Love for Pets, Green Products, Wellness: Recent Consumer News Trends
A look at consumer and retail news from PR Newswire in November and December that you might have missed.
(Note: This is an edited version of a blog post originally published on prnewswire.com. Read the original for more.)
As we approached the end of 2022, the Cision team was hard at work tracking noteworthy consumer news trends. Throughout November and December, we noticed releases geared toward consumers chiming in on a major issue that affects spending decisions, especially around the holidays: inflation. We also saw a heartwarming uptick in releases focused on animals and pets.
In our previous roundup, we noted that consumers were starting to highly value the social and environmental impact of the brands they buy — and we’ve seen this trend continue, with a primary focus on green technology, goods, and services that mesh with a healthier lifestyle, promote general wellness, and tout low environmental impact.
Let’s take a closer look at the noteworthy trends we’ve seen across the consumer wire in November and December.
Jump to: Top Releases | Pets | Green Products | Inflation | Wellness | Conclusion
Some of the Most Popular Consumer and Retail Releases:
Over the last two months, these consumer and retail releases stood out from the crowd regarding overall views, engagement, and uniqueness:
- Mars Petcare announced an agreement to acquire Champion Petfoods.
- Inflation hasn’t gotten the team at ALDI down—they ran a promotion in November offering items priced as they were back in 2019!
- OpenTable ranked the top restaurants of 2022.
- Feeling nostalgic? This U.S. company creates realistic lightsabers for Star Wars fans of all ages.
- Fairtrade America Unveils Top Brand and Consumer Trends for 2023 (spoiler: sustainability is top of the list)
Consumer and Retail News Trends
Throughout November and December, we distributed nearly 5,000 consumer and retail press releases, and our team took notice of a few popular topics:
Pets
Who doesn’t love giving their furry friends some extra love and attention around the holidays? We noticed a slight increase in copy about pet products and pet ownership as we approached the end of 2022 because few things say “Happy Holidays” to your fur babies more than cute gifts, gadgets, and toys made especially for them. Companies seem to be noting this trend and are offering solutions to make the lives of pet owners easier.
Here are some examples from November and December:
- BISSELL Eases Holiday Stress and Mess for Rescue Pet Parents by Giving Away Most Powerful Portable Deep Cleaner
- New PetSmart Data Reveals Over Half of Pet Parents Spend More Time Shopping for Pets than for Some Family Members
- It’s a Dog(g)’s Life – Snoop Dogg Enters the Pet Accessory Space with the Launch of Snoop Doggie Doggs
Green, Eco-Friendly Products, Services, and Technologies
With climate change and sustainability becoming an accelerated point of focus across the globe, more consumers and companies alike are looking to commit to a better future for us and our planet. More consumers are now factoring sustainability into their buying decisions, and brands are definitely taking notice, offering “green” products and services consumers can feel good about purchasing.
Some good examples:
- Bloomingdale’s Taps Boll & Branch To Introduce New, Sustainable Luxury Bedding Collection
- LeapFrog® Expands Engaging Collection of Eco-Friendly Learning Toys
- L’oréal USA Rolls Out Product Labeling System to Educate Consumers About the Environmental Impact of its Products
Inflation
Noticing your paycheck isn’t stretching quite as far these days? You’re not alone. Consumers across the board are changing their spending and saving habits to accommodate for the recent jumps in interest rates and prices at the gas pump, grocery store, and, honestly, just about everywhere else.
This is one topic we hope will lose some steam in 2023.
Over the last two months, we’ve seen quite a few releases regarding consumer sentiment on inflation:
- Unaffordable Prices and Inaccessible Data Reducing Green Consumerism, Survey Finds
- Swiftly Consumer Survey Reveals 69% of Shoppers Struggle to Pay Their Grocery Bills
- 85% of Americans Are Feeling Impact of Inflation in Day-to-Day Lives, Finds New Survey
- Americans Report Decline in Optimism About Finances Heading Into 2023 in Annual New Year’s Personal Finance Survey Commissioned by Slickdeals
A Focus on Health and Wellness
Consumers are stepping into the new year with their health in mind. Releases concentrating on wellness and lifestyle products are front and center right now. Perhaps it’s partially due to society’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but across all channels, we’re seeing consumers taking more personal responsibility for their lifestyles and health, and this of course extends to what they buy. From exercise gear to supplements and foods, the retail landscape has been saturated by consumers’ desire for a healthier lifestyle in the new year.
Consumers are primed and ready to focus on wellness in 2023, as the examples below demonstrate:
- Planet Fitness Collaborates with Amazon Halo to Provide People with the Tools and Resources to Start and Stick with Their Fitness Journeys
- Bel Brands USA Expands Alternative Dairy Portfolio to Include Animal-Free Offering, Nurishh Incredible Dairy, Made with Perfect Day, and The Laughing Cow Plant-Based
- Clean Juice Continues to Set Gold Standards Through Innovative Technology
Conclusion
At year’s end, we were seeing consumers looking forward to a fresh start, centering on how they save and spend their money, improve their physical and mental wellness, and the wellness of their furry family members, too.
We continue to see brand and consumer emphasis on green products, services, and technologies, and rightfully so. Across all industries, sustainability and minimizing ecological impact have become primary goals — we can all do our part, however small, to give back to the planet and each other.
Sounds like a good start to 2023!
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Caitlyn Wojnarowski
Caitlyn Wojnarowski is a Content Specialist at Cision PR Newswire and has a degree in Public Relations and Marketing from the University of Akron. Since working at Cision, she has joined the CLEmpower and Industry Ambassadors groups, as she enjoys being involved inside the workplace. Recently, she has taken on a new adventure and moved to Long Island, NY, with her boyfriend Jeff. Outside of work, Caitlyn can be found exploring the nearest hiking trail, trying her hand at new recipes in the kitchen, starting the day at the yoga studio, or listening to Crime Junkies podcasts.
Carli Claar
Carli is a Senior Content Specialist at Cision PR Newswire. Since 2015, she has worked with a wide array of PR, IR, and communications professionals, helping organizations and brands of all kinds deliver their messages more effectively. When she's off the clock, she can be found (or not found) hiking in the woods, singing and learning to play guitar, or listening to true crime and history podcasts on the couch with her partner Matt and their three fur babies, Troy, Marceline and Butters.
