Twice as many worldwide consumers are now online and spend double the amount on goods and services compared with 10 years ago. Other ways by which the world of work is changing is with consumers habits and expectations; in particular, consumers are expecting online browsing to feel like an in-person shopping experience.
In particular, the rising influence of digital channels among consumers is placing added pressure on companies to improve the online experience. Trends such as AR, IoT and Gen AI have the potential to transform the online shopping experience, leading to one that is more intuitive.
To gain these experiences, digital consumers are flocking to TikTok and Douyin, twin social media platforms that have embraced short-form video content, showcasing some of the technological advances in the year ahead that will continue to reshape consumer behaviour. These are findings from a new survey,
Euromonitor International has released its Top Five Global Digital Consumer Trends 2024 report. The annual report delves into emerging trends, offering insight into the evolving values of digital consumers and explores ways their behaviour is reshaping shopping motivations and requirements.
The report further sheds light on upcoming technological advancements that will continue to mould consumer behaviour.
Further findings from the report are in relation to consumer savviness. Saving money is paramount for consumers and they are looking to outsmart brands online and find the best deals.
This is particularly noticeable against the backdrop of mounting macroeconomic uncertainty and increasing digitalisation. In this context, consumers are seeking out online platforms dedicated to rooting out the best deals.
It also stands that consumers want more power in their relationship with brands and are using social media to give them a greater voice.
A completely different trend is with ‘recommerce’. This form of trading is surging, driven by environmentally conscious, thrifty and tech-savvy younger consumers. Brands and retailers recognise the potential of the market and are actively adopting various strategies to enter it, mirroring the convenience of e-commerce, and making recommerce more widely accessible across product categories.
Michelle Evans, Global Lead of Retail and Digital Insights at Euromonitor International, explains to Digital Journal that three key themes had emerged from the 2024 report: “The online shopping experience continues to mature. Euromonitor saw this theme play a prominent role in three of our 2023 trends, and we see it again this year. The use of emerging technologies like generative AI will make online shopping feel more like the in-person shopping experience as explored in Intuitive E-Commerce. The evolution of recommerce, and the borrowing of wider e-commerce strategies, as explored in Recommerce 2.0 also speaks to this greater sophistication.”
