If you are wondering what consumers are looking for it’s personalisation―they are searching for ways to customise their homes with homewares products that let them create personalised items, décor and dining experiences.
This includes items such as specialty craft beverages, smart home appliances that can be customised to their personal needs and specialty cookware that allows them to re-create restaurant-quality meals or ethnic foods and flavours.
According to the Mega Trends 2021 report by Trend One, consumers are increasingly searching for personalization of products, services and experiences. What’s more, people are also increasingly projecting themselves as a brand and curating their own identity via social media.
“The creation and possession of highly individualised products and experiences is becoming a new status symbol and gives consumers the feeling of living uniquely,” the report found.
Dining out at home
A changing workforce, the ease of online shopping and a boom in streaming entertainment services has made the home the most popular place to eat out. Fueling this desire is the need for healthier eating.
“Those consumers interested in changing their behaviours to live healthier are looking for more fruits and vegetables, more homemade meals, less processed foods and more exercise, all of which lead to a greater need for the housewares industry’s products,” explains Joe Derochowski, home industry analyst for market research firm The NPD Group.
Convenience is key
Cooking at home is more convenient and market research company, Mintel, predicts ‘elevated convenience’ will be one of the biggest food and drink trends of this year. This trend is all about ‘shortcuts’ ie individual meal kits sold at retail, foodservice-inspired packaged beverages and a new generation of prepared meals, sauces and sides that emulate the flavours and formats of restaurant meals.
Getting smart in the kitchen
Preparing those restaurant quality meals at home is helped by smart technology. The global smart home category, which was estimated at US$24.1 billion in 2016, is expected to reach US$53.45 billion by 2022, according to Zion Market Research.
Artificial intelligence and voice control for assisted cooking, as well as replenishment and home delivery, are huge trends in the smart home market, according to Carley Knobloch, a smart home expert. She noted that pantry storage, where a product automatically senses when a pantry item is running low and reorders it, is among one of the more popular trends.
Colour me orange and blue
This year is all about bold and bright colours including Pantone’s colour of the year, Living Coral. The Etsy Trend Guide believes burnt orange will be popular in 2019. Pots and skillets are expected to shed darker hues in favor of more colorful colors, according to the Forbes 2019 cookware trend report. However, others expect blue, in particular navy and indigo, to take centre stage in 2019.
Coziness at the home
A few years ago, the Danish lifestyle trend hygge influenced design trends worldwide, creating a feeling of cozy contentment by enjoying the simple things in life. This year, cwtch (pronounced kutch)―a Welsh word that loosely means to cuddle―is taking over from hygge.
“Much like hygge, cwtch has inspired a warm, comfy approach to design and entertaining that’s hard to resist,” says popular US home and garden channel, HGTV. “It’s all about a magical, warm state of mind that taps into our emotions and desires to create a truly welcoming home. Cwtch is all about feeling safe and secure at home.”
Some products to make the home warm and cozy include blankets or throws featuring soft textures like wool, cashmere or faux fur; candles; light dimmers; décor with inspiring messages; or frames that allow you to display customised collections of photos.
Products highlighting these and other top trends will be on display at the 2019 International Home + Housewares Show, 2 to 5 March at McCormick Place in Chicago.
