Trendspotting: what's for sale?

January is the fun month for trend spotting, and http://www.trendwatching.com/ are the definite leaders when it comes to this.

One trend that caught my eye, probably because I see evidence of it here in Ireland, is ‘sellsumers’. These are consumers looking to profit from their assets with novel ideas for generating hard cash.

Some examples:

- http://www.parkatmyhouse.com/ Post the parking space in front of your house for rent, especially if it’s near a train station or in the city centre etc. It can be rented by the month or just by the day.

- People are also renting out spare storage space in their houses or premises, camping space on their land, and B&B for hotel weary travellers.

- Our own Irish initiative for selling excess energy back to the grid is one which is gaining ground internationally, as more countries and US states look to implement it.

- Raiding the attic for jewellery to sell is also a trend which is very evident here in Ireland: several companies now encourage consumers to sell their gold and make a quick buck.

There are plenty of other examples of this trend in web content, design and manufacturing.

I wonder what opportunities there are for Irish business? This is definitely the time to start thinking laterally about these ideas. As delegates at Checkout Conference for Retailers were told this week: slashing prices was the strategy for 2009, if there’s nothing more to be done on prices then 2010 is the year for thinking creatively about new ways to sell to consumers. Perhaps retailers should partner with imaginative ‘sellsumers’ for some fresh ideas.

To flesh out the market for your novel idea contact KnowledgeWorks, the leaders in secondary research and analysis.