10/06/2008 11:05:03 AM 
(1) 
(1) It has fueled consumption growth and helped people get what they wanted without having to worry much about the consequences.
While you can look at declining consumer confidence with regard to the economy and people's own financial situations, it doesn't look like something that's going to suddenly swing back to where it once was.
The new normality is going to with us for a considerable amount of time.
This means people are going to question every single purchase and ask themselves if it's a necessity or something they can live without. If it's a necessity, they are going to work out if they can find an alternative at a cheaper price. Expect budgets to constrict, savings to go up and private label/low cost alternatives to be the vogue.
Here are 10 things that I expect to rise.
1. Strict budget planning- banks, Quicken, Mint etc could all be winners here if they can help people control and mange their spending
2. New and alternative forms of retail to become more popular- good for Ebay, thrift stores and low cost grocery chains like Wal-Mart..
3. More hoarding and bulk buying- good for Costco- but people will be shopping there for essentials and staying clear of the premium items...
4. Barter services to become popular again...
5. People taking on whatever work they can beyond their full-time jobs- moonlighting and daylighting to happen all over the place.
6. More self sufficiency- more DIY home improvements and less contractors..fewer re-models and big projects, but for general maintenance consumers will do this themselves. Home Depot/Lowes could help the newbies here...
7. Rise of the grow your own movement- with $50,000 of annual food production available in the average American lot, people will start growing their own vegetables and foods. People will also start doing things like canning and making more of their own food- less prepared foods and eating out.
8. Grocery chains will invest more in private label development and start to take more share from brands. This change will be a catalyst for the revival and further development of PL.
9. Value focused brands need to get their story right because there are big opportunities if they can. Old Navy and Uniqlo in apparel are cases in point. This could be the time for Dell to surge- if they can find a way to re-frame value that's right for today...
10. Subscription culling- companies have grown fat on the profits of the multiple subscriptions to services that American consumers have. Expected cable channels to be culled and non-essential mobile services to do the same. Anyone selling subs needs to be very careful they don't find themselves on the chopping block. Offering new value based subs could be the solution here.
Posted by Ed Cotton
It appears you don't have Flash installed.
woah. and i just bought my first rosemary plant o_O time to go freegan...