to discount businesses and increasingly relying on brands that accommodate the barriers they face in order to retain their financial stability (or achieve it).

Trend - Bubble tea options have expanded into ready-to-drink formats, and even brewing companies are taking inspiration from the beverage's ingredients. Specialty brews with creamy textures, tapioca pearls, brown sugar and fruity flavors offer a new take on the popular Taiwanese beverage.

Insight - Gen Z and Millennials are adventurous eaters, with these generations more likely to try new F&B products and explore global foods. Their openness to F&B has been impacted by social media--where being introduced to global cuisines or novelty foods is the norm. These demographics seek out new food experiences and purchase from brands that prioritize authenticity when replicating traditional foods.

Trend - Brands are integrating activism and charitable actions directly into business models and consumer loyalty programs. This helps consumers directly influence the amount of charitability from a business, making activist consumers more likely to frequently engage in these brands over others.

Insight - Voting with the dollar is a popular concept in North America. Consumers value brands that are transparent, authentic, and have a positive impact on the world. Some interact exclusively with these brands, while others prefer to do so when possible. Of the brands that engage in charity work, consumers prefer those that demonstrate their values with tangible actions. These consumers are more loyal to brands that integrate activism directly into the core business model.

Trend - CPG brands and restaurants are launching foods made with chai ingredients. Chai is popular in drinks for its strong, spicy, floral flavor, and its health benefits. This is now being made available to non-tea-drinkers in the form of snacks, breakfast bars, bakery items, and packaged goods.

Insight - The modern consumer in North America has countless flavors from international locations available to them for snacks, drinks, and foods. These consumers are willing to try new flavors, pairings, or interpretations of recipes, to find a new flavor, with priority given to functional foods. Some of the most popular flavors for drinks, such as chai tea or blue curacao in alcohol, are often only found in beverages, making it difficult for certain customers to ever try these flavors.

Trend - 3D scanner apps capture and generate three-dimensional models of real-world objects or environments. These apps transform physical objects into digital 3D assets that can be used in various applications and industries, including augmented reality, virtual reality, design, gaming, and health.

Insight - Consumers are often looking for ways to access advanced technology without purchasing a new device, and mobile-integrated scanners are an accessible resource for individuals looking to view and create personalized digital assets. By using an app instead of a machine, consumers without prior experience in 3D assets can experiment and produce their own without incurring hefty costs.

Trend - Peripheral manufacturers are experimenting with productivity-enhancing keyboards with integrated LCD panels. These keyboards act as an additional monitor for simple tasks, providing quick access to information or apps when needed. These are multipurpose for professional or entertainment use.

Insight - Nearly every consumer who uses a computer for work or entertainment in 2023 has multiple monitors. Additional monitors enhance workplace productivity, while on the entertainment side, monitors provide quick-access to extra content. There is a constant pressure from consumers on both of these sides for products that enhance productivity and entertainment, with brands consistently experimenting with new multipurpose peripherals that combine functions into one device.

Trend - Amid the rising cost of chicken set on by the pandemic, restaurants are turning to dark meat alternatives for chicken wings. Chicken thighs are meatier and often richer in taste, making them a popular choice for QSR brands across North America. These are served fried, tossed, or with sauces.

Insight - Restaurants were of the industries hit the hardest by the pandemic, with rising costs of supply and an ever-dwindling consumer base willing to dine in. Following the pandemic, while indoor dining has returned, prices and supply have yet to return to normal. Restaurants with affected supply sought alternative products to ensure steady supply and affordable pricing, creating demand for typically less-used parts of foods in North America, such as chicken thighs or feet.