Understanding the difference between a product trend and a product fad is key to making successful inventory purchasing decisions. 

While both trends and fads serve an important purpose in the overall success of your product line.  Successful online retailers must learn how to distinguish between what’s “hot today and gone tomorrow” and those products that will continue to be relevant for the longer haul.

The Difference Between a Trend and a Fad

So what is the difference between a trend and a fad?  Fads come out of nowhere and often have no easily discernable reason
for being. They are fueled by popularity and press until they burst into a full buying frenzy and then, just as quickly, fizzle out. They are often meant to be clever or unique, purely for the sake of being cool.

A trend, on the other hand, is based on consumer needs and lifestyle changes. Products that are born out of a trend are made specifically to meet new consumer needs and behaviors.  Trends start with the seeds of change and slowly grow into new directions impacting both products and entire industries.  Although initially, product sales at the beginning of a trend may start more slowly than with a fad, sales increase along with the growth of the trend and its adoption by the mainstream.

However, distinguishing a fad from trend can be tricky. Let’s start by looking at what may be the most famous FAD of all time – the Pet Rock. Its popularity was enormous, with 5 million sold almost immediately. However, the pet rock craze only lasted a very short 6 months.  Because it did not fill a long term consumer need or a societal direction, there was no where to go with it.  No new direction to expand to.  And it quickly died out.

Did people make money from this fad?  Absolutely!  It was a great short-term money maker for the first sellers in, but those who tried to jump on the bandwagon on the downside of the fad were left with tons of unsold inventory.

Here’s a more current example: hanging fish pods. They’re little, hold one goldfish each and you hang them on your wall. While a cute idea, the fish pod is not very practical and is certain to go by the wayside.

On the other hand, there is longer term potential in selling home aquariums and aquarium accessories.  There is a trend towards large, elaborate, home aquariums which can be quite beautiful and provide great pleasure.  This growing trend will also spawn hundreds of brand new products, including new aquarium styles, technologies and products designed to satisfy customer's needs and wants around their aquarium passions.

Another distinction between a fad and a trend is that a fad always has a definite beginning and end.  A trend on the other hand, morphs and changes as it continues to grow.  The Pet Rock came and went. 

The trend towards portable music players, on the other hand, started with the invention of big, heavy, portable "boom boxes" and morphed into personal CD players -  continuing to grow and change into the MP3 portable music player phenomenon that we see today.

A trend so expansive that millions of businesses have been built around it; billions and billions of dollars have already been made and… they continue to.

Differences in Fads

Part of what makes it so confusing is that there are different types of fads. The Pet Rock represented a one-hit wonder. But there are also generational fads, like bellbottom pants that are recycled again after a number of years.  And then there are those products like the Chia Pet that started as a fad and have remained a strong sellers as a novelty product.  Not a trend but not a fad, these types of products fall somewhere in between.

Another difference between a trend and a fad is that a fad usually appears in a single industry and rarely crosses over into others.  For example, the Pet Rock, while appealing to a wide variety of people, did not influence other industries.  The introduction of the Apple iPod, on the other hand, has now crossed over into the worlds of fashion, wireless communications and music. Portable electronic devices have become a trend, while fads such as goldfish platform shoes (complete with live goldfish), and nylon "parachute pants" remain fads hopelessly trapped in time.

The Importance of Recognizing Trends versus Fads

Unfortunately, many people like the lure of what they think is fast, easy, money, so they go in search of the "next hot thing" which often ends up being a fad.   And they tap into that fad when it’s on the downward side of the curve, with the intent of building a business or making a fast buck.  At that point, the product is a commodity, prices drop, and people are left holding the bag.

When betting your inventory dollars on a product that is hot, you need to ask yourself why is it hot? If you can’t come up with a target market with long term reason to buy this product, you’re probably dealing with a fad.
 

Can You Build a Business Around a Fad?

You cannot build a sustainable business purely around a fad but you can certainly supplement your income by selling a fad product here and there IF you get in on the beginning of the fad. Reasonable expectations and low-in stock inventories can keep cyclical fads profitable.  But remember, there is no long term consistent income in trying to continually ride the wave of the latest fad.

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