Talking Trends

From new hybrid business models in the restaurant world to gaming's versatility becoming a saviour for many during lockdown, read about the top trends hitting the industry this month

Game Escape

During mass isolation the number of online gamers more than doubled in Europe, according to Telefónica, and video-game traffic increased by 75% in the United States, reports Verizon.

It seems during lockdown, gaming's versatility has made it a saviour for many; with benefits including companionship, education and stress relief. In the absence of music festivals, Fortnite hosted a Travis Scott concert in April, drawing in over 12 million players to join the live virtual performance and Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, released in the thick of the global lockdown on March 20th, became the world that everyone wanted to escape to.

The Future of Dining

The restaurant landscape will be very different in the coming months: temperature checks upon entering, masked waiters, half-empty venues. Restaurants and cafés, eager to open again, are turning to design solutions.

From a one table, one person restaurant, called Bord för En, located in the middle of a meadow in west-central Sweden, where the food is sent to the solitary diner via a basket on a string from the chef’s kitchen window, to Mediamatic Eten, a vegan restaurant in Amsterdam, installing serres séparées (individual glass booths that resemble small greenhouses) along the waterfront outside the premises as a solution to distanced dining.

Purchasing Pause

As a pandemic recession looms, people are thinking twice before buying. The very definition of essential purchases is being debated. Food and medicine are obvious, but the status of entertainment or technology is less clear-cut.

Anti-excess trends, such as recycling clothing, are likely to accelerate and brands are already anticipating this. In late April 2020, Abercrombie & Fitch and Reebok become the latest brands to partner with clothing resale website ThredUp. However, in China, a flagship Hermès store in Guangzhou reportedly pulled in $2.7 million in sales on its first day of reopening, reflecting pent-up demand, but analysts warn against retailers banking on such
so-called “revenge spending.”

Local Living

As the restaurant agency is forced to adapt, new hybrid business models merge gourmet restaurants, corner stores and farm shares, creating one-stop-shops where customers can buy everything from fresh produce to toilet paper to a homecooked meal.

London burger chain, Patty & Bun has partnered with Hammersmith butcher HG Walter, to develop a DIY burger kit delivered contact-free to your door, whilst many local pubs are turning into pop-up corner shops supplying flour, dried pasta and bottles of wine, creating a new retail model of the future as consumers reconnect with their local areas during lockdown.