Future Consumer

Consumers are dissatisfied with their shopping environment. This may not come as news to many executives in the consumer products and retail industry, but the degree of dissatisfaction may be surprising.

 

According to Capgemini's new study, "Future Consumer," just 9 percent of consumers said they were satisfied with their perishable food outlets. At the high end of the satisfaction scale were book and music stores, yet still only 19 percent of consumers were happy with these outlets.

 

The "Future Consumer" research involved more than 2,000 consumers in four countries -- France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States -- and focused on eight product categories: perishable food and beverages, non-perishable food, health and personal care, do-it-yourself (DIY), electronics and appliances, fashion and apparel, sporting goods, and books and music. The study explored the importance of topics such as health and wellness, product traceability, environmental issues and the use of new/emerging technologies, and how these factors may impact the way consumers buy, receive and use products and services in the future.

 

The study is a follow-on to the vision report, "2016: The Future Value Chain," published in late 2006 by the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI), Capgemini and Intel, which describes the trends and developments that will impact the consumer products and retail industries over the next 10 years, with consumer behavior being a key driver of these changes.

 

The key findings from the "Future Consumer" research make it clear that consumer behavior is evolving and that retail and consumer products companies need to anticipate these changes to be part of, or even influence, the changes:

Online shopping will grow rapidly. Although physical stores will remain the channel of choice for most consumers in the coming decade (especially for food products), the importance of online shopping will grow. This is particularly true in the case of books/music and electronics: 38 percent of consumers said they expect to buy all or the majority of their books/music purchases online within the next five years; and 24 percent of respondents expect to buy all or the majority of their electronics over the Internet.

 

Sustainability and other environmental issues will increasingly influence shopping behavior. Sustainability aspects that were identified as most important to consumers in their future buying decisions were energy/water usage (named by 87 percent of respondents), waste reduction/management (85 percent) and sustainable manufacturing features (84 percent). Although sustainability was deemed to be important by most consumers, the majority were willing to pay only a small price difference for products that supported these features.

 

Consumers appreciate receiving personalized offerings, although this differs depending on the product category. More than half of respondents said they would value personalized offerings (such as special products and promotions that are focused specifically on the individual consumer and not available to everyone) for books/music and electronics, but only about one-third would appreciate personalization for perishable food.

 

Health and wellness will be a growing factor in consumer buying decisions. More than eight out of 10 respondents said health and wellness issues (including diet and obesity care) would be important or extremely important to them over the coming years.

 

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of a wide range of new and emerging technologies that can be used during the buying process. Many respondents were familiar with technologies such as Web ordering, blogs/Web forums, in-store kiosks, payment via mobile phone and mobile alerts. However, it may take time before some of these technologies gain significant traction. A smaller percentage anticipated using the different types of technology in the future, compared with the percentage who had heard of the technologies.

 

Overall, consumers are willing to share some types of information -- but they are reluctant about sharing their contact details. About half of respondents said they would share with retailers and manufacturers information about buying behavior and lifestyle, but only 36 percent were willing to share contact information. Many consumers who were willing to share information expected something in return, particularly special promotions.

 

Based on these findings, it's apparent that businesses must rethink their strategies in a number of areas: shopper dialogue, information sharing, integrated logistics and home delivery, synchronized production, sustainability, and company culture and behavioral changes. For many, this will require a different mindset and different capabilities.

 

Companies will need to establish and maintain a true two-way dialogue with individual consumers and improve their face to shoppers -- both in physical and online stores. This requires more frequent format and merchandise assortment changes to keep up with the pace of consumer change.

 

They will need to be transparent in their information management and manage consumer data effectively. Businesses will need to extend the distribution chain to the home and address sustainability in a serious manner. Most important, they will need to be open to new ways of working -- driven by consumers.

 

Consumer behavior will change in the future. Will your business be able to anticipate and adapt to this change? The "Future Consumer" and "Future Value Chain" studies can be downloaded at www.capgemini.com/industries/products.