For the perfect holiday gifts, check the trend forecast
The holiday season promises a few things: lots of food, television, and shopping. But when the time comes to choose a gift, it helps to know which items are worth facing those long lines, and which are not.
Sidney Morgan-Petro is a trend forecaster and retail editor at the analytics firm WGSN. She shared her top picks for the holiday season with us.
Morgan-Petro on developing trends:
I just read a stat the other day that really surprised me, and it was regarding young millennials and their attitudes towards gift cards. Only 34% would choose a gift card, and it was like over 50% would prefer a tangible gift. Materialism is so passe. People are looking for gifts that they don’t have to think too much about, that the other person is still gonna feel has a high value to them. Companies like Birchbox and these subscription services really speak to that trend because you have an expert really picking the items for you, and the person is getting something in the mail which is great. Everybody loves getting things in the mail, that feels awesome…As these young millennials just get older, their preferences are really gonna dictate holiday gifting trends.
Her holiday 2016 shopping list:
I think tech increasingly is taking some of the market share away from apparel. I think that VR headsets, this is gonna be their year. Virtual reality always seemed a little too sci-fi but the quality has gotten leaps and bounds better and the price point is really attainable for a lot of these headsets. But also, the internet of things and this idea of the connected home, so the Amazon Echo and stuff like that.
Click the audio player above to hear the full interview.
Correction (Nov. 24, 2016): A previous version of this story misstated Sidney Morgan-Petro’s name.
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