BBC News - What does 2011 have in store?

Our relationship with technology may help us cope with the difficult economic times, says Tamar Kasriel, founder of Futureal consumer trends consultants.

She says that the real impact of the spending cuts will only be seen in 2011, for example when your local playground closes down, but people will respond as consumers by becoming even savvier.

"We're going to see a lot more location-specific interaction between retailers and consumers, and it's going to have a real impact on the way we shop."

Examples include mobile phone apps which can offer discounted deals at retailers in your vicinity, and apps which allow you to scan the barcode of any product and then tells you the cheapest stockist.

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While we used to be a cash-rich, time-poor society, this is no longer the case, hence the increasing number of people who cook from scratch as opposed to buying ready-meals. ”

End Quote Fran Walton Futurologist

Ms Kasriel says: "The majority of us haven't done this yet, but by this time next year you could imagine that there will be a name coined for somebody who scans barcodes in one shop to see if it is cheaper elsewhere."

Retailers will respond, she thinks, by adopting "pricing 2.0". Simply put, this means they will be moving towards tailoring their pricing to each consumer.

Fran Walton, director of The Futures Company, agrees that brands will need to work harder to retain customer loyalty.

via bbc.co.uk