Anatomy of a Retail Trend: How Influence Has Shaped the Retail Consumer

Retailers, for many years, were the trend-setters and tastemakers for consumers, telling them what they needed to buy and when they needed to buy it. Trends would cascade down through retail chains to consumers for multiple categories like food, clothing, technology and more. Overtime, that power that brands and retailers used to hold has shifted to the hands of consumers themselves. A trend in retail can truly come from any source now, including from social media, media, bloggers, other consumers, retailers and brands in all forms. The acceleration of trend creation and adoption through vehicles like TikTok and Instagram have had large ramifications on the retail industry and its consumers in places like demand planning, supply chain management, marketing and merchandising.

In this session, led by Retail Leader Pro’s Chief Retail Analyst, Elizabeth Lafontaine, attendees will further their knowledge of the formation, dissemination and impacts of retail trends in the market today on consumers and retailers themselves and how to apply these principles tomconsumer insights and retail strategies of the future.