The Crowd Report™

Amid a potential watershed moment for the VR industry, insights gleaned from over 100,000 pieces of consumer feedback HundredX has gathered over the last year shine a light on the competitive landscape facing Apple and Meta. As Apple potentially prepares for its virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware debut and Meta updates its Quest series , we look at product and brand positioning to see how Meta is currently positioned in the VR market and what strategies Apple could utilize to win. Our insights from “The Crowd” of real consumer electronics users find: The broad suite of Apple products we track are the leaders in customer satisfaction across every age group, although outperform broader consumer electronics most with middle-aged adults. They are poised for the most growth with 18-29-year-olds. Meta Quest products appear to resonate most, and are poised for the most growth, with middle-aged customers. Apple customers, especially its older customers, care more about the usability of their products than the average consumer electronics customers. The Apple AR/VR headset will have to be easy to use – something competing VR headsets are not known for – to resonate well with the average Apple customer. On the other hand, “The Crowd” views Meta Quest devices as harder to use than the average consumer electronic product. If Apple can produce a headset that’s easy to use, they’d be better positioned to dominate the VR market. Design and comfort are important to Meta Quest customers. Customers became significantly happier with Meta Quest’s design around the release of the premium-priced Meta Quest Pro in October 2022. Apple will need to be careful how high it prices its AR/VR headset. The headset is expected to be more expensive ($3,000) than any competing headset and will be announced at a time when “The Crowd” is generally unhappy with the price of other Apple products. Apple will need to deliver on ease of use, comfort and advanced technology for customers to see value. Still, the audience might be there for Apple’s AR/VR headset. Meta Quest customers leaving feedback with HundredX also leave more than 3x more feedback on iPhone and AirPods than the average respondent, indicating they may use some Apple products more than the average person.

In our April video streaming update, we found that the industry’s Usage Intent ¹ , ² dipped slightly, with Netflix contributing with a 3% drop from February to March . This decline followed the launch of its cheaper ad-supported tier and content budget cuts. Despite the Usage Intent dip, customers have shown increased satisfaction ³ with Netflix's ease of use and navigation, likely due to app improvements. This month we look to “The Crowd” of real customers to analyze more than 530,000 pieces of feedback across the entertainment sector and 100,000 pieces of feedback on 17 video streaming services to understand which streaming services are best positioned for growth. We particularly focus on the opportunities for the new Max streaming service to succeed and Apple TV+, which has become much more interesting to its customers lately. Examining this feedback, we find: HBO Max, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix have all seen Usage Intent fall in the last three months. Only Apple TV+ and Discovery+ are up in the last three months. US subscriber growth for many has stalled, leading them to focus on pricing power and margins. We believe the recently launched Max platform’s success will hinge on Warner Bros. Discovery’s ability to rectify certain shortcomings of the standalone platforms, invest smartly in content and marketing, surface relevant content to its expanded user base and forge new partnerships. Max launches with a content volume advantage over key competitor Disney+. We believe it is smart for Max to continue investing in this advantage, as streaming customers are currently prioritizing content variety over price, creating an opportunity to capture price and margins. Max could benefit from advertising on Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest and Nextdoor, platforms where feedback overlap with HBO Max and Discovery+ is well above normal. As more streaming services pursue sports content deals, Max may want to consider one with the NHL (currently partnered with ESPN+). Both HBO Max and Discovery+ subscribers leave 3x more feedback on the NHL than the average respondent. Apple TV+ continues to lag peers but has seen a recent surge in Usage Intent, particularly with 18-29-year-olds (a key segment for Max). The surge has been driven by interest in its new content. Looking across the broader entertainment sector, we see the video streaming industry has largely maintained its standing as a way for people to spend their time relative to the rest of the entertainment sector. The industry's Usage Intent was steady in April, as it has been over the past year.

A choppy economic outlook that varies significantly by industry, an evolving mix of people working from home versus in person and many other factors continue to shift the fashion landscape. After examining 250,000 pieces of customer feedback on 221 fashion and apparel companies collected from April 2022 to April 2023, we find: While many areas in retail saw slight upticks recently, Purchase Intent ¹ , ² for fashion and apparel remained steady. Kids fashion brands experienced the most significant Purchase Intent growth over the past year, while high-end fashion brands were up the most over the last three months. Brands executing turnarounds such as Kids Foot Locker, Abercrombie Kids and Tommy Hilfiger had the largest Purchase Intent increases in their respective groups. Consumers seem to be caring more about fashion brands’ values and trustworthiness over the last year. It is still not chosen as a reason that customers like or dislike brands as often as many others, but its selection frequency ³ increased more than any other factor in the last year. Sustainability saw the biggest increase in selection frequency as a reason customers like the brand values of a fashion business. It is the second most selected reason for fashion brands, behind Treatment of Customers. Both Patagonia and Carhartt saw significant improvements customer sentiment ⁴ towards Brand Values & Trust over the last year, with Patagonia having the highest overall sentiment and Carhart rising the most. While the fashion and apparel industry maintained pretty stable Purchase Intent over the last year, other retail sectors experienced some shifts. Department stores fell last fall and winter before remaining pretty stable this year. E-commerce —a key channel in the apparel market— has been rising most of this year after a pullback to finish last year.

In recent months, our analysis of feedback from “The Crowd” of real traveling customers unveiled the surge in interest in cruising, early stages of Southwest Airlines' rebound in Travel Intent ¹ , ² and Delta's gains in the wake of the industry's winter challenges. This month, we look at how Southwest's most recent technical issues are affecting its demand outlook and a pickup in interest in the more affordable brands of the hotel industry. As we monitor the sector's flux, we pay particular attention to how customer sentiment responds to economic conditions and strategic decisions by management teams, molding customers’ intent to travel more or less. Looking at almost 300K pieces of feedback on the broader travel sector over the last year, we find: Cruise has continued to outperform the rest of the travel sector in terms of Travel Intent. It rose the most in April (2%) and year-to-date (9%). Travel Intent was up the most for households making $50K or less per year. Southwest Travel intent improved further in April, despite technical hangups that grounded planes last month. Though it was flat in April, Delta still maintains a firm lead in Travel Intent compared to its competitors. The more affordable motels/hotels saw the biggest Travel Intent increases of the broader hotel industry over the past three months, indicating consumers are going into the summer travel season with a focus on price. Travel Intent for hotels was up the most for households making less than $50K per year. The biggest risers were Candlewood Suites, Econo Lodge and Wyndham Garden, all up 8%-10%. Price is one of the most selected reasons why a person likes ³ or dislikes a hotel brand. Over the past three months, it has become increasingly important to travelers.

As the automotive industry shifts towards greener solutions and the Biden administration proposes new electric vehicle sales guidelines, our team at HundredX has been closely monitoring how customer tastes and company strategies have been evolving. We've analyzed more than 80,000 pieces of feedback on 46 auto brands from April 2022 through April 2023 to bring you the latest trends in customer behavior across various vehicle types, with an emphasis on electric/hybrid vehicles. We find: Loyalty Intent among electric and hybrid vehicle drivers spiked over the last six months, up more than any other category except for minivans. Trucks have jumped to the highest Loyalty Intent of any category since the Fall of 2022. While Toyota and Honda are the auto Loyalty Intent ¹ , ² leaders, Volvo surged by 17% in the last six months - more than any other major auto brand. It is now the second-highest luxury brand, behind Lexus. The increase aligns with strong recent electric/hybrid vehicle sales for Volvo. Volvo customers increasingly like ³ the comfort, performance, quality, and reliability of their vehicles. Customers also are happier with Volvo’s brand values, partially driven by customers liking Volvo’s stance on sustainability. Some auto brands have seen significant recent shifts in Loyalty Intent. Over the past six months, the top gainers have been Mitsubishi, Volvo, Cadillac, Land Rover and Lincoln, all up 10% to 18%. However, we focused on Volvo’s gains because its Loyalty Intent is now in the top 10 of all covered auto brands and second highest among the luxury car makers. Volvo’s improvement appears to reflect its customers giving it credit for investments to boost electric vehicle sales along with the performance and comfort of its vehicles broadly.

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In today's fast-paced and inflation-impacted world, staying on top of fashion trends without breaking the bank can be a challenge. Shein, a rapidly growing e-commerce and fashion brand, has managed to stay ahead of the curve by offering trendy styles at unbeatable prices. After analyzing over 310,000 pieces of feedback across 240 e-commerce and fashion brands, we have some fascinating insights into consumer shopping trends and the success of Shein. We find: The segments of retail that are strong in delivering their customers low-cost items and value continue to have the best demand growth outlooks. E-commerce Purchase Intent is still the highest in retail at 1%, followed by grocery and superstores at 0%. All other sectors are negative, with home & furnishings and jewelry the weakest at -15%. Purchase Intent for e-commerce is down modestly since the beginning of the year, while it is up slightly for fashion to -4%. Fashion still significantly lags e-commerce. Shein has a higher Purchase Intent ¹ , ² than the overall fashion industry. Shein’s Purchase Intent is highest among customers in their forties. However, it recently spiked for customers in their thirties. People like Shein’s price and styles ³ far more than the average e-commerce or fashion brand – highlighting why Shein “hauls” are so popular on social media. Shein's Purchase Intent has risen slightly since December 2022, up about 1%, but did dip by 2% from February to March. Purchase Intent for the overall fashion and e-commerce sectors rose slightly in the last month. Within fashion, Purchase Intent was seasonally up for activewear , which we covered in a recent post.