Need to Know
23 : 05 : 23

Global – Airbnb is addressing consumer concerns about the cost of living and inflation with a renewed focus on renting out single rooms to travellers at a more budget-friendly rate. The short-term rental app will launch a range of features, labelled Airbnb Rooms, to encourage users to rent single rooms.

New features will include the ability to search for private rooms with an en suite bathroom and to check if rooms have internal or external locks to ensure they have a minimum level of privacy before booking. The average price for an Airbnb room in the UK is £59 ($73, €67) a night, while globally more than 80% of rooms cost less than £80 ($100, €92).

‘One of the things we know that’s on people’s mind is inflation and the possibility of a recession,’ Nate Blecharczyk, co-founder of the company, told The Guardian. ‘So money really matters and we think that Private Rooms is a very compelling value proposition.’ As discussed in our Neo-collectivism macrotrend report, organisations that unite around values of empathy and thoughtfulness towards community can build long-lasting connections with their consumers.

Global – Kiki, a new Web3-enabled beauty brand, was launched in May 2023 with a new business model encouraging consumers to co-create its products. Those who sign up to become members via the brand’s Kiki World platform are encouraged to decide which colours, fragrances and formulas to use in the brand’s upcoming products.

Kiki was launched online with peel-off nail polishes in Matte Black, Gloss White and Crackle. Members have been tasked with choosing which polish colours the brand should release next. They are also encouraged to offer input on upcoming products, including the brand’s Clean Face Candy cleanser, Magic Bubble Moisturizer and One Night Hair Stand temporary hair dye.

The Kiki World platform incentivises engagement by giving members points every time they use it, which can later be redeemed for rewards such as branded merchandise, NFTs and beauty products. In Transforming Brand Loyalty, we previously looked at similar brands using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and memberships to transcend fluctuating popularity and create value-driven loyalty networks for smaller brands.

UK – The Global Millionaires 2023 TrendLens report released by data and insights firm Agility Research & Strategy confirms the growing impact of TikTok on high-net-worth individuals. Some 21% of the UK’s millionaires cite the short-form video platform as a source of luxury purchase inspiration. In Germany, four in 10 millionaires use TikTok to get ideas about buying luxury items.

The research is based on interviews of 761 millionaires from the US, the UK, Germany, China, Spain, France and Italy conducted in February and March 2023. ‘Despite its correlation with the Gen Z demographic, luxury brands must not underestimate the rise of TikTok, as we have found that the platform is a key source of purchase inspiration for HNWIs across several markets,’ said Amrita Banta, managing director of Agility Research & Strategy.

In Generation Z Luxury Market, we previously looked at how young consumers use their status as digital natives and experts in social media to research and carefully select luxury brands and products rigorously.