In Pursuit of Consumer Convenience

Nearly every day it seems new products and services promise to make consumers’ lives just a bit (or even a lot) easier. That’s no surprise, since the consumer desire for new products built on the priorities of simplicity and convenience has driven retail trends for at least as long as consumers have wanted their bread sliced before they bought it.

This month, NPD Insights  asked NPD’s industry experts to weigh in on what consumer convenience means today. They reported back with myriad ways manufacturers and retailers in their respective industries are addressing the always-growing consumer need for time- and effort-saving products and services.

Food: Power Window Convenience

All of us seek new ways to make our lives easier. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the one job that we all must do three to five times a day: feed ourselves. The food and foodservice industries have always focused on simplifying the processes of purchasing and preparing food. Recent technological shifts and improvements, along with changes in the way consumers eat and the amount of time they have to do so, have made these changes occur at an ever faster clip – and sometimes it’s not just the latest new products that boost consumer convenience.

“Americans are always looking for the easiest way to prepare food, and sometimes we find it in places we didn't expect,” said NPD Vice President, Harry Balzer. “For example, we are now experiencing the renaissance of slow cookers and Crock Pots. Sure, some planning and preparation is required, but the food doesn’t need to be tended, which leaves time for consumers to focus on other aspects of their lives.”

NPD’s Eating Patterns in America  information shows the “appliance” consistently used more each year to prepare our in-home meals is the family automobile’s power window. Last year, one in five meals purchased at a restaurant was via drive-through service.

Technology: Valued Purchase or Shiny Dust Collector

“The convenience proposition of a product is critical in determining whether technologies can meet with approval from early adopters, who are willing to pay premiums for improvements to their quality of life,” said Ross Rubin, NPD Techworld director of industry analysis. “Pricing may carry a product into the mass market, but convenience makes the difference between a valued purchase and a shiny dust collector.”

One of the strongest drivers of convenience in the past several decades has been wireless technologies. These products redefine convenience, offering capabilities unavailable in other forms. For example, handheld computers – such as the PalmOne Treo 650 – permit access to snippets of information or office documents that otherwise would be unattainable when working remotely.

Convenience has played a critical role not only in the development of consumer technology, but at retail, as well. In fact, making shoppers’ lives easier is at the forefront of several consumer technology retailing initiatives. To make e-commerce even more convenient for consumers, many retailers now offer in-store pickups or returns of products purchased online. Crossing channels in another way, Staples lets customers do rebate “paperwork” with no paper at all, using the Web.

Automotive: Convenient Clean-Ups, Faster Gas

“It’s hard work to give your car that showroom appearance,” said David Portalatin of NPD Automotive. “Perhaps that’s why time-starved consumers are interested in time- and energy-saving automotive appearance products.”

Products such as protectants, cleaners/degreasers, and leather care are increasingly being sold in the form of convenient wipes. In the protectants sub-category, products in “wipes” form accounted for 16 percent of dollar volume sales in 2004 – an increase of 11 percent compared to 2003.

Consumers also seek convenience when fueling their cars. In one NPD study, seventy percent of gasoline purchasers reported station location was the reason they chose to purchase the gasoline brand on their most recent purchase occasion. Furthermore, in 2004, 47 percent chose to pay for their fuel by using their credit cards right at the pump.

Beauty: Multi-Purpose, Cross-Category Products

NPD Beauty’s Timra Carlson reports value and convenience are the major buzzwords in the beauty industry. Portable, multi-purpose products such as makeup kits with lip, cheek and eye colors in one handy pocket size palette, convenient at-home skincare treatments, and smaller, purse-sized fragrances are all rising in popularity.

“The popularity of multi-purpose products in the makeup category is an indication that consumers are looking for ease when purchasing cosmetics,” Carlson said. “Foundations containing SPF and/or anti-aging benefits are on the rise as women begin to expect more from their traditional face makeup.”

Cross-category products that offer varied applications of makeup in one convenient package (e.g., eye liner and shadow in one pencil, lip gloss and liner in one case) have become more popular, as consumer demand for portable multipurpose products has increased. For men, skincare gift sets remain a good vehicle for sampling, allowing them the convenience of one-stop shopping and the ability to test new products across a product line before committing to full-sized bottles.

Appliance and Housewares: Bring Convenience Home

Given the complexity of consumer lifestyles today, more and more manufacturers are adding product features that promise convenience. In the appliance and housewares industries, today’s hottest convenience-oriented, innovative products include single-serve coffee makers, technologically superior refrigerators and flexible bakeware.

“The demand for convenience continues to inspire the development, marketing and distribution efforts the appliance and housewares industries,” said Peter Greene, vice president and general manager of NPD Houseworld. “Thanks to technological innovation, the degree of convenience that products offer has broadened, making it nearly always possible for consumers to find products that fits
their unique expectations.”

For more from our Industry Experts, visit the NPD Worlds . . .

www.npdhouseworld.com
www.npdtechworld.com