• by Scott Gold , December 4, 2009

As I look to 2010 and think about consumer trends next year, I look no further than what people may want for gifts in this 2009 holiday season. Sure, like everyone else, I hear a wide spectrum of wishes, from the coolest new gadget to tickets to an exotic island. But I believe that if I could really get inside the average person's head today, I'd find out that what they really want to find wrapped up in a big red bow under the tree is Time (and I mean that with a capital T).

Most of us now carry our work and our social lives and our family responsibilities around constantly in our wireless little hands, and even though there is an off switch to whatever particular device we carry, very few of us are willing to use it. With obligations always able to reach us, there is truly no hiding, and no time to simply be on our own time.

That's why I believe that in 2010, people will seek out more and more ways to save time and ensure that they're spending their time on things that are most relevant to them. A premium will be placed on tools that help accomplish the goal of making better use of time. Marketers who provide consumers with the tools that help them to save time will be rewarded with increased loyalty and adoration.

This will be especially true online. While the information superhighway has already proven itself to be as endless as it is fast, consumers will increasingly seek the off ramp, or at least the overpass that gets them where they are going more quickly and efficiently. They will avoid searching through endless websites to find what's relevant, and in turn they will expect more from the content they seek. They'll want what they want served up to them with minimum effort and minimum time expended.

It's already happening on Facebook. Consumers may want to have hundreds of friends in their tally, but they don't want to have to read every day about what the person they sat next to in high school calculus class had for lunch. That's a waste of time.

In 2010, people will rely much more on updates and alert tools. And they won't be used just for tracking packages or news any more but will be adapted to more practical everyday aspects of our lives and daily routines.

For example, consumers will embrace real estate tools that alert home buyers to listings that exactly match their specifications, in location and price range. Gas stations will push daily updates on pricing. Financial services companies will see significant interest in investor-alert tools that help them to streamline and facilitate their unique, personal investment strategies.

These will increasingly ensure that people are only spending time with content that is most meaningful. While this won't give people more hours in the day, it will be another step in personalizing the online experience and ensuring that time is spent efficiently.

And, yes, you'll be able to block that guy from calculus class, or at least choose to know only what you want to know about his lunch.