Ten Thoughts On Scarcity. And a WIP framework.

We recently published a SKEWED thought on Drops, and how they've evolved from hype culture into new industries. Whilst thinking on that topic, it occurred to us that scarcity is a much-maligned and misunderstood topic within retail. It's often tarred with the 'limited edition' brush, which we think is less than chic – and of coooourse we're all exhausted by the Hypebeast mentality – YET even the most understated among us have the desire for scarce goods. Not all scarcity has to be bad. Scarcity is key to being an 'individual' which is high on most people's list of goals.

TL:DR We think that brands should be engaging with and thinking about what they have that is scarce a whole lot more. We've got a few nice interesting ways in which they can do that without having to resort to limited edition. SOME of which are easy to systemise.

The idea behind making this scarcity framework was to create a big framework that neatly packaged all the different types of scarcity in consumer goods alongside the mindsets behind the buying behaviour. It was a bit ambitious tbh BUT it has been an extremely interesting exercise. Through doing this we made some interesting learnings that we've summarised in ten quick points:

1. We found five basic categories of scarcity:

• Manufactured (our bogeyman where production is artificially capped) 🏭
• Technological (innovation creates a bottleneck) 💡
• Resource (raw materials are the bottleneck) 🌍
• Discontinued (out of production so limited supply) 🛑
• Labour (talented people are the bottleneck) 👥

2. It might sound like a no-brainer but we're going to say it – being individual is currently desirable. Scarcity is an enabler of this. ✨
3. Scarce goods don't have to be expensive or even premium. Thrifted goods especially disprove this. 💸➡️🚫
4. Scarcity tends to occur at the two ends of a scale, rather than in the middle:

• Old ↔️ New
• Antique ↔️ Innovative
• Craft ↔️ Hi-tech
• Natural ↔️ Synthetic

5. Scarcity is sorta inherently niche, but can also be a good guide to what is emerging. The kinda people that are drawn to scarcity tend to be those elusive early adopters we're always hearing about. 🕵️‍♂️
6. Scarcity should be driven by manufacturing not by marketing. 🏭❌
7. Scarcity is often (but not always) about flex culture, even if the flexes are extremely understated.

• Loro Piana that's indistinguishable from Uniqlo is still a flex. 👔
• An Alfa Romeo GTA-R restored by Alfaholics is still a flex. 🚗
• A quaint Victorian cottage in Chiswick is still a flex. 🏡
• A Judith Beck Weissburgunder is still a flex. 🍷

8. Hoarder mindset is over. We instinctively prefer people with a 'rock' rather than a 'stock' approach. Hoarding is a mentality born in lean times. 'These Foamposites will get a re-release.' 🪨❌📦
9. People that upgrade their phone or camera annually better have a damn good reason for doing so. It feels lame to flex this way. 📱➡️🤷‍♂️
10. Strategically, seasonal scarcity feels undervalued. Something we could get more in touch with. Eating seasonally could make the same journey from hipster to mainstream that using vintage cameras has. 🥗📅🔝

Okay if you want the full framework that is very much WIP please find it below:

1) Manufactured Scarcity (Our Bogeyman)

Limited Editions

Planned Obsolescence:

2) Technological Scarcity

Early Stage Innovation:

Technologically Sophisticated Manufacturing:

3) Resource Based Scarcity

Scarce Raw Materials:

Seasonal Ingredients and Resources:

Environmentally Limited Resources:

Location-Based Scarcity:

4) Discontinued Scarcity

Nostalgia Hunting

Thrift Mania

Archive Amassing

5) Labour Scarcity

Artisanal

Bespoke to Me

Cottage Industry Production