One market research paper is profiling how living spaces will need to be reconfigured to satisfy these neo-digiterati’s needs and wants

In a recently released white paper by trend forecasting firm WGSN, it was asserted that higher living costs; recessionary markets; and the impact of global warming — will see us continue to do more and expect more from the spaces we live in.

As the firm serves the interiors, consumer tech, fashion, food and drink, and beauty industries, its white paper offers suggestions that firms can consider in their business strategies to meet the emergent needs of consumers. In addition, the document features detailed product innovations and action points on to help businesses to innovate and identify key opportunities to help consumers over this “period of historic transition”.

Accordingly, the firm asserts that “the new consumers” need their home to be:

    • Energy-resilient, proactively smart, clean, and regenerative and low-waste (for sustainability improvements)
    • Hybrid, flexible, comfortable and discreet (to facilitate privacy and remote-working productivity)
    • Healing, biophilic, sensorial and inclusive (to promote good quality rest and physical and mental health)
    • Gamified, entertaining, outdoorsy and creative (to merge work, play and environmental flexibility)

Carla Buzasi, the firm’s President & CEO, noted that businesses need to know and understand the new desires, anxieties and priorities that will shape what consumers need and want, be it the type of paint they choose for their walls; the ingredients they add to their food; the clothes they wear; the tech they use; or the lotion they apply to their face.

“The next three years will be challenging, but they also offer a unique chance — indeed, an imperative — to innovate. Periods of change and economic uncertainty can be the best time to refine old products, create new ones, and expand into new markets. Those that make the right decisions now stand to gain a competitive edge and a deeper connection with consumers in the long term,” said Buzasi.