Late Pandemic Purchasing Reveals Three Emerging Consumer Trends

ChickAdvisor research shows consumers support “natural individualism”

While the pandemic has seen Canadians continue to purchase and highly rate “household names” in their regular shopping while stuck at home, ChickAdvisor, the Canadian ratings and reviews platform for women which regularly surveys Canadians nationally, has revealed that consumer behaviours for the first third of 2021 identify three emerging trends.

“This year, there have been no real surprises in what people have been purchasing and rating as favourites,” says Ali de Bold, CEO, ChickAdvisor. “Yet while we continue to favour the tried and true, we see three distinct trends emerging that are not pandemic dependent and will likely continue to evolve as we emerge from lockdowns.”

Three consumer trends ChickAdvisor sees emerging so far in 2021 include:

Natural products: Canadians are testing more natural products, taking the time at home to try and compare products.

“There is a big appetite for innovative products that are natural and better for the environment such as the waterless shampoo and conditioner launched this year by Everist. People are eager to try zero or minimal waste products that really work.”

Extreme makeup - either minimal or maximal: Although we may not be wearing much makeup (or any) for our daily Zoom calls, on TikTok it’s all about “maximal makeup” - complete transformations for the camera with heavy foundations, contouring and other artistic techniques.

“TikTok Face is definitely a thing,” says de Bold. “Young women are definitely taking bold moves with heavy makeup and it wouldn’t surprise me if this trend is seen on the streets post pandemic, especially in bigger cities with vibrant nightlife.”

In contrast, combined with more comfortable fitting clothes for work, softer makeup aligns with how the pandemic has broken down beauty norms and shifted our mindset blending work and life closer together.

Non-gendered products: Finally, a few brands are testing and introducing “gender-neutral” products, which has been an emerging niche and is now being more widely adopted by mainstream brands owned by large consumer packaged goods companies.

“Canadians are increasingly interested in in products that are more open with non-binary attitudes towards gender,” says de Bold. “Some brands, particularly one which has become most closely aligned with young men, have introduced neutral scented body sprays including Axe’s Skateboards and Roses or Axe Phoenix which features Mint and Rosemary that could appeal to anyone.”

Together, the trends support a “natural individualism” movement - support the planet and be yourself. How consumer brand managers respond to these emerging trends has yet to unfold, however from a consumer perspective, the 2020s are starting out with a more natural and relaxed attitude overall.

“I think the past year and a half has been a cap on an intense period that people are ready to move away from with more loose attitudes yet strong individualism,” says de Bold. “And smart brands will keep up.”

About ChickAdvisor:

ChickAdvisor is Canada’s first and most trusted ratings and reviews platform for women for everything from beauty products, food, fashion, and household cleaning products. ChickAdvisor has over 350,000 members and sees thousands of product reviews added each month. Helping to build a community for brands, ChickAdvisor connects products and brands with Canadians interested in trying and reviewing. ChickAdvisor is the sister site to XYStuff.com (for men) and FamilyRated.com (for families). All ChickAdvisor programs are powered by their new community building software, Butterly.

Written by Fawn Mulcahy, The Fawnz Creative Communications