Cost of Living Crisis

How organisations and brands are flexing their business operations to cater for customers facing a global cost of living crisis.

News 13.03.2023

Need to Know

Ebay’s new sneaker swap pop-up, an app giving a new life to reduced food, the hotel turning air into water and why digital video will surpass television soon.

Ebay to host sneaker swap pop-up in London

eBay Swap ’Em Out, UK
eBay Swap ’Em Out, UK
eBay Swap ’Em Out, UK

UK – Online marketplace eBay has announced it is opening a first-of-its-kind pop-up sneaker swap shop in London. The one-day ticketed event will allow sneakerheads to exchange their shoes free of charge.

The pop-up will also include a cleaning service provided by Sneakers ER, an authentication hub where experts will check sneakers, a live DJ set, a bar and a Polaroid photo wall.

‘Swapping has always been intrinsic to us sneakerheads,’ says Wahaaj Shabbir, sneaker category manager at eBay UK. ‘In these tough times where the cost of living is making it harder to buy your next pair, we wanted to offer a solution which feels right to the community.’

The pop-up will open on 25 March. Those who can’t attend in person can purchase swapped sneakers on the eBay Swap ’Em Out marketplace after the event. All funds from the online sales will support the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal.

In our Sneaker Hubs Market, we previously observed that sneaker consumers enjoy gathering and sharing knowledge, tips and ideas within the sneaker community.

Strategic opportunity

Set up spaces for consumers to gather and allow them to create organic connection and community around your brand

The Yellow Sticker Cookbook revitalises the reduced food aisle

The Yellow Sticker Cookbook by Uncommon, UK The Yellow Sticker Cookbook by Uncommon, UK
The Yellow Sticker Cookbook by Uncommon, UK The Yellow Sticker Cookbook by Uncommon, UK

UK – The Yellow Sticker Cookbook, a new app created by Uncommon Creative Studio, invites shoppers to scan supermarkets’ reduced items to receive a range of recipes combining the discounted food and what lies in their fridge or cupboard at home. With a mix of prompts, Google’s API and AI, the app hopes that its library of over 1,000 recipes will help all the Britons facing a cost of living crisis.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), food prices rose consistently for 17 months until December 2022 – when food price inflation was at its highest since September 1977. That’s why the app wants to empower consumers to give a second life to a beetroot on its last legs or a slightly soggy courgette that usually ends up in the shop’s bins.

In Adaptive Appetites, we previously highlighted why global citizens like The Yellow Sticker Cookbook’s creators redefined the food and drink sector, pushing for a positive impact on people, the planet and profit.

Strategic opportunity

Rising inflation should inspire tech innovators to think about new ways to empower consumers who are struggling financially with new tools and systems that respect their budget and dignity

Dubai hotel turns air into water with Airowater partnership

UAE – Delta Hotels by Marriott, as part of the Dubai Investment Park, has joined forces with Indian air purifier company Airowater to convert H2O from the air into drinking water for guests.

Airowater builds humidity and temperature-driven machines turning moisture into drinkable water through a patented four-step filtration process.

The Marriott property is the first hotel in the Middle East to use Airowater’s technology. The four-star hotel is now home to two Airowater AWG units producing between 500 and 1,000 litres of water daily – enough to cover all the hotel’s drinking water requirements.

The hotel is proudly plastic water bottle-free, and all its refrigerators are stocked with filtered Airowater glass bottles.

‘We are very satisfied with the results so far,’ says Raja Zeidan, multi-property general manager of Delta Hotels, Dubai Investment Park. ‘All of us in hospitality need to focus more on sustainability and look for solutions together to eliminate plastic bottles in our properties.’

In Post-conscious Travel, we looked at how modern travellers are considering the social impact of their travel more than ever. Travellers want the leisure and hospitality industry to embrace the challenge of making holidays more sustainable.

Delta Hotels by Marriott Dubai Investment Park, UAE

Strategic opportunity

Embrace this current era of Neo-collectivism. Form alliances with like-minded businesses to galvanise your commitments to sustainability

Stat: Digital video to surpass television in viewing time

Photography by Pixabay Photography by Pixabay

US – A new forecast by Insider Intelligence predicts that US adults will spend more time daily with digital video than with television in 2023. Although total time spent on both (just over six hours a day) has remained the same since 2020, digital video will take the lead with an average of 3 hours and 11 minutes per day.

Daily tv time, which includes live, DVR and other pre-recorded videos saved for tv screening, will drop to 2 hours and 55 minutes per day, on average. After a lockdown-induced boost in 2020, daily tv time has declined every year since 2013. Although Americans consume videos and social media content on desktops, laptops and mobile devices, the rise of digital video consumption is due mainly to smart tvs and games consoles.

In Local Tv Market, we looked at how disruptors offer alternatives to streaming giants. As audiences spend a more significant portion of time on citizen streams and glocal shows­, they are moving away from big-budget polished content and finding inspiration and community in self-shot authentic formats on TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Strategic opportunity

Set ambitious and innovative marketing strategies to channel the success of smart tvs and games consoles

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