Craft Focus - April/May 2020 (Issue 78)

REACHING OUT TO NEW AUDIENCES Linda Jones, author of The Craft Report , discusses her thoughts on this vital piece of industry research 2020 marked the third year of The Craft Report – were there any new areas added for this year? Yes, we try to keep a balance between consistency of questions, in order to be able to deliver trend data, and explore new, upcoming areas in response to changes in the marketplace. This year, we looked in more detail into topical themes such as upcycling, the wellbeing benefits of craft, environmental concerns and the importance of social media influencers. How do you think the craft industry has performed over the last 12 months? Well, the indication from the crafters we interviewed was that 2019 was a challenging year for the craft industry, as it was for many other sectors. Household income across our sample was at its lowest for three years and average spending on craft was down nine per cent vs the previous two reports. That said, the report also shows many opportunities for capitalising on existing and emerging trends as craft continues to be ever more mainstream, whether that’s through social prescribing or driven by media. One of the points touched upon in the report was the ‘normalisation’ of craft – do you think this offers a significant opportunity for retailers? Definitely. The more public craft becomes, and the more that craft materials and projects reflect today’s home and fashion trends, the more it will attract new crafters into the market and encourage lapsed crafters to re-engage. Craft continues to be big in the wellbeing category – is this a trend that’s set to continue? A resounding yes on this! Mental wellbeing is so high on the social agenda these days, and there’s such a well-documented endorsement of craft as an aid to wellbeing, that this seems more of a major social shift than a short-lived trend. Younger crafters continue to enter the market – are retailers doing enough to attract this audience? There’s lots of room for improvement here, according to our younger crafters. This audience often have different tastes to their older counterparts, and certainly behave differently, especially when it comes to the communication channels they use. Retailers need to adapt to appeal to this exciting new audience, particularly as they are the most experimental group and are the most open to innovation. The report identified lots of areas of inspiration for retailers – influencers, subscription packages, improvements on the user experience – do you think the industry is keeping up with this demand? I think that there are lots of great examples of firms that are doing an excellent job in engaging consumers with more modern designs, more sustainable materials and packaging, more innovative routes to market and more community-based activities. But, taking the industry as a whole, I’d have to say that there are lots of areas where there’s room for significant improvement. Online continues to grow, although the report showed that bricks and mortar stores are still a major source of inspiration for crafters – what should traditional retailers be doing to take advantage of this? The report highlights the importance of delivering more inspirational and experiential satisfactions in store, via displays, demonstrations, workshops etc. and using this to build a stronger personal bond between the crafter and the retailer, who can still wield a substantial amount of influence on buying supplies and equipment. Sustainability is something that’s increasingly important to consumers, yet the report indicated that the craft sector has improvements to make in this area – is this an important issue for the industry to address? Absolutely. Consumers increasingly want to feel comfortable that their buying choices are sustainable. So, it’s vital to address their concerns and be more transparent on these issues. Will The Craft Report be returning next year – and will you be expanding the research to include any new areas? We very much hope so, as we believe it provides a valuable service to both exhibitors and visitors. There will definitely be new areas in 2021… but that’s all under wraps at the moment! Linda Jones is a partner at LJ&P 41 BUSINESS