Consumer Expectations

Consumer expectations are expanding beyond convenience to personalization and luxury as their level of affluence grows.

The Consumer expectations framing suggests a developmental pattern from convenience to personalization and luxury. In the more affluent nations, convenience is firmly entrenched as an expectation, and the focus is moving to personalization and luxury. Less affluent nations are often still struggling to achieve convenience.

Economy Cluster Findings – The Future of Asia: Implications for Canada by Policy Horizons Canada states that by 2030, Asia will house three of the world’s four largest economies. Asia will also have more consumers than the rest of the world combined. Asian businesses may determine the shape of global economics – drive innovations and set standards – with different rules and conventions than the West.

The Future of Consumption in Fast-Growth Consumer Markets: ASEAN by the World Economic Forum states that ASEAN is the world’s third most populous economy and over the next decade is expected to become the world’s fourth largest. Domestic consumption, which powers roughly 60% of gross domestic product (GDP) today, is estimated to double to $4 trillion.

As consumers rise up the income ladder, spending on special treats and luxury products will take off. Consumers will be willing to pay a premium for convenience, well-being and personalization. However, with 62% of high-income consumers still rating price as one of their top purchasing criteria, consumers will also remain value conscious.

Millennials and Gen Z will account for 75% of ASEAN consumers, spending seven to eight hours on the internet each day across devices, with four to five hours on social media. The unprecedented abundance of information and choice will boost repertoire behavior – 65% would switch brands if their favorites were not available – enabling growth of insurgent brands, which are able to innovate more rapidly. Such consumers value convenience over privacy and are willing to share their data across many applications. Voice and experience-based (AR and VR) influence, search and buying will grow to provide additional convenience to consumers.

Omni-channel retailing will prevail across ASEAN in 2030. While e-commerce will grow the fastest, reaching 13% penetration from 3% today, offline channels will remain large and relevant. Consumers will switch between online and offline throughout their consumption journey. As a result, social media, e-commerce, everyday apps and offline channels will converge into an integrated platform.

Reimagining the future of transport across Asia and the pacific by ARUP states that disposable incomes are projected to continue to grow significantly in Asia and the Pacific and impact consumption and travel patterns. Across all countries, the rapidly advancing digital economy and growth in e-commerce will offer access to new markets, coupled with growing consumer demand for convenience and efficiency. The region’s share of travel and tourism is also set to increase in coming decades. Healthy and sustainable lifestyles are increasingly appealing to consumers, particularly in upper and middle-income countries in Asia.

The Future-Ready University by ARUP, however, states that a desire exists for specific in-person interactions and experiences, some that are only available for a short period in one's life - like attending University. The classic and long thought about experience falls short if not in person.

Human Progress and Human Services 2035: A Scenario Exploration by the Institute for Alternative Futures explores how to potentially break down providing goods and services to consumers as a series of concurrent levels. At the regulative level, consumers receive a specific product or service that is timely, accurate, efficient and easy to understand. At the collaborative level, consumers “walk through a single door” and have access to a complete array of products and services that are available “on the shelf.” At the integrative level, products and services are combined into packages, and designed and customized with input from the consumer themselves, delivered in the most convenient ways, with the objective of best meeting the consumer’s true needs and driving positive outcomes. At the generative level, those providing products and services are joining forces to make the consumer’s overall environment better for them, resulting in value that is broader and more systemic than an individual or family might receive.

Human Progress and Human Services 2035: A Scenario Exploration by the Institute for Alternative Futures states that technological advancements that could become widely used in the 2020s could lower the cost of living and can support equity and sustainability along with increasing self-sufficiency and helping families and communities meet some of their basic needs. These include technologies for low-cost energy and storage, food production, and 3D printing of home goods, electronics, and even homes.

Chaos or Connection? The Global Media and Information Landscape in 2035 by Global Governence Futures states that new business models for value sharing between readers and content producers propel people in new ways to reject and move away from the ad-driven profit structures that we see today. Further advancements in technology, such as block chain and federated learning, allow for the emergence of decentralized and community-driven platforms. Decreasing computing costs drive global access to information and facilitate the emergence of open-source and community-owned communication platforms.

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