The Just Nots

October: Procter & Gamble launches campaign to appeal to the Just Nots

Procter & Gamble releases an advertising campaign for its Ivory soap that celebrates the heritage and simplicity of the product. At around the same time Procter & Gamble announces a change in its marketing strategy to target both high-end and lower-end markets.

Key Development: Brands are targeting the increasingly polarised market and looking to please both high-end and lower-end consumers.

November: American Apparel lures Just Nots with flea market

Fashion retailer American Apparel stages a pop-up flea market in East London, offering discounts of up to 90%.

Key Development: Retailers are creating contemporary market-style formats for a stronger appeal for the Just Nots than non-aspirational discount sale rails.

November: Morrisons goes local

UK supermarket group Morrisons reports a 2.4% increase in comparable sales in the third quarter of 2011, as it focuses on selling groceries rather than diversifying into electronics and other goods.

The brand also opens the first of three pilot convenience stores called M Local in Ilkley, Yorkshire.

Created by design agency FITCH, M Local is designed to deliver higher quality than its convenience store competitors, providing a ‘market-fresh’ quality of produce, instead of a ‘supermarket-fresh’ quality.

Key Development: As people become busier and more interested in the provenance of food, convenience stores offering value-for-money fresh produce begin to thrive.

March: Carrefour opens affordable organic store

In a bid to appeal to Parisian Just Nots, supermarket chain Carrefour opens its first store dedicated entirely to affordable organic produce.

Key Development: Carrefour’s adoption of locally sourced food and organic products, sold at a low price, indicate the Just Nots’ growing interest in organic products and shows that they won’t compromise on quality.

November: Just Not gyms open in Tesco stores

Gym brand Xercise4Less, which offers monthly membership from £9.99, opens facilities in the unused floor spaces of Tesco stores around the UK.

‘By making fitness accessible to more people we hope to have a positive impact,’ said then managing director Jon Wright.

Key Development: The emergence of thrifty, creative space-sharing initiatives such as Xercise4Less demonstrates the increasing influence of the Just Nots across sectors from retail to leisure.

January: Costco begins stocking premium beauty products at wholesale prices

Budget brand Costco is working with Beauty’s Most Wanted, a collection of world-renowned beauty experts. It now stocks lines from brands such as Pati Dubroff and Jenna Hipp, which have graced the shelves of top concessions across the globe and usually sell at eye-wateringly premium prices.

Key Development: Beauty lovers can now shop for premium brands wholesale at Costco alongside its value-pack toilet rolls, discount home appliances and deluxe-sized foodstuffs.

April: Generation rent

According to Generation Rent, the Halifax bank’s annual report about first-time buyers, the proportion of those aged 20–45 who are putting money aside for a deposit fell 6% in the last year to 43%. This is the first time this figure has dropped since the study began five years ago.

Key Development: After years of facing inflated house prices across the country, Millennials and Generation Xers are succumbing to the idea that they may be renting forever.

August: Stay-at-home Millennials

The number of Millennials choosing to live at the family home post-recession is rising, according to a report from the Pew Research Center.

While the 18–34 age group has grown by 3m since 2007, 5m more Millennials live with their families in 2015 than in 2007, despite national unemployment decreasing from 12.4% in 2010 to 7.7% in 2015, and average weekly earnings increasing from £352 (€501, $547) in 2012 to £370 (€526, $574) in 2015.

Key Development: Stuck in adultescence, Just Not Millennials are prioritising experience and conspicuous consumption over the attainment of traditional milestones.

November: BuyMeBy is a new online service helping to cut down on food waste

BuyMeBy automates the discount process, altering an item’s price as the product nears its expiry date.

What began as an award-winning concept at a New York hackathon is fast becoming one of the smartest solutions to reduce waste. Still in its infancy, BuyMeBy could provide a much-needed update to the way in which food retailers market and manage their perishable goods. ‘We are helping to get food to the underserved, either if you’re on a really low budget or you’re homeless, and that reduces waste by tons,’ says Carlos de Santiago, CEO of BuyMeBuy.

Key Development: Consumers often ignore food nearing its expiry date, leaving perfectly good products on supermarket shelves. BuyMeBy enables Just Not shoppers to browse expiring products at reduced prices.