Retail fashions are always changing.
Identifying the changing trends in the retail industry has never been easier thanks to the proliferation of social media and other tools that can provide business people with more information about what goods and services people are talking about and purchasing. In the past, businesses had to play it by ear--trying to figure out what people were interested in by watching them on the street, conducting surveys, running focus groups, reading trade magazines or watching competitors. Now, there's a great deal of free raw data available to retail business people.
Instructions
1. Research trending search terms in your particular area of the retail industry on Google and other search engines. This is primary source data about what people are actually interested in purchasing. When a search topic trends, you'll know about it, and you can directly meet the demand by purchasing search advertising or starting a business designed to attract a certain variety of search traffic.
2. Monitor what influential media operations and individuals talk about in their blogs, publications and other information streams over time. Watch for repetitive themes in the images that they use. For example, if you're in the consumer electronics industry, you want to look at what devices early adopters are talking about. Read blog comments and other messages to get a grip on general opinions.
3. Watch advertisements for clues on what kinds of messages people are receiving about what to purchase. Advertisers are unusually well informed about trending patterns of behavior, and the ads in turn influence people to behave in a certain way.
4. Look at what movies, books and television shows are popular. The most popular forms of media tend to influence the behavior of the entire culture. Often, people feel compelled to purchase products and services that reflect the stories that move them. Media that's popular among particular niches can also provide cues to marketers interested in reaching that segment of the population.
5. Conduct surveys of your target market to discover what kinds of products and services they're interested in. This can assist you in ascertaining developing retail trends. Existing customers are often the best source of such feedback. Find out what your customers and prospective market are interested in so you can better meet their needs.
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