#pretail

Pretail: the new shopping trend

A new trend is poised to change shopping as we know it:  pretailing.   This emerging practice could…

Consumers' expectation is going through the roof; They want the best, want it now and be the first.

Pretail is the new space where consumers actively participate in the design and making process and pre-order innovative,exciting, unique product and designs before it hits the market. These crowdfunded sites will become the new shopping malls.

Kickstarter is the pioneer in the space. Quirky went a step further and started incubating products that are in "back of the napkin" stage.

Don't think this phenomenon is mainstream? Here are few numbers (Nov 2012).

Kickstarter users are predominantly (62%) male.

50% are between 18 and 34, and 20% are between 34 to 44.

Almost half (48%) are college educated. That’s against 30.4% of Americans aged over 25 having a college degree (Source: US Census Bureau, February 2012).

45% earn more than USD 50,000 a year.

In 2009, crowdfunded platforms raised a total of USD 530 million. In 2011 that figure was USD 1.4 billion. This year, that’s on track to double to USD 2.8 billion (Source: Massolution/The Economist, May 2012).

Pretail to E-tail to Retail

The traditional flow of products is altered drastically and for good. Here's why:

Global Consumers and Designers

Online is the new offline. Designers and entrepreneurs are more in tune to global demand and are creating products for them. The level playing field of supply and demand in a global scale is breaking all barriers that existed in traditional offline and online stores.

Finding Market Fit

Consumers are thrilled at the possibility of getting access to truly innovative products and designs that are so quirky that they would have never found their way via traditional channels.

And because the aforementioned GLOBAL INNOVATORS can present an endless array of innovations to consumers, at near zero cost and zero risk, the PRETAIL market is near infinite.

It helps the innovators to find the perfect market fit before they get into production. It is easy to PREchase and share feedback so that innovators can tweak their designs. This is an incredible new mode of product development.

Increasing trust

The trust barriers associated with PREtail and PREchase are slowly being eroded. 

The transparency crowdfunded platforms adapts is really phenomenal. Also, consumers, or should we call them, PREsumers, understand the risk and it is largely recognized and worked on by crowdfunding platforms.

The final step for successful PRETAIL products: becoming absorbed by traditional, mainstream online and offline retail. 

In fact, the new breed of PRETAIL sites (such as Christie Street and Crowd Supply) are already blurring the boundaries between PRETAIL and retail by making it easy for customers to buy successful projects.

Pictured: Tsaiclips available in online and offline traditional stores in US, France and HK.

So watch out for the first true PRETAIL hit, bought (instantly) by millions of consumers, from ‘normal’ stores, with most not knowing, or indeed even caring about its backstory. 

PRETAIL: A mode of consumption that sees consumers treat crowdfunding platforms as the new shopping malls. Why? Because that's where current consumer demand for the most innovative, exciting and unique products and being served best than anywhere else, by an army of entrepreneurs and start-ups.

In 2012, donations & reward-based crowdfunding (of which PRETAIL is a part), grew 85% to USD 1.4 billion (Massolution, April 2013).

Data from market-leader Kickstarter shows the incredible growth and global scale of crowdfunding:

Cape Town, South Africa

I work in one city and live in another. I rent a car nearly every week and usually opt for the two lowest classes, either a 1.3 or 1.4-litre engine choosing air-conditioning for a little extra in the summer months. Last week I had a pleasant surprise.