7 Retail Trends Exploding Into 2023: Everyday Upgrades, Home Decor, and Sporting Goods

A Suzy Micro Report

2022 was a big year for retailers. Inflation, rising consumer credit debt, and shifting shopping behaviors shook things up and kept brands on their toes. The trends that rounded out 2022 will continue to impact brands in 2023—thanks to an impending recession.

With a constantly evolving retail landscape, how can brands keep up with consumers?

Suzy teamed up with Exploding Topics to uncover seven new retail and product trends. We’ll dig into each trend, uncover consumer attitudes and behaviors, and leave you with some takeaways for retailers going into 2023.

Everyday Upgrades

Human Dog Beds

Human dog beds—literally dog beds for humans—are taking TikTok by storm. One brand, Plufl, has amassed over 62 million views on the platform. And according to Exploding Topics, searches for the startup have grown by 6800% over the last five years

So what, exactly, is driving the human dog bed trend?

Well, anxiety, primarily. According to Plufl, the bed is “designed to mitigate stress and anxiety.” The number of people suffering from anxiety has increased by 25% since 2020. That all adds up to a demand for products designed to relieve anxiety. The human-dog bed provides a space for rest and relaxation, specifically in the form of naps. In our survey, 47% of consumers indicated they take naps frequently.

Over half (59%) of consumers said they were interested in human dog beds for naps. That group is primarily dominated by consumers aged 18-24 (69.9%). Also—unsurprisingly—43% of consumers familiar with human dog beds learned about them on social media.

The number one word consumers think of when they consider human dog beds is “comfortable”.

According to Exploding Topics, searches for “anxiety relief products” have grown by 100% over the last five years. Weighted eye masks and weighted sleep sacks are examples of

Solar Power Banks

With more Americans on the go, they need to power their outdoor excursions. Enter the solar power bank—external batteries designed specifically for solar panels. Basically, think of them as regular power banks with embedded small solar panels. They can also be charged via outlet.

Searches for “solar energy storage” have increased by 48% over the last 24 months, according to Exploding Topics. And portable solar energy products are a rapidly-growing segment of this market, driven by #vanlife and WFH workers. That’s why the term “portable solar panels” has seen a 45% increase in search volume over the last five years.

Nearly half (48%) of consumers are familiar with solar power banks. Male consumers were slightly more familiar with the product than female consumers, as were the 2534 age group compared to other age groups. Consumers primarily learn about the devices on social media (34%) and from friends and family (25%).

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of consumers find solar power banks appealing. Over half (52%) of consumers said they would buy solar power banks if they were available where they normally shop instore or online.

The top activities consumers want a solar power bank for include power outages (74%), camping (55%), roadtripping (52%), and hiking (38%).

Smart baby tech

Smart technology is already a key component of nurseries across the country. Smart baby tech includes devices empowered with internet connectivity and has become increasingly popular. Now that tech-savvy Millennials and older members of Gen Z are becoming firsttime parents, they’re looking for advanced products for their little tots.

Overall, the global baby tech market is forecasted to grow 2.5x in the next eight years, and technology that helps babies sleep is an especially fast-growing part of this market. Parents were particularly interested in smart car seats (57%), smart baby monitors (56%), smart night lights (55%), and baby sound machines (51%). Over a third (35%) were interested in a smart bassinet.

Smart bassinets, or tech-enabled beds that use subtle movements and sounds designed to soothe the baby, are also trending up. Smart bassinets are often selfresponsive, meaning they can detect when a baby cries and react with sounds and movements to stimulate sleep.

50% of parents with children at home said they found smart bassinets appealing. Of those consumers that found smart bassinets appealing, it was largely because they see them as “helpful” (15%). As one respondent put it, “It would be a perfect help, it would let me do other things while the baby is sleeping.” Another 12% cited “sleep”— both in terms of healthy habits for babies, but also for parents.

Interest in this product category is growing partly due to the SNOO bassinet, made by the Happiest Baby brand. That’s largely because a number of celebrity couples reportedly use it for their children. Searches for “snoo bassinet” have increased by 9x over the last five years.

Everyday Upgrades Takeaways

Sleep is a priority. For both babies and adults, trending products promote sleep. Whether it’s relieving anxiety or soothing an upset baby back to la-la land, sleep is an important factor for consumers and the products they buy.

Technology appeals when it makes life more manageable. Solar power banks and smart bassinets are resources that make some of the most difficult tasks (traveling and parenting) that much easier.

Home Decor

Mushroom Decor

The latest home decor trend is popping up everywhere—mushrooms. This trend is so popular that “mushroom decor” items dominate the search suggestions when searching for the word “mushroom” on Amazon.

38% of consumers are familiar with mushroom decor, and 37% of consumers find it appealing. Again, the younger generations (ages 18-34) are most interested in this home decor trend. The top types of mushroom decor were wall art (63%), indoor lamps (61%), textiles (60%), outdoor lamps (49%), and tables (48%).

Those interested in mushroom decor primarily noted that it was “cute” (12%). 10% used the word “love” when describing mushroom decor.

Mushroom decor is part of psychedelic design, an aesthetic that includes “bright colors, freeflowing lines, and kaleidoscopic patterns.” Adobe ranks it as one of the biggest design trends happening in the graphic design community.

Bedroom Mini Fridge

An initial spike in interest for this product can be attributed to a retro mini fridge made by Frigidaire (searches for “frigidaire mini fridge” have increased by 466% in the last five years).

A bedroom mini fridge is a smaller version of a normal-sized refrigerator found in most homes.

The retro fridge saw explosive growth, mainly because of social media: TikTok videos showcasing this product have been viewed over 600 million times.

This translated into an increased overall interest in bedroom mini-fridges. Videos mentioning a bedroom mini fridge have over 679 million views on TikTok

70% of consumers are familiar with bedroom mini fridges, and 60% find them appealing. 15% find them appealing because they are “convenient”. One respondent said the main appeal for a mini fridge was, “Definitely being convenient. We have a mini refrigerator in our master bedroom and our guest bedroom. Usually the guest room only stays stocked with water. Our main bedroom has a few fruits, water, juice and a vial of my insulin.”

People wanted to be able to enjoy snacks and beverages from the comfort of their bedroom. Half (50%) of consumers indicated a willingness to buy a mini fridge, provided it was shoppable at stores near them or online.

Home Decor Takeaways

Gen Z aesthetics. Furnishing their own living spaces for the first time, Gen Z has a home decor point-of-view. And many of the recent home decor trends are driven by the retro vibes Gen Z is so fond of.

Technology is appealing when it makes life more manageable. From tiny fridges to whimsical mushrooms, home decor is getting cute. But cute products still need functionality. Mushroom decor often comes in the form of a light or a table, and the mini-fridge keeps snacks and drinks cool for studying or lounging in bed.

Sporting Goods

Padel balls are tennis-like balls used for the racket sport, padel. Demand for this product is growing thanks to growing interest in the sport itself largely, with searches ” increasing by 193% over the last five years.

Most consumers (64%) in our survey weren’t that familiar with padel—yet. Those that are learned about it from friends and family (30%) and social media (35%). 37% of those aged 25-34 said they are familiar with padel. And 27% of everyone surveyed said they find the sport appealing.

The top padel equipment consumers were interested in purchasing included padel rackets (21%), padel balls (20%), and padel shoes (15%).

Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world (in some countries, the number of padel players has increased 5x since 2020.) There are now approximately 25 million padel players in over 90 countries

Gaming Sleeves

Gaming sleeves help gamers unlock their full potential by providing them with a frictionless mouse arm experience. Thanks to this innovative solution, players can move and control the mouse without any added resistance or discomfort which can often arise from extended gaming sessions—and in some cases even cause rug burns. With improved responsiveness, gamers can take on fellow competitors at the highest level.

There will be approximately 29.6 million monthly esports viewers by the end of 2022 (representing an 11.5% increase over 2021).

And gamers of all skill levels are turning to new accessories to boost their performance. In our survey, we found that only 2% of gamers consider themselves professional players. Men were more likely to indicate they play professionally. 3% said they were semi-pro, and 22% said they played competitively. The bulk, however, played for fun (71%).

But, just because most gamers play casually didn’t mean they weren’t interested in performance-enhancing accessories, like gaming sleeves. 64% of gamers indicated an interest in performance-boosting gear.

Most gamers were interested in gaming mainstays, like gaming mice (53%), chairs (50%), and monitors (49%). 32% were interested in one-handed gaming keyboards, 26% were interested in gaming finger sleeves, and 22% were interested in gaming arm sleeves.

Sporting Goods Takeaways

Keep an eye on padel. Just as pickleball has exploded in popularity, padel is poised to do the same. With the growth of padel as a sport, there may be an avenue for specialty and aesthetic sporting equipment.

All gamers want gear. It’s not just the pros who want to perform at their best—all gamers want to do well and are interested in accessories. While most gamers stick to the basics, a few are willing to try new products, like gaming sleeves.

Last Words

Knowing what consumers expect and want from retailers and the trends they’re interested in can help your brand stay ahead of the curve. While these high-level consumer insights can be helpful, it’s even better to directly survey your target consumers to learn what they want and need and how your brand can deliver it.

As an end-to-end consumer insights platform that integrates quant, qual, and high quality audiences into a single connected research cloud, Suzy helps teams conduct iterative research, with agencyquality rigor, in less time and at a fraction of the cost. Learn what retail and product trends your consumers are most interested in with Suzy.

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Exploding Topics helps investors and entrepreneurs find exploding trends before they take off by analyzing millions of searches, conversations, and mentions across the internet.