The Aspirational Nesters: The Key Consumer Group You Need to Get to Know
By: David Wyld
Tags: Marketing, Business, Covid 19, Small Business, Economics

The Aspirational Nesters: The Key Consumer Group You Need to Get to Know

Americans are spending more time in their homes and more home-focused on their spending than ever before. What does this mean for businesses going forward?

Photo by Alexander Dummer on Unsplash

OVERVIEW

Who doesn’t love a good buzzword? 2020 has certainly provided its share of them and more. After all, who would have thought just a short year ago that major consumer trends — and the strategies of companies both large and small alike — would be defined by two word buzzwords like:

social distancing,

curbside pickup

contactless delivery, and

ghost kitchens.

As a strategic management professor and consultant, all of these buzzwords have helped define how consumer-facing businesses have changed, survived, and yes, in some cases thrived during a year defined by the impact of the coronavirus.

However, I recently read an article from Vogue Business that I believe might have just captured the essence of consumer sentiment during a time of fear, isolation, home-focus, and yes, less spending opportunities, due to the COVID-19 pandemic pandemic with a new, two-word buzzword. And I would make the case that looking ahead, the author of the Vogue Business piece, Kati Chitrakorn, may just have unintentionally coined a new buzzword that will be perhaps the dominant strategy influencing much of the retail, restaurant, and even technology and entertainment markets for 2021 and beyond. The two words that you need to know now are in regards to what she labelled as “aspirational nesters,” who could well be the key consumer demographic for marketers to target both now and into the future — even a future hopefully not defined by the coronavirus.

Photo by Wright Brand Bacon on Unsplash

The “Aspirational Nesters”

So who are these folks? Likely, to some degree, they are you, and me, and literally millions and millions of people both here in the United States and across the Western world. The Vogue Business article (“How to Reach the New Luxury Shopper: Aspirational Nesters”) focused on the fact that department stores, such as Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Nordstrom, were seeing strong sales in luxury items across the board, even in this time of great economic and social uncertainty for many of us. Such sales were particularly strong for luxury items for the home, from expensive kitchen items, rugs, doormats, and more — things that made one’s home better, more functional, and yes, more “cozy”.

The Vogue Business article detailed how these department stores were specifically trying to cater to this new category of younger shoppers — these “aspirational nesters.” This new, younger consumer demographic — “shoppers seeking out luxury goods as “‘comfort’” — were not at all the typical traditional department store shopper, but the aspirational nesters were discovering department stores online and willing to try them out for the first time for their ability to better curate what they were looking as they were And as Tony Spring, CEO of Bloomingdale’s, was quoted in the article as saying that he and his company fully expect the trend towards home comfort seeking to last long beyond the pandemic, observing that: “As things open back up again, I don’t think people will give up comfort, per se. I don’t think people will go back to neglecting parts of their home.”

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

Analysis: The Rise of Aspirational Nesters Across the Economy

So what does the rise of these “aspirational nesters” mean for you and your business? I would argue that this consumer segment is not entirely new. We have seen home-focused businesses, from Home Depot and Lowe’s catering to home improvement to Wayfair, Overstock, and other online retailers being strong performers in furniture, home accessories, and more, thriving for some time, even before the pandemic (just turn on HGTV to see why…). The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly been good — even great — for such firms, as with the renewed focus on their home, consumers have been doing far more home improvement projects and upgrading their home environments…

… which has translated into a boom for those service-based businesses — many of them small businesses — catering to home improvement as well.

However, the pandemic has certainly caused the ranks of aspirational nesters to grow not just in numbers, but in spending power and in the range of items — and services — that are important to their far more home-focused lifestyle beyond home improvement and furnishings. And as I have argued for some time, the fact that the pandemic has persisted well beyond the initial estimates — remember “15 days to flatten the curve” — back in March!…

… along with the fact that we have all lived through months of changes in the way we work, the way we shop, and the way we live means that the changes brought about by the pandemic will be long-lasting — even pattern-altering — in their nature. That is why I believe that the changes in consumption and consumer behavior from all of this will be perhaps even permanent in nature. And that is why I strongly feel that the “aspirational nesters” will be a strong force in the economy from here on out, as the emphasis on home — and luxury and comfort at home — will be a trend that is here to stay — and a market that companies of all sizes should look to cater to both now and in the years to come.

So, beyond the obvious — people buying new couches, kitchenware, and plumbing fixtures and more — how will the market power of these “aspirational nesters” be felt? The answer, in short, is massive, and the impact is only constrained by the imagination of companies that seek to cater to this market. The patterns that we have seen in 2020 — where people have been focused on spending on the home and their own comfort, as opposed to travel, experiences, and other out-of-home diversions, are going to be slow to shake and those areas are going to be slow to recover. And that does work to the benefit of all-things home-related. And while that does mean good things for any company involved in home improvement and home decor, it also means that companies looking to serve other “home-focused” market segments will benefit from the continued, and even accelerated spending, from the aspirational nesters. This could bode well for a wide range of companies across multiple industries, including:

Restaurants with home delivery, pickup

Meal kits

Remote cooking instruction

Home office design/decor

Home entertainment of all types

Pets — everything pets!

Recreation at home rather than through travel

Anything that helps balance work/family concerns and spacing.

The key — for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies — will be in imagining ways that they and their wares/services can best appeal to the needs of these aspirational nesters. The fact is that this will be a powerful consumer group going forward, shaped by the pandemic and with a newfound emphasis on the quality of the home environment. And literally, the products and services that might be tailored to this significant market segment is only limited by the imagination of innovative individuals and companies to address the needs of the post-pandemic consumer moving forward.

And so get used to the phrase “aspirational nesters.” While you may well be one — or aspire to be one going forward, the new focus on home-based spending and comfort will most assuredly be an important marketing dynamic both now and in the years ahead. It is a buzzword you need to know, today!