On the threshold of a new year, the question we most frequently hear repeated is always the same, inexorable one. Which trends will take shape in the coming months?
Setting aside personal matters, as “social animals” we are all inevitably interested in knowing the trends and attitudes that involve a large number of people.
In clothing as much as in leisure, as well as in furnishing and in the choice of travel, even if we don’t admit it we can’t wait to discover the most influential trends (even if only to avoid them and stand out!).
And today, thanks to the aggregated data coming from the searches of millions of users around the world, it is the search volumes themselves that tell us which trends our online life — increasingly often corresponding to real life — will encounter in 2023.
So here is a summary of the most interesting highlights we found among the reports of the biggest online platforms.
Tech Trends: AI and Web3
It does not surprise us to see, at the top of all the trends in the digital field, the application of artificial intelligence technologies to an ever-wider number of sectors. After a few years of experimentation in the “lab”, 2023 seems to be the year in which this technology will finally explode and become mainstream.
The use of applications like DALL•E or Midjourney and, above all, the buzz of unprecedented discussion created by the launch of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot, in recent weeks is the clearest demonstration of this.
And a dichotomy has already formed between those who immediately put these capabilities into practice, for example in optimising ADV campaigns on Meta and Google Analytics 4 or in creating social content (here is the Mulino Bianco’s New Year post, with a rather heated discussion in the comments 🔥 about the issue of copyright of artificially generated images). And those who focus on reflecting on the revolutionary but still hazy scenario that awaits us, both on the ethical or academic questions and on the business upheavals caused by a “popular” use of sophisticated AI.
Likewise, many experts predict that 2023 will be the year in which companies and consultants will start to take seriously the integration of so-called Web3 (i.e. blockchain systems, NFTs and cryptocurrencies) into the mass-marketing ecosystem.
Lifestyle trends: fashion, furnishing, sustainability
Moving from the digital scenario to that of “real” habits (and the very fact of marking this difference says a lot about how much technology now influences the entirety of our lives), a very interesting report to browse is Pinterest Predicts 2023. Based on users’ search volumes and the frequency of recurring keywords, Pinterest’s analysts are able to suggest trends that we may not yet see, but which are hinted at by real actions of online users. A fluid situation in which the Internet influences reality, which in turn baits online trends: today’s normality.
So here are some of the most interesting (or curious) trends in the field of fashion. Very feminine styles (but applied in a genderless way) and ethereal details such as lace and tulle, fringes and shiny details, including face stickers or tooth gems. As well as looks inspired by the 2000s that hark back to Romantic Comedies or to the Science Fiction of Matrix.
As for the way of furnishing the home — in the post-pandemic years increasingly a refuge and the setting of our daily activities — room for SPA experiences in the bathroom. Or for the recovery of vintage furniture mixed with new technologies or of DIY objects (especially collages, posters or paper decorations) placed in eccentric contexts.
Finally, an absolutely primary role will continue to be played by sustainability, declined in every one of its applications. From travel, both in terms of destinations and modes (for example, a slow train journey) to attention to the impact of digital activities on polluting emissions. Up to the rediscovery of outdoor activities to be preferred over other, more sedentary, attitudes that are harmful to health and the environment (including romantic dates!).
Rights, health, work and shopping: farewell to habits
And even for everything concerning the more “serious” issues, which inevitably intertwine each person’s will with the rules and limitations imposed by society, the trends are clear. The desire to impose change at a political level to guarantee more individual freedoms is increasingly pressing.
Pinterest again, for example, flags interest in change towards a new parenthood from a gender point of view and greater attention to the psychological help that may be needed by new parents. Likewise, the alternatives to traditional talk therapy are on the rise (replaced by experiential practices such as expressive art, music therapy or art journaling).
If we move into the field of work (and take a look at LinkedIn’s 2023 predictions), we immediately notice that some trends that already exploded at the end of the pandemic will consolidate. These include, for example, the preference for hybrid or nomadic working modes. Or the search for healthier balances between career and personal passions (and consequently the appeal of quiet quitting). And also the definitive disillusionment with the myths of the big Tech companies, the mechanisms and algorithms that made them great, and their hero-founders (Elon Musk’s parable is, in this, exemplary).
Purchasing trends 2023: flexibility!
And as for purchasing habits? The Commerce Trends 2023 report by Shopify highlights how online purchases, starting from the first year of the pandemic, increased by 77% each subsequent year. A forced acceleration of innovation and adoption of digital commerce that anticipated forecasts by at least 5 years. Today, in fact, shopping, working and socialising online has become commonplace. But even though in 2022 20% of total global purchases went through an e-commerce site, after years of closures and restrictions people want meaningful connections in all aspects of life, including commerce. Physical shops make these connection points possible between merchants and customers, online and offline sales.
Between recessions and inflation, with a war still raging in Europe, the challenges of 2023 will have to lead brands to respond by adding flexibility to their products, services and commercial policies. Today consumers have more options than ever, just as the purchase journey (Google’s “messy middle”) has never been so fragmented and chaotic. It can happen by seeing an ad on Instagram, an influencer on TikTok, walking past the window of a physical store or thanks to a link arriving from a friend.
This is why, for brands that position themselves online, on a technical level improving the potential customer’s User Experience is an absolute priority. Just as, on the values side, taking a stand on environmental, social and work-ethic issues is a choice that comes to influence up to half of today’s consumers.
