LSN : News : Need to Know 15 : 03 : 18

1. The Future Laboratory reveals The Moral Uprising

The Moral Uprising by The Future Laboratory

London – Delivered to a packed hall of delegates at the Southbank Centre yesterday, The Future Laboratory introduced the three most pertinent trends shaping the consumer landscape.

Commencing with our Morality Recoded macrotrend, co-founders Chris Sanderson and Martin Raymond addressed the imperative need to embed a moral code fit for the digital era into business. In Post-growth Society, we examined the growing desire among consumers for new metrics of progress that go beyond GDP; while Subconscious Commerce addressed the emergence of a new world in which convenience trumps choice, equipping brands with the tools they need to thrive in this evolving consumer landscape.

During the presentation the audience were asked to vote on a series of moral dilemmas that addressed issues like who would be liable if an autonomous vehicle were to hit and kill a pedestrian, with the results revealed at the end of the day.

2. Medly opens physical counterpart to pharmacy app

Medly Pharmacy, Brooklyn

New York – Designed by architectural design firm Sergio Mannino Studio, Medly is a pharmaceutical experience comprising of an app and a physical space, that collates the online and offline pharmacy experience.

The Brooklyn-based pharmacy recently launched an app, which aims to ease the prescription process by allowing consumers to order medication online and have it delivered to your home. Alternatively, those that still want to have a physical experience can choose to collect their prescription at the Brooklyn space and can organise face-to-face consultations with health professionals through the app.

Much like Medly, mattress specialists Casper recently opened their first standalone store featuring six ‘miniature homes’ that encourage shoppers to learn about their products through the sensory experience. Both are examples of how retailers are beginning to understand the necessity of providing a fuller in-store experience to compensate for the shift to online shopping.

3. PG tips aids a post-dairy future

UK – British teabag brand PG Tips have launched into the dairy-free market with a vegan-friendly teabag that perfectly complements alternative milks.

While plant-based milk tends to compromise and overpower the natural taste of tea, according to a study by the brand, the new tea bags contain a special blend that is intended to offset this problem.

As we examine in our Food and Drink sector, the growth of alternatives has expanded beyond those with dietary concerns to become a mainstream choice, increasing the availability of such products. According to Gov.co.uk, the growth is likely to continue resulting in the free-from market being worth £673m ($939.7m; €759.7) by 2020.

PG Tips Perfect with Dairy-free

4. Health and fitness retail space for mind-body solutions

Anatome, London

London – Bridging the gap between a pharmacy and a health store, new retail space anatomē aims to educate consumers who are looking for mind-body solutions. Selling a variety of own-brand vitamins and nutrients as well as oil elixirs at an apothecary-type bar, consumers are guided by in-house nutritionists and practitioners to help them on their journey to health. Influenced by the traditional apothecary store and its use of botanicals and herbs, in addition to health supplements – the store sells herbs, spices and plants.

‘With the plethora of health products on the market, it's hard for consumers to know what’s right for them. At anatomē, we seek to help inform consumers and connect with them more meaningfully,’ Brendan Murdock, founder of anatomē tells LS:N Global.

In the age of Upstream Health, consumers are increasingly taking an active role in their journey to health and seek spaces that help educate them.

5. Millennials trust travel agencies to plan their trips

As it becomes more apparent that the algorithms for sites like TripAdvisor can be easily tricked, disillusioned Millennials are increasingly turning to travel agents as a more trustworthy source for travel recommendations. In our Millennial Family Travel Market, we examine how this demographic is shaping the travel and hospitality industries, especially when it comes to travelling with children.

6. Thought-starter: What will a world without growth look like?

Consumers and businesses alike are increasingly aware that we live in a society that cannot grow for ever. In our latest macro trend, we explore the problems with focusing growth and the need for new metrics of success.

Growth has become the yardstick with which we measure our society's progress, yet at the same time the current measure we use, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), does not reflect changes in consumer mindset.

We are entering a period of late-stage materialism, when people are still participating in mass consumption, yet they care much more about how their purchases reflect their world view. Ideas that at one time seemed fringe - peer-to-peer transactions, the circular economy and zero waste - have become more mainstream, but GDP doesn't necessarily capture these new modes of consumption.

In short, obsessing over GDP will cause us to make the wrong decisions. ‘What we measure informs what we do.’ says Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist and professor at Columbia University. ‘And if we're measuring the wrong thing, we're going to do the wrong thing.’

For more on how to embrace the coming Post-growth Society within your business, get in touch.