A TL;DR Of LBB’s 2021 Trends Report
From COVID-19 to nation-wide lockdowns, 2020 has been a year of permanent shifts to say the least. Following this, recent studies released by consultancies and investment banks reckon a surge in the D2C space; especially within the FMCG category- seeing a wave of new companies coming up.
On LBB, we have over 100,000 independent brands with over 25 million Indian millennial users and shoppers across our platforms. With access to data points and consumption trends on both the merchant and user side, here is a synopsis of LBB’s 2021 Trends Report that revolves around trends we saw both users and brands pick up on in 2020 — which are likely to dominate 2021 as well!
Category Trends
With working professionals continuing to work from home (at least for most of the week), we’re betting that multi-functional loungewear, flats and back to work basics will dominate consumption. Consumers are also embracing more Indian prints, weaves and fabrics, like ikat, ajrakh and kalamkari.
Home decor as a category will continue to grow in 2021, especially sub-categories of ceramics, gardening & plants, and more affordable accents. DIY is and probably will dominate this category for 2021 as well and shift towards using more natural materials such as bamboo, terracotta, cane and the likes is also expected.
William Bissell, the Chairman of Fabindia, spoke about how India’s going through a wellness revolution at the moment on our Open House podcast. So be it the categories of beauty and personal care or snacks and beverages, consumers are switching to more natural and healthier choices. From leaning towards more natural ingredients such as turmeric, aloe vera, onion extract, and kumkumadi to preferring healthier eating options that are organic, low in sugar, and facilitate weight loss; these sub-categories are set to rule the charts in 2021.
Millennials and GenZ are luckily the generations that are not skeptical towards change. With most of our target audience staying home and having ample time on their hands, a category we’ve seen bloom this year is parenthood. Think we’re referring only to children here? There are all kinds of parents these days, be it pet parents, plant parents or actual human parents. Therefore, these 3 categories are right up our alley for 2021.
One of the most fast-paced developments in 2020 has definitely been for home-grown brands. Consumers are constantly on the hunt for new artisanal brands in various categories that help them #ShopLocal. Hence, nostalgia has played a big role in shopping habits. Traditions and “Indian roots” seem to be making a comeback in pretty much every category.
Marketing Trends
Within the lifestyle category, niche marketing and micro influencers made a full-fledged debut this year with a 40% rise in influencer content requirement from India’s large corporate lifestyle brands. This is because micro influencers efficiently become the local voice and also produced more organic content for multiple brands. Likewise, we will also see that brands will apply an outdoor-esque strategy for influencer marketing, in order to reach out to a wider audience on social platforms come 2021.
User Generated Content on the other hand, saw 2X engagement rate & helped build trust and drive purchase decisions, especially in categories like consumer durables, beauty & skincare and OTT media services.
Jumping to virtual experiences next, LBB hosted over 500 digital events on the platform past year. Popular formats like Instagram reels & filters were utilized to create snackable content that drives engagement, while Store Tours, product reviews and hauls were used by retailers to build trust with consumers.
Andd we’re through!
It’s been interesting to see what 2020 brought to our user and merchant community. We’ve done our best in unlocking data, insights and trends we’ve seen on LBB this year, and those that will continue to dominate in 2021 as well.
Read the full report here and if you’re a brand willing to work with us, hit us up here.
