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The <keyword id="14545209" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="consumer-IT" source="Orion">consumer IT</keyword> spending in the Asia-Pacific region, already taking the brunt in the ongoing tight market conditions, is set to further slide in 2023, depending on the severity of the economic slowdown, according to an IDC report. The risk of recession worldwide has continued to rise amid increasing inflation and the expectation of a tightening monetary policy. The rising inflation is driven by ongoing supply chain constraints, geopolitical tensions, growing food and energy prices, and early 2022 lockdowns in China. The second-order impact of these disruptions on Asia-Pacific economies is now being felt, the report mentioned. "One in two businesses in the region expect that IT cost price increase stemming from inflation will impact their spending plans for the rest of 2022,a said <keyword id="157894" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vinay-gupta" source="Orion">Vinay Gupta</keyword>, Research Director, IT <keyword id="14545207" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="spending-guides" source="Orion">Spending Guides</keyword>, IDC <keyword id="4520299" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="asia/pacific" source="Orion">Asia/Pacific</keyword>. "If the situation persists, businesses will either delay projects or adjust spends to focus on strategic initiatives essential for future business functions and needs," he added. However, demand from enterprises and service providers for IT investments remains stable so far in Asia-Pacific. Any further worsening of the financial situation will also impact enterprise and service providers' spending. Consumer IT spending (related to purchase of mobiles, tablets, PCs, wearables, and peripherals) slowed in the first half of 2022 because many device purchases have already happened in the last two years to enable work from home or online classes. According to the report, the expectations were that 2022 would not be that great a year. However, due to rising inflation, even the remaining growth prospect is taking a hit. Enterprise IT spending has been stable as businesses continue to protect IT budgets in the short term, the report noted. "Some capital spending is vulnerable along with investments in new projects because the focus will shift to keeping the lights on rather than putting money on new initiatives," it added. However, the willingness and ability to increase IT budgets in line with rising prices is more uncertain today. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/markets-to-remain-volatile-as-they-await-cues-from-the-fed/articleshow/93099823.cms">Markets to remain volatile as they await cues from the Fed</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/infosys-reports-profit-decline-in-q1-fy23-increases-revenue-margin-guidance-for-fy23/articleshow/93092886.cms">Infosys reports a sequential decline in net profit, but increases revenue &amp; margin guidance for FY23</a>

Consumer IT spending to slide further amid recession fears in Asia-Pacific

<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">"Tiny Times"</div></div>
<h3 class="rubric">The market is growing furiously, but getting tougher for foreign firms</h3>
In the heart of old Shanghai is a magnificent villa that serves as the workplace of Guo Jingming, a provocative young film-maker. "Tiny Times", his recent blockbuster, follows the travails of some fashionable college girls (pictured, in the walk-in closet of one of them). Its depictions of the high life, rarely shown in Chinese films, have set social networks ablaze; they have also been attacked by the People's Daily for "unconditional hedonism". Mr Guo says: "So what? Materialism is neutral, neither positive nor negative." After all, he goes on, China's cosmopolitans know at any given moment what movies are playing in New York and what fashions are on the Paris runways.
China's once-drab and Mao-suited interior is not so far behind. In Mianyang, a middling city in the province of Sichuan, an enormous billboard featuring Miranda Kerr, an Australian supermodel, draped in Swarovski crystals welcomes shoppers to the Parkson shopping mall. It is one of half a dozen high-end malls in town. Luxury sales are exploding there. Local Audi and BMW dealers sell more than 100 cars each a month; Land Rover, Jaguar and Cadillac have just muscled in on the market.
Thirty kilometres (20 miles) away in Luxi, a town of 57,000 people, online shopping is hot. The first express-delivery office opened only three years ago, and handled perhaps ten packages a day; today, there are five, each handling 100 packages a day. Even 60km away, in rural Santai county where farm-workers are the customers, one modern shopping mall has sprung up and another is being built. "Customers are evolving very quickly from the low-end market to the middle and high-end," says Yang Shuiying, proud general manager of the Zizhou shopping centre.
In the 1950s and 1960s the world economy was transformed by the emergence of the American consumer. Now China seems poised to become the next consumption superpower. In all likelihood, it has just overtaken Japan to become the world's second-biggest consumer economy. Its roughly $3.3 trillion in private consumption is about 8% of the world total, and it has only just begun.
"The future of the world will be profoundly shaped by China's rush toward consumerism," says Karl Gerth, an expert on Chinese consumption at the University of California, San Diego. Although investment made the biggest contribution to China's growth last year, and although private consumption's share of output, now at 36%, fell between 2000 and 2010, that trend is unlikely to last, for several reasons.
First, boosting the people's desire to consume is a stated goal of China's leaders. Higher government spending on health care and pensions may encourage households to save less for such things. Higher interest rates may, paradoxically, discourage thrift if people reach their savings goals faster. Rising wages and an ageing population will also shift the balance towards consumption rather than saving. And although household debt is growing fast, China still has relatively little.
Besides, consumption has not fallen in absolute terms. It has, in fact, grown briskly--just not quite as quickly as the economy overall. In dollar terms, China contributed more than any other country to the growth in global consumption in 2011-13, according to Andy Rothman of CLSA, a broker. Moreover, China's official statistics understate some consumption--spending on housing, for example.
A massive push to urbanise is also under way, which should produce tens of millions of richer citizens seeking retail therapy. McKinsey, a consultancy, forecasts that consumption by urban Chinese households will increase from 10 trillion yuan in 2012 to nearly 27 trillion yuan in 2022 (see chart 1).
<h3>Fickle Sophisticates</h3>
How much China spends is striking. Even more so is the way it spends. This is now one of the world's most sophisticated consumer markets, heavily skewed towards expensive goods. Local property barons are now building half the world's new shopping malls in China, many of them in smaller cities, because even punters without big incomes are becoming big shoppers. Research by IDEO, a consultancy, has found that many young migrant workers earning less than 5,000 yuan ($830) a month will spend a month's wages on an Apple iPhone.
That points to another difference from previous consumption booms elsewhere: with the world's largest e-commerce market at their fingertips, Chinese shoppers are online from the start. As a result, what was once a foreign marketers' fantasyland is now the world's fiercest battleground for brands.
Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, calls the Chinese "increasingly aspirational and conspicuous consumers" who routinely trade up to fancier labels even on staples. Newly middle-class types in cities in the interior are keen to try out new products, especially the ones they have seen on foreign television shows. Jeff Walters of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) points out that even country bumpkins are consuming global media, thanks to the wild popularity of local online-video services. Chinese consumers, he says, were watching the latest season of "Downton Abbey" on Youku, a video-sharing website, well before it was released in America.
This passion for fashion is, in theory, good news for multinational marketers. Unlike, say, Japan, where consumers heavily favour local brands, Chinese consumers hold foreign brands in high esteem. Torsten Stocker of AT Kearney, a consultancy, observes that foreign brands are doing well in sectors they introduced to China (chewing gum, chocolate); those that have "heritage" appeal (premium cars, luxury goods) and those where local brands are not trusted, such as powdered baby milk. The world's fast-food and consumer-goods giants--Procter &amp; Gamble, Pepsi, General Mills and so on--are also big in China, but they are increasingly dogged by local rivals. A recent study by Bain, another consultancy, found that although foreign brands still lead in some areas (biscuits, fabric-softener, bottled water), local brands are surging in others (toothpaste, cosmetics, juice).
Brand-hopping, though, is rife. Having grown up with radical economic change, Chinese shoppers are "very fickle, and hard to pin down to a strong brand loyalty", says Mintel, a market-research firm. Yuval Atsmon of McKinsey reckons that brand-switching--between Pepsi and Coke, Colgate and Crest, KFC and McDonald's--is common, "much more so than in most markets". Swarovski, the crystal-maker, has discovered that over three-quarters of Chinese customers are eager to try new brands, a far higher figure than elsewhere. A recent study by Bain found that the top five brands in ten categories lost 30-60% of their customers between 2011 and 2012.
This creates several problems. With two or three times as many brands on shelves as found in other countries, competition is ferocious. This makes advertising and marketing vital--but the cost of publicity is soaring. Also, firms that thought they enjoyed a "first-mover advantage" have discovered that their brands are now seen as stodgy or old-fashioned. Olay, a cosmetics brand, defined skin care in China for a generation--but Carol Potter of BBDO, an advertising agency, reckons that "the new generation thinks it's a brand from yesterday." She adds that whereas Louis Vuitton once symbolised good and expensive taste in China, a new generation is seeking different, subtler luxuries.
<h3>The Empty Suitcase</h3>
Another complication for marketers is that many Chinese shoppers have a global outlook. When previous middle classes rose to prominence in America and Japan, the internet did not exist. People could not Google the latest European fashions or check discounts on Amazon. The arrival of cheap air travel has also made the Chinese more discerning shoppers. Mr Stocker argues that these factors have "compressed the discovery process", which in Japan took 30 years, to less than ten.
The Chinese are already the world's biggest shoppers abroad, but a report released on January 20th by CLSA forecasts that the number of outbound Chinese tourists will double to 200m a year by 2020 and that their spending will triple over that time. James Button of SmithStreet, a consultancy, reports a well established piece of etiquette: "You must let friends know when you are going overseas," and take along an empty suitcase.
Many Chinese also use online shopping agents, who aggregate requests and bring back foreign goods. Sales by overseas purchase agents came to nearly 50 billion yuan in 2012, a leap of more than 80% on the year earlier; they jumped by half again last year to 74.4. billion yuan. Foreign websites, including Amazon, now offer direct delivery to China for certain products, and local e-commerce giants such as Alibaba run cross-border services.
Buying overseas saves money, since mark-ups and hefty taxes are the rule in China. Many ordinary folk travel not just to Hong Kong, the most convenient spot, but to Jeju Island in South Korea (where they can visit without a visa and shop duty-free) to stock up on cosmetics that cost much more at home. Price, though, is not the only motivation. Another is to avoid the counterfeit goods so common on the mainland. Even more important, consumers say, are the variety and freshness of the products available overseas.
Nowhere is this wide-ranging urge to spend more obvious than in the market for luxury goods. Globally the Chinese are the biggest buyers of expensive items, accounting for some 29% of purchases last year (see chart 2). Some two-thirds of Chinese spending on luxury goods takes place outside the mainland; a fifth of it in Europe. (Harrods of London has seen sales to Chinese shoppers, its largest foreign contingent, increase by 50% a year since 2011.) Consistently favoured brands include Lancôme, Gucci, Audi, Rolex and Tiffany.
The Chinese are also the world's largest consumers of Bordeaux wine and cognac, though sales (like those of Moutai, a local grain alcohol) have fallen in the wake of official campaigns against gift-giving (see "Corruption: Less party time"). At Berry Bros &amp; Rudd's bonded wine warehouse in Basingstoke, in southern England, where 4.5m expensive bottles are stored, more than 1m of those are owned by oenophiles from greater China. No longer, says the firm's chairman, should the Chinese be pictured ruining fine wine by pouring Coca-Cola into it.
Although a government crackdown on corruption has crimped mainland sales, and some luxury firms slowed down the rollout of new boutiques there last year, Coach, Prada and Bottega Veneta continued to expand. Apple expanded too; it now has more stores in Shanghai than in San Francisco, and launches new iPhones in Beijing when it does in California. Mr Button of SmithStreet thinks brands offering affordable luxury--Michael Kors and Kate Spade, say--can capture both the upwardly mobile and the "post-luxury" elites in the cities, who want less flashy brands.
In the past, the Chinese showed little interest in Western art. That is starting to change, and may change quicker with the opening of a new museum of Western art in Shanghai. The richest man in China has just paid $28m for a Picasso, though he was condemned as "unpatriotic" on Sina Weibo. Ms Potter also observes that two-thirds of affluent consumers are keen to know the history and cultural background of foreign brands. So they love to buy Piaget watches in Geneva and Zegna suits in Milan, but reject unconventional offerings such as German watches or Japanese leather bags.
It is not only in luxury goods that Chinese shoppers are leading the way. China has become the world's biggest e-commerce market, with spending forecast to reach $540 billion next year. On Singles Day, an annual online-marketing extravaganza held on November 11th, 400m Chinese spent $5.7 billion just on Tmall, an e-commerce platform run by Alibaba; Americans, on their Cyber Monday a few weeks later, spent only about $2 billion. China is the world's biggest maker and consumer of smartphones, and will soon be the largest "mobile-commerce" market, too.
Perhaps because they distrust official information, the Chinese rely heavily on peer reviews. Research by BCG has shown that they write, and act on, online reviews of products and services far more than Westerners do. A recent study of purchases of moisturiser found that two-thirds of Chinese buyers relied on online recommendations by friends or family; the comparable figure in America was less than 40%. Millions of online shoppers follow the thoughts of Miumiu and Viviandan, leggy twins from industrial Chongqing, who started posting pictures of themselves in the latest fashions, with wry observations on trends and prices, a decade ago. Even now they post recommendations nearly every day on social-media sites such as Instagram, or on Weibo. Their likes and dislikes make or break products.
Online shoppers in the remotest parts of China often know a great deal about a global brand's attributes and pricing worldwide--which can put marketers on the back foot. Chinese consumers are no longer willing to pay a hefty premium for any old foreign brand. As they grow more discerning, multinationals are having to work harder to prove their worth--and are having to defend their brands on China's wild social media. But creative approaches can pay off.
When VF Corporation, a large American clothing firm, wanted to promote The North Face, a brand of outdoor clothing, in China, it struggled. Whereas climbers and hikers in the West relish the thought of conquering mountains alone, the Chinese generally think of outings in Nature as a spiritual escape, to be enjoyed with friends. So the firm created an online community linking amateurs to clubs devoted to outdoor pursuits. The website offers points for activity and loyalty that can be redeemed for products. Sales are soaring, and VF now has a detailed database of over half a million keen customers.
The online awareness of Chinese customers has big global implications. According to Andrew Keith, the president of Lane Crawford, cosmopolitan Chinese consumers are now setting the agenda: "We are not teaching them, they are teaching us." (He should know; his Hong Kong department store has half a dozen shops in greater China, 650,000 high-spending customers and, in the new Shanghai store, private suites for "Platinum VIPs" who spend 60,000 yuan or more a year.) Alexis Perakis-Valat, head of L'Oréal's China business, agrees. He believes that the Chinese market, unlike those in Western countries, is driven by young urban consumers who are demanding something new and have no taboos. He points to peculiar and distinctive products developed for this niche in China, such as a black-foam face-scrub for men, which are now being launched around the world.
<h3>We're All Chinese Now</h3>
Another sign of such innovation is the reinvention of Johnnie Walker, a mass-market whisky brand belonging to Diageo, the world's biggest spirits firm, as a luxury brand in China. Keen to win over sceptical consumers more accustomed to baijiu (a local firewater), the firm opened Johnnie Walker House in Shanghai almost three years ago. For around 800,000 yuan, or $132,000, the company's master blender (with the delicious surname of Beveridge) will fly in and brew a special batch of Johnnie Walker precisely matched to a customer's tastes. Certain rare blends, including some bearing the marks of the Chinese zodiac, are sold only at this venue.
This effort has helped Diageo introduce its whiskies to thousands of affluent customers, who in turn have pushed the firm towards new inventions--such as blends with a much higher alcohol content--which helped its whisky revenues grow twice as fast as the industry average. The concept has been such a success that the company has opened new Houses in Beijing and Seoul, and plans others. When Diageo unveiled Odyssey, a special-edition blend, in 2012, it kicked off the global launch not in London or New York but in Shanghai.
Life was simpler for foreign brands when they first came to China, reflects David Roth of The Store, an advertising agency: "It was a land grab…you just had to create awareness as quickly as possible." Now the Western invaders must not only cater to the world's most demanding shoppers, but also cope with increasing home-grown competition. Chinese firms are starting to catch up with their fancier foreign rivals. Some even aspire to become global brands.
Huawei, a telecoms-equipment giant, is making a big push into branded consumer electronics. "We have it easier than Samsung did," says Colin Giles, chief marketing officer for its consumer business, because Korean firms paved the way for global acceptance of Chinese brands. Xiaomi, a startup smartphone manufacturer in Beijing, has developed a hugely popular phone-and-app system inspired as much by Amazon as by Apple. It could become China's first global innovation powerhouse.
Leading the local pack is Lenovo, an electronics firm that previously bought IBM's personal-computer business (and on January 23rd agreed to buy its low-end server business, too). When it launched its latest Yoga tablet last year it chose Ashton Kutcher, a Hollywood star who had played Steve Jobs in a film, as its spokesman. David Roman, Lenovo's chief marketing officer, says that even a few years ago it would have been unthinkable to do a global product launch in China with a single tagline, unified advertising content and a Western spokesman. But now he thinks there is "a global consuming class", with more in common across borders than within.
That sums up the rise of China nicely. Future consumer markets everywhere are going to look more Chinese. They will increasingly be cosmopolitan, luxury-minded and online. Firms that can flourish in China are not only winning today's toughest market, but are also positioning themselves for tomorrow's.
Click <a href="https://subscriptions.economist.com/nwcd">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist

Chinese Consumers: Doing It Their Way

<ul><li>Philip recently completed 90 years in India and a huge focus on innovation has helped it stay relevant in the Indian market.</li><li>The brand is witnessing lots of changes in <keyword id="139079" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Consumer-behaviour">consumer behaviour</keyword> and is working hard to adapt to these changes, while coming up with products that will help them stay relevant in these changing ecosystems.</li><li><keyword id="2491908" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gulbahar-Taurani">Gulbahar Taurani</keyword>, Vice- President, Personal Health, <keyword id="138096" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Philips-India">Philips India</keyword>n Subcontinent, Philips India talks about the brand’s efforts in building a strong connect with its consumers, to make sure they are an important part of their lives.</li></ul>A brand that celebrated 90 years of its existence in India, Philips is doing a lot to make sure it stays relevant to its consumers. Innovation has been at the heart of Philips, and is one factor that has helped the brand not only survive but thrive in the country. During the <keyword id="8637077" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coronavirus-lockdown">coronavirus lockdown</keyword>, despite manufacturing and supply chain coming to a complete halt, Philips made sure it stayed connected with its consumers. It made use of the Digital platform to come up with engaging content, to not simply push its products but also build a deeper connect with consumers, to make them a part of the brand’s journey, and to make them feel more involved in the brand’s story. It got them results. They have seen a lot of engagements and meaningful conversations with consumers who feel that the brand really cares for them. Meanwhile, it also dialed up its social listening and actually focused on solving problems that consumers were facing in their day-to-day lives. The result was the launch of many DIY products that will help simplify a consumer’s everyday life. Recently the brand launched the Intelligent SenseIQ Hair Dryer and <keyword id="2440927" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="hair-straightener">Hair Straightener</keyword> to solve the age-old problem of getting the temperature of a dryer right. Meanwhile, since the lockdown led to the closure of parlors, Philips has recently launched a Pen Trimmer that can help getting rid of facial hair. Most of these launches are the result of effective social listening. Going ahead too, the brand is planning to focus a lot more on the DIY segment, as the lockdown has led to massive changes in consumer behavior. “As a brand, Philips is committed to providing meaningful innovations that help in improving a consumer’s life. Going ahead as well, we will stay true to that. We aim to grow our business further in India by innovating even faster in the space of DIY products, cooking and home appliances,” shared Gulbahar Taurani, Vice- President, Personal Health, Philips Indian Subcontinent, Philips India. The year so far The weeks following the initial phase of the lockdown, specifically the months of April and May, have been challenging for most brands, not just in India but across the world. With lockdowns and a complete halt on manufacturing, businesses came to a standstill. However, with the lockdown being relaxed across the country, things are slowly starting to look up. “We have been seeing recovery from June onwards. Initially, there was a bit of pent-up demand. However, we have also realized there has been a behavioral shift with more and more people wanting to use more gadgets and appliances that make them self-sufficient. This was something that had been already happening, but it got accelerated due to the lockdown. And we believe this is a trend that is here to stay,” shared Taurani. During the lockdown months, Philips also made sure that it stayed connected with its audience. “If there was a time that communication took on a very important role, it was in these last few months. We realized the consumer was moving to Digital and spending more time on the medium which is why we diverted more of our spends to the medium too. Our aim was also to make sure that we don’t just give consumers information about our offerings but make it a two-way conversation. During these past few months, we have realized that consumers want to talk to us, give us their feedback and in general want to feel more involved and we have tried to help them in doing just that with our communications,” added Taurani. He also added that going ahead too, Digital will see increased spending from the brand. Growing Philips in India Owing to the fact that Philips has been in India for close to a century now, the brand has been able to localize itself over the years, almost making itself seem like an Indian brand. It has also been doing a lot in terms of having local manufacturing and R&amp;D which again has helped the brand innovate and come up with products specific to Indian consumers, and that has helped the brand stay relevant. Moreover, the Indian market contributes quite substantially, thereby making it important for brand Philips in the global scheme of things, shared Taurani. “We are leaders in many categories in India and are contributing in terms of sales and profitability. The company is committed towards investing more in the Indian market to grow even further here,” he added. This year, despite the lockdown, the brand went ahead with its plans of launching new products, and will keep doing that in the months to come. Going ahead, he added that faster innovation will be their key focus area. “We will keep innovating to help solve consumer problems. We will also work on creating new platforms for the consumers to stay connected with us. Therefore, we will go aggressive on innovation and consumer dialogue,” he said.

How Philips is strengthening its consumer engagement to grow in India

E-commerce giant <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> on Monday announced it will open a new <keyword id="3237372" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="consumer-robotics" source="Orion">consumer robotics</keyword> software development centre here that will build solutions for the world. The India centre will help support Amazon's international <keyword id="62549" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="robotics" source="Orion">Robotics</keyword> division, which launched its first robot <keyword id="70735" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="astro" source="Orion">Astro</keyword> last year. "Last year we unveiled our first consumer robot, but it certainly will not be our last. This new consumer robotics software development centre will help support our growing consumer robotics division and attract top talent to work on world-class technology products," said <keyword id="2920067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ken-Washington" source="Orion">Ken Washington</keyword>, Vice President, Consumer Robotics, Amazon. Astro is designed to help customers with a range of tasks like home monitoring and keeping in touch with family. It brings together new advancements in artificial intelligence, computer vision, sensor technology, and voice and edge computing in a package that's designed to be helpful and convenient. "India is an innovation hub and having the centre here will help Amazon create better consumer robotics experiences for customers worldwide," Washington added. Astro comes with in-built Alexa and uses advanced navigation technology to find its way around home. The user can remotely send Astro to check on specific rooms, people, or things and can get alerts if Astro detects an unrecognised person or certain sounds when they are away. "Turn off mics, cameras, and motion with one press of a button and use the Astro app to set out of bounds zones to let Astro know where it's not allowed to go," according to Amazon. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/india-ahead-of-us-and-uk-when-it-comes-to-ai-readiness/articleshow/91886642.cms">India ahead of US and UK when it comes to AI readiness, says a new report</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/how-to-use-pimeyes-website-for-finding-similar-face-images/articleshow/91886440.cms">This shockingly accurate face search tool can find all your photos on the internet in seconds for free</a>

Amazon to develop software for its consumer robots in India

Technology has empowered shoppers to become the driving force of <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> trends this decade.
Over the years, the balance of influence has shifted from the manufacturer to the <keyword id="46199" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Consumer">consumer</keyword>, according to <a href="http://sharonmarkovsky.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/welcome-to-the-age-of-the-consumer/">a study by Forrester Research</a>, which breaks down the sources of dominance in the following periods: Age of Manufacturing (1900-1960), Age of Distribution (1960-1990), Age of Information (1990-2010) and Age of the Customer (2010-?).
How have consumers changed over the years?
What strategies do retailers use to attract loyal customers?
What are the factors driving today's shopper to spend?
We sat down with <a href="http://www.fitnyc.edu/12647.asp">Steven Frumkin</a>, Dean of the Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology at the <a href="http://www.fitnyc.edu/index.asp">Fashion Institute of Technology</a>, to understand today's increasingly powerful consumer.
Watch below. 
<div style="display:none;" id="kalturavideoplaceholder">kalturavideoplaceholder</div>
Produced by Business Insider <keyword id="21654" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="video">Video</keyword>

Consumers Have Never, Ever Had It This Good

<div style="float: right; margin: 15px 0 20px 20px;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/category/chart-of-the-day"> </a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/chart-of-the-day"></a></td><td><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/expiring-emergency-unemployment-compensation-impact-2013-12"></a></td></tr></tbody></table></div>The U.S. economic recovery story just keeps getting more exciting.
Last Friday, we learned that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-gdp-q3-2013-12">GDP grew at a 4.1% rate in Q3</a>.
Today, we got confirmation that growth continues to be robust in Q4.
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/personal-income-and-spending-november-2013-12">Personal spending grew 0.5% in November</a>, and October's growth rate was revised up to 0.4% from an earlier reading of 0.5%.
"Today's personal income data shows consumers bought a proverbial ton of services from companies in October and November," said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Chris Rupkey. "This means, hang on to your hats, and please check my math, real consumer spending is running 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2013. It has not run this fast since way back in 2010. Consumers are spending more now than they did in 2011 and 2012 when Obama and the Republicans gave them a payroll tax holiday, cutting the tax rate from 6.2 to 4.2 percent for two years."
"Current quarter real GDP growth looks to be running near 4%," <a href="https://twitter.com/Lavorgnanomics/status/415129326229942272">tweeted Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna</a> after the report. "No wonder the unemployment rate is dropping so fast."
However, that same report showed that core PCE, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/core-pce-november-2013-12">is up just 1.1% year-over-year</a>. This is well below the Fed's long-term target of 2%.
"Economics is going to have a new puzzle to contemplate," said Rupkey.
Indeed, the story used to be that the economy was growing to slowly and that too much stimulus risked inflation.
Nowadays, we're talking about the economy getting stronger, yet prices can't seem to get off the ground.
"While the likely rebound in consumer spending in Q4, the previous recuperation of income, and recent solid employment gains will provide policymakers with encouragement that the household sector is gaining strength, the continued softness of PCE inflation will provide reason for caution," said Barclays Michael Gapen.
Still, the resilience of the American consumer is something worth celebrating.
"Net net, consumers are spending at the fastest rate this quarter than any time since 2010," reiterated Rupkey. "That should tell you something. Washington headwinds of uncertainty? Forget about it. With numbers like these, 2014 is shaping up to be the better tomorrow we have wanted to see ever since the recession ended almost five years ago. Bet on it."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Barclays</div></div>

CHART OF THE DAY: The American Consumer Is Just Crushing It

Here's two datapoints that are worth watching, which both suggest that the US consumer is vigorously coming out of its Winter doldrums.
The top one is from <a href="http://hps-civicscience.com/consumer-confidence-spikes-reaching-highest-levels-of-2014/">Hamilton Place Strategies</a>. The second is from <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/170825/economic-confidence-ticks-may.aspx?utm_source=alert&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=syndication&amp;utm_content=morelink&amp;utm_term=All+Gallup+Headlines+-+Economy">Gallup</a>. They both say the same thing, that we're seeing confidence among survey respondents at the highest levels of the year.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://hps-civicscience.com/consumer-confidence-spikes-reaching-highest-levels-of-2014/">Hamilton Place Strategies</a></div></div></div>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/170825/economic-confidence-ticks-may.aspx?utm_source=alert&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=syndication&amp;utm_content=morelink&amp;utm_term=All+Gallup+Headlines+-+Economy">Gallup</a></div></div></div>

It Looks Like The US Consumer Is Coming Alive...

<ul><li>Cargill is the maker of brands like <keyword id="944872" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="naturefresh" source="Orion">NatureFresh</keyword>, <keyword id="6358520" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gemini" source="Orion">Gemini</keyword>, <keyword id="175574" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sweekar" source="Orion">Sweekar</keyword> and Leonardo.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="5222174" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="piyush-patnaik" source="Orion">Piyush Patnaik</keyword>, Managing Director, Cargill oil business in India about the pandemic's impact on their business and how they are working towards creating a portfolio of products that caters to the rapidly changing consumer needs.</li></ul>It was in 1987 that US-based Cargill entered India. In the last 34 years, the maker of brands like NatureFresh, Gemini, Sweekar and Leonardo is now further diversifying after listening to its consumers and working on coming up with a range of bakery products. There has also been a visible move towards healthier offerings. Even before the pandemic hit us, Cargill had started its journey of healthifying its products, which has worked in its favor in the last 1.5 years. In a recent chat with Piyush Patnaik, Managing Director, Cargill oil business in India, we tried to understand how things have been for the brand since the pandemic and the lockdown, what their outlook is for the upcoming festive season and how they are working on bringing in the next phase of growth in India. Excerpts: Q) The last 18 months have been difficult for businesses the world over. What kind of an impact did the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown have on your business? There are three parts to our business, one goes into households through traditional channels. We also have a large presence in food services, essentially for out-of-home consumption. And the third part of our business is supplying to our large B2B players. The last 18 months have been tough. However, it was a mixed bag for the overall business. For the consumer retail business, it was a tailwind but for the food service business, it was a clear and massive headwind. For the B2B segment, it was a mixed bag. The challenge was more on the operations side. However, due to the kind of portfolio we have, there was still consumption and we had less reasons to complain about than a lot of other players in the segment. Q) What do you think are a few factors that helped you sail through, relatively unscathed? As a company, we are very resilient. Our risk management processes, that have been built over 150 years, are a part of our core strength. During those difficult times, our supply chain never got disrupted. Secondly, we have clear market leadership in certain markets and it was easier to get back on track there. That helped the overall business. Thirdly, we took a few steps from our team’s side that really helped. For example, we were all operating in difficult environments, through a certain set of policies, we tried to facilitate movement of our people, additional safety measures for our teams and that helped us get back to the market faster than many of our competitors and we could get into deeper markets sooner. So it was a combination of our structural risk management practices built over years, our strong financial strength and the fact that we didn't have any break in our supply chain during this tough period. Q) What sort of a growth trajectory were you on before the pandemic hit? Are you back to pre-pandemic numbers? No, we are still not back to pre-Covid numbers but we are on a positive trajectory. We were in the typical FMCG growth bracket before Covid, and there has been a slowdown. We expect growth to kick in as we get into the festive season. Q) So you expect a good festive season this year? We definitely expect good demand in the festive season this year. We can already see green shoots of that in some markets. Also, the trade is very clearly positioning itself for higher throughput over the next four to six weeks. Q) The pandemic led to very rapid changes in consumer behavior. How did that reflect on your offerings? Did you come up with new products to cater to this changing consumer behavior? We were very lucky on that front. Over the last few years, there has been a massive conversion from loose, unpackaged products to packaged products across all categories and edible oil was ahead of the curve. Other than that, there has been a clear demand for healthier everyday food products. Covid amplified both trends across the staples category. Just around the time Covid hit, we had launched a few products like Gemini Rice Brand Oil and NatureFresh Acti Heart, which were healthier offerings. Both these products benefited from the trends. The fact that our <keyword id="12272720" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="naturefresh-atta" source="Orion">NatureFresh Atta</keyword> is positioned around high fiber again got traction. Since we have been talking about the importance of health in everyday life for Gemini, NatureFresh and <keyword id="12272721" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="leonardo-brands" source="Orion">Leonardo brands</keyword>, we could clearly see traction. Another change we witnessed was that indulgence moved home. We saw a lot of nice consumer interactions and uptake increase for heritage brands like <keyword id="6358640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rath" source="Orion">Rath</keyword> and <keyword id="1481404" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sunflower-vanaspati" source="Orion">Sunflower Vanaspati</keyword>, products that are traditionally used either during festivals or for out-of-home consumption, for making sweets and Indian delicacies. And the fact that the government is slowly moving towards create awareness around trans fat reduction is also helping. We’re seeing a newfound attraction towards traditional fats which has been really helpful in the last 18 months. Q) Has this movement towards packaged products been faster in smaller cities? A lot of growth in the area is being driven by smaller cities. We are seeing faster conversion in Tier III and IV cities. Q) You have had a bakery ingredients business for a while now. Since the lockdown encouraged people to turn bakers at home, did you see any increase in demand? Our bakery goods were designed for large bakery goods customers like biscuit players. It used to be more B2B but over the last five years, we have built a nice business around NatureFresh professional portfolio of bakery ingredients which plays into the street corner artisan bakers. Today, we reach about 5,500 bakers daily. Since a lot of these shops stopped operating in the last 18-24 months, people wanted to have fresh freshly baked products at home. We had a product called <keyword id="10285577" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="naturefresh-professional-lite" source="Orion">NatureFresh Professional Lite</keyword>, a multi-purpose specialized pack for making cookies and cakes. We put it on e-commerce and saw a lot of traction. Wizened by that experience, we are now creating a larger basket of portfolio for the homemaker segment. The segment is witnessing phenomenal growth but it is still a very small percentage of our overall business. However, it seems like the growth is here to stay. Q) Usually a crisis leads to a cut in marketing and advertising budgets. How was it for Cargill? We are a bit of an outlier there. We have significantly expanded our communication projects, we are not looking at reduction, rather we are looking at increasing our investments, both across the Gemini and NatureFresh portfolio. As brands that are a part of people’s everyday lives, this is the time for increased conversations. We are doing multi-pronged conversations. Of course electronic media continues to stay the most relevant for larger reach, but we're amplifying it both through Digital and now through Print too. Q) How are you expanding your reach and going deeper into the country? We are expanding in two ways. We have expanded our manufacturing capacity significantly over the last 18-24 months And even during this period, we have expanded into many new towns within the geographies we operate in. Of course, we will keep expanding our product portfolio too.

Here’s how Cargill is listening to its consumers and coming up with products to best cater to evolving consumer needs

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:398px"><div class="image"></div><keyword id="6355174" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ford">Ford</keyword> Motor CompanyWhile <keyword id="101934" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Consumer-Reports">Consumer Reports</keyword> liked the C-Max, it gave Ford a score of 51/100.</div>Consumer Reports <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/04/who-makes-the-best-cars/index.htm">released its annual "brand report cards"</a> this afternoon, and the news is not good for Ford.
Of the 26 brands scored, Ford was ranked 23rd, scoring 51 out of 100. Its luxury brand, Lincoln, came in 24th, with a 50.
Scores were calculated based on Consumer Reports road tests and reliability data; brands were only considered if the magazine had test and reliability data for at least three of its models (so no Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche, Smart, or Mitsubishi).
The winners are <keyword id="6415837" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Lexus">Lexus</keyword>, Subaru, and Mazda, which scored 79, 76, and 76, respectively.
All of the top seven ranked brands are Japanese, while Detroit struggled. General Motors' Cadillac scored a 63; Chevrolet and GMC each received a 58.
Chrysler had a 52; its Dodge brand had the worst score, a 46.
While Consumer Reports called Ford's C-Max and Fusion hybrids "impressive," it complained that the MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch "infotainment" systems are difficult to use, and that some models are marred by "unrefined" transmissions.
See the <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/04/who-makes-the-best-cars/index.htm">full rankings on Consumer Reports</a>.

Consumer Reports Trashes Ford In Its New Brand Ranking

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><a href="http://blog.debate.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Walmart-Shoppers.jpg">blog.debate.org</a></div></div><keyword id="46675" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wal-Mart">Wal-Mart</keyword> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wal-mart-q2-2013-earnings-2013-8">announced earnings</a> today that disappointed Wall Street. It also cut its outlook for future sales. 
The company is blaming wary consumers for its problems. 
"The <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> environment remains challenging in the U.S. and our international markets, as customers are cautious in their spending," Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/news-article/7350512-walmart-reports-q2-eps-of-1-24-up-5-1-percent-and-adds-2-7-billion-in-net-sales">said in a release today.</a>
But there's a hole in Wal-Mart's logic, notes Brian Sozzi, chief equities strategist at <a href="http://www.beluscapitaladvisors.com/">Belus Capital Advisors.</a>
"Wal-Mart is investing billions of dollars to lower merchandise prices and as noted by the company, food deflation is front and center on the shelves," Sozzi wrote in a research note. "Theoretically, the Wal-Mart consumer should have slightly more spending power, not less."
So what is to blame for the slowdown in Wal-Mart's business?
Wal-Mart's ambitious investing overseas and in e-commerce, Sozzi said. 
The company has spent the past several years aggressively building stores around the world, to mixed success. It also has been working to catch up to Amazon online. 
"Investments to address international, from uncompetitive prices and poorly laid out stores, continue with no visible sign they are driving improved results, while the company is pouring large sums of money into ecommerce to compete with Amazon," Sozzi writes. 
And, the results show that the U.S. market is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-international-vs-us-2013-8">doing fine</a>, while international took a loss.
Wal-Mart has implied that when consumer outlook improves, business will too.
But as Sozzi notes, there are many other areas it needs to work on.

Walmart Can't Blame American Consumers For Its Problems

Four years after the unveiling of its consumer electronics brand globally, IT and technology solutions giant <keyword id="20658763" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Acer-Group" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Acer Group" meta.hostid="268" meta.entityid="Acer Group">Acer Group</keyword> has finally announced the entry of <keyword id="20725958" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Acerpure" source="keywords">Acerpure</keyword> in India. "It took time because India is an important market and required special strategy," said Andrew Hou, President of Pan-Asia Pacific Operations at <keyword id="20240684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Acer" source="keywords">Acer</keyword> Group. He was speaking at the launch of the flagship product of its consumer electronics brand - a 65-inch television that promises an immersive viewing experience - in Bengaluru. Acer India's President and Managing Director <keyword id="21727286" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="harish-kohli" source="keywords">Harish Kohli</keyword> said the strategy involved creating a manufacturing ecosystem in India. "Through our collaboration with Indian company <keyword id="20252424" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dixon-Technologies" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Dixon Technologies" meta.hostid="268" meta.entityid="Dixon Technologies">Dixon Technologies</keyword>, we are poised to usher in a wave of locally manufactured products. This partnership embodies our shared vision of fostering economic growth and technological advancement within the nation,"Kohli said. While partnerships with local companies are an India-specific strategy, globally the brand builds on its existing strengths - customer-centric innovations, service access and fostering sustainability, President of Acerpure Inc Stanley Kao said. At the launch, Dixon Technologies Co-founder and Executive Chairman <keyword id="20420375" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sunil-vachani" source="keywords">Sunil Vachani</keyword> and Acer India President and MD Kohli signed the partnership deal. Vachani said Dixon Technologies's goal is to manufacture premium consumer products for both domestic and international markets. Apart from televisions, globally a diverse range of consumer electronics products, including 'air-circulator' fans, water purifiers, hand-held vacuum cleaners, robotic vacuum cleaners, hair dryer and styler, are already available in the market. "The range of products are well received in Japan, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines," said Hou. While Hou said the likely competitors of Acerpure are Dyson and Korean water purifier brand Coway, globally known for their high-end gadgets, Acerpure India Director Vasudeva G said that in India the brand is building on its existing reputation of being affordable even while offering cutting-edge solutions. "For instance, our 'air circulator' fans are AI enabled and can adjust its speed according to the drop or increase in air temperatures," Vasudeva said. The fan starts from Rs 7,490 in India. "Acerpure represents more than just a product launch, it signifies the dawn of a new era in home appliances and consumer electronics with a key focus on 'Make in India'," said Hou. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/motorola-edge-50-fusion-vs-oneplus-nord-ce-4-price-specs-and-features-compared/slidelist/110197390.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/motorola-edge-50-fusion-vs-oneplus-nord-ce-4-price-specs-and-features-compared/slidelist/110197390.cms" target="_blank">Motorola Edge 50 Fusion vs OnePlus Nord CE 4 – price, specs and features compared</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/woman-loses-54-lakh-in-work-from-home-scam-heres-what-it-is-and-how-to-protect-yourself/articleshow/110166963.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/woman-loses-54-lakh-in-work-from-home-scam-heres-what-it-is-and-how-to-protect-yourself/articleshow/110166963.cms" target="_blank">Woman loses ₹54 lakh in work-from-home scam! Here's what it is and how to protect yourself</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/iqoo-z9x-5g-with-120hz-display-6000mah-launched-starting-at-12999/slidelist/110176453.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/iqoo-z9x-5g-with-120hz-display-6000mah-launched-starting-at-12999/slidelist/110176453.cms" target="_blank">iQOO Z9x 5G with 120Hz display, 6000mAh launched starting at ₹12,999</a>

Acer launches its consumer electronics brand Acerpure in India

Drug firm <keyword id="1055917" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sanofi-India" source="Orion">Sanofi India</keyword> on Wednesday said its board has approved the demerger of its consumer healthcare business into a separate entity. The company's board has approved the Scheme of Arrangement between <keyword id="14574416" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sanofi-india-ltd" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="sanofi india ltd" meta.entityname="Sanofi India Ltd." meta.entityid="13607" meta.seoname="sanofi-india-ltd">Sanofi India Ltd</keyword> (<keyword id="14364443" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sil" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="sil" meta.entityname="SIL Business Enterprises Ltd." meta.entityid="6832" meta.seoname="sil-business-enterprises-ltd">SIL</keyword>) and its wholly-owned subsidiary <keyword id="17375362" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sanofi-consumer-healthcare-india-ltd" source="Orion">Sanofi Consumer Healthcare India Ltd</keyword> (<keyword id="280623" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="schil" source="Orion">SCHIL</keyword>), the drug maker said in a statement. The initiative is to demerge SIL's consumer healthcare business into a legal entity, SCHIL, subject to approval by shareholders and regulators, it added. This decision will open new gates for the <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> business and employees in a value-driven move to accelerate growth for both the pharmaceuticals business (SIL) and consumer healthcare business (SCHIL) in India, the drug maker said. Upon completion of the proposed demerger, Sanofi will continue to own 60.4 per cent stake in both entities and SIL shareholders will receive 1:1 SCHIL equity share of Rs 10 each, for each equity share owned. "This is a momentous opportunity as it will allow Sanofi to unlock and maximise its business potential in both pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare, with the right assets, structure, and strategy," <keyword id="12396321" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sanofi-india" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="sanofi india" meta.entityname="Sanofi India Ltd." meta.entityid="13607" meta.seoname="sanofi-india-ltd">Sanofi India</keyword> Managing Director Rodolfo <keyword id="17375363" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hrosz" source="Orion">Hrosz</keyword> said. The pharmaceuticals business will focus on its long-term success factors, expanding its portfolio of life-changing treatments available in India, and accelerating its digital transformation to improve the lives of patients in India, he added. The proposed consumer healthcare business would focus on consumer-centric strategies and best-in-class digital and ecommerce capabilities, Hrosz said Sanofi's consumer healthcare business' annual turnover for FY2022 stood at Rs 730 crore. The company's top consumer healthcare brands include Allegra, DePURA, Avil, and Combiflam. SCHIL is expected to be fully operational by the second half of 2024, subject to necessary approvals. "The proposed demerger will help both entities build a sustainable growth model. Today, Sanofi is in a strengthened position in India, allowing us to deliver better value to our shareholders and other stakeholders," SIL Chairman of the Board Aditya Narayan said. Other businesses of Sanofi in India, such as vaccines and clinical studies are not part of SIL and hence, are not impacted by this announcement, the company stated. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/new-ai-powered-breathalyser-can-sniff-out-covid-in-real-time/articleshow/100129936.cms">New AI-powered breathalyser can 'sniff out' Covid in real-time</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/smbc-aviation-capital-moves-nclat-challenging-nclt-order-allowing-insolvency-go-first/articleshow/100129929.cms">SMBC Aviation Capital moves NCLAT challenging NCLT order allowing insolvency Go First</a>

Sanofi board approves demerger of its consumer healthcare business

Chinese consumers have retailers' undivided attention. 
Companies like Procter &amp; Gamble and Unilever have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-china-brands-beat-global-rivals-with-tea-toothpaste--pickled-plums-2014-28">ambushed Chinese customers</a> with tailored assortments like green tea-flavored toothpaste. Consumer brands like Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie &amp; Fitch, and Old Navy are aggressively building stores in mainland China. 
And J. Crew recently ignited controversy by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/j-crew-starts-selling-size-000-2014-7">releasing a size 000 pant</a> for petite Asian shoppers.
J. Crew's latest move reveals a trend that "can be difficult for Americans to grasp," <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/whos-buying-j-crews-new-xxxs-clothes">writes Amy Merrick</a> at The New Yorker. "As the U.S. has become a less attractive place to open stores, <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> isn't solely about their needs anymore."
"There's no doubt that companies across the spectrum, from Walmart to Louis Vuitton, are working to address the exploding middle-class of consumers that China represents," Doug Stephens, founder of industry website <a href="http://www.retailprophet.com/">Retail Prophet</a> and author of "<a href="http://www.retailprophet.com/home/my-book/" title="MY BOOK">The Retail Revival: Re-Imagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism</a>" told Business Insider. While retail growth in China has slowed from peak levels, the country is still a much more attractive place to open stores, Stephens said. 
China's retail market expands by 18% every year, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/12/how-walmart-is-changing-china/308709/">according to The Atlantic</a>. 
"As consumers in developed nations are de-leveraging of credit and de-cluttering their lives of material assets, Chinese consumers are doing precisely the opposite," Stephens said. "They are hungry for what they see as being the trappings of the middle-class lifestyle."
China is also attractive to luxury companies, as the country is set to pass the U.S. in millionaires.
Merrick notes that fashion powerhouse Chanel seated several Chinese style icons in the front row of its runway show. 
And Chinese models Liu Wen and Ming Xi have been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-model-ming-xi-2014-5">prominently featured</a> in campaigns for Victoria's Secret, Dior, Lanvin, and Diane von Furstenberg. Demographics also play a role in China's appeal. 
America's aging population is unattractive to retailers, who would rather invest in countries filled with young consumers who can become lifelong customers, Stephens said. 
China's growing middle class offers the perfect opportunity for American retailers who cater to the struggling poor and middle class. 
Wal-Mart <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-from-shopping-at-chinese-wal-mart-2014-1">plans to open</a> 100 additional Chinese stores in the near future as sales in the U.S. continue to fall.

American Retail Is Losing Its Mind Over Chinese Consumers

<keyword id="6354485" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile">Mobile</keyword> is no longer a communications utility, but a media distribution hub. According to <a href="http://www.emarketer.com/(S(gjrgkh45dmewndatycqrprnz))/Article.aspx?R=1009431" target="_blank" title="eMarketer: Consumers Spend More Time with Mobile as Online Growth Slows Read more at http://www.emarketer.com/(S(gjrgkh45dmewndatycqrprnz))/Article.aspx?R=1009431#BzmszrWVlSPdvoSg.99 ">eMarketer</a>, mobile now accounts for 12 percent of Americans' media consumption time, triple its share in 2009.
Where is this consumer attention being focused?
The biggest beneficiaries have been <keyword id="383661" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mobile-Apps">mobile apps</keyword>. <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">Time spent on apps dwarfs time spent on the mobile Web</a>, and smartphone owners now spend <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">127 minutes per day</a> in mobile <keyword id="6354741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apps">apps</keyword>.
In a <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">recent report</a> from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/mobile-research?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10A&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a>, we analyze the main mobile usage trends developers and publishers should consider to be successful in mobile, detail how users are consuming content on their mobile devices, take a look at the most popular mobile activities, and examine how mobile usage is an additive activity.
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/mobile-research?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10A&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">To access the full report, sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today &gt;&gt;&gt;</a>
Here's an overview of the four usage trends developers and publishers should consider: 
<ul>
<li>The rise of gaming: <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">Games are the largest mobile app category and the biggest money-maker in the app stores, accounting for 70% of Apple's top-grossing apps.</a> However, even with the most addictive games, consumers' attention is fleeting and companies run the risk of becoming "one-hit wonders." </li>
<li>Mobile-social synergies: Social networking apps are the second largest time bucket for mobile users. 39% of mobile users access social networks. This includes mobile versions of desktop favorites, as well as mobile-first networks like Instagram. <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">Mobile holds promise for the social category, but monetization is far from a sure thing. </a></li>
<li>The piggyback rule: <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">The only tried-and-true way for a mobile success is to take a popular usage category and build a product that piggybacks on that activity to provide a unique mobile-native experience.</a> Instagram did it with photos, "Angry Birds" with games, but other usage categories — <keyword id="6355005" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="News">news</keyword>, weather, travel, <keyword id="21654" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="video">video</keyword> etc. — are waiting for a similar hit.</li>
<li>Portal erosion: <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">Mobile is a fragmented space, and consumers seem to like it that way.</a> No one has succeeded aggregating services via a single app or mobile website. The desktop portal is fading with the advent of mobile. Yahoo Mail Traffic declined 12% in the 12 months leading up to December 2012. Carrier attempts to build mobile portals have failed miserably. </li>
</ul>
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/mobile-research?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">The report is full of charts and data that can be easily accessed, downloaded, and put to use.</a>
<div><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">In full, the report:</a></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">Analyzes the four main mobile usage trends developers and publishers should consider to be successful in mobile</a></li>
<li><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">Explores the convergence of social and mobile, including the state of the monetization opportunity</a></li>
<li><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">Takes a look at usage data and trends from the most popular mobile activities, including social networking, gaming, email, weather, search, and video</a></li>
<li><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/how-consumers-are-using-their-phones-now-2013-1?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile%20">Examines how mobile consumption is an additive activity</a></li>
</ul>
<div><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/mobile-usage-how-we-use-our-phones-and-what-it-means-2012-7?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile"></a>
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/mobile-research?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML10&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MU10A&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">To access BI Intelligence's full report on Mobile Usage, sign up for a free trial subscription here. </a>
</div>
</div>
 
<div> </div>

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