Consumer Forecast
Future Consumer 2024
After years of rapid industry, technological and social
acceleration, 2024 ushers in an era of realignment. How
can companies keep pace but not run out of steam? WGSN
Insight presents the new key consumer profiles, and what
must be done to win minds and market share
Andrea Bell
01.31.22 · 54 minutes
Medium
Executive summary
2024 heralds realignment. With ourselves, our workplaces and the planet.
Though we may chase new meta-economies and run towards new industries,
it’s the wealth of time abundance that will connect us all. Move fast, but
embrace slow. Welcome to 2024.
Here’s your at-a-glance-guide to our four consumer profiles:
The Regulators : after years of uncertainty and seismic change, this cohort relies
on consistency as a survival mechanism
Strateg y – make it frictionless. Voice control will drive home-commerce, and
smart scanning is essential. Also, keep an eye out for store-hailing
The Connectors : anti-hustle culture but not lazy, this cohort is determined to
rewrite the rules of entrepreneurship and fractional living
Strateg y – focus on community commerce. From the rise of resale-as-a service
(RaaS) to DAOs, this group is for the people, by the people
The Memor y Makers : post-lockdown feelings of guilt and remorse are being
transformed into life decluttering and redefined families
Strateg y – invest in the care economy. Focus on conscious conveniences and
products and services that promote ageing well
The New S ens or ialis ts : don’t be mistaken, these tech optimists aren’t living life
behind a VR headset. Quite the opposite
Strateg y – enable viral moments. From the rise of proof of attendance protocol
tokens to dedicating store and/or web pages to viral product trends, focus on
social moments to drive sales
1
Lucy's Magazine
Consumer sentiments 2024
WGSN’s consumer sentiments are selected through our proprietary methodology. Our global experts use
WGSN’s unique STEPIC framework: examining changes in society, technology, the environment, politics,
industry and creativity to identify the macro forces that will drive the emotional sentiments in 2024. Some
of these sentiments may emerge earlier in certain regions, but all of these are expected to be mass in 2024.
These sentiments are further distilled to produce our four consumer profiles.
Viviane Sassen
@romain_laurent
Kinfolk
@babaa
01. Future Shock
02. Overstimulated
03. Tragic Optimism
04. Awe
A feeling of distress due to rapid
societal and technological
acceleration
Driven by emotional clutter and
always-on lifestyles, our senses
are at capacity
We’re not toxic positivity. This
mindset boasts a more realistic
framing
A feeling of wonder that has
been shelved for the past few
years
2
01. Future Shock
Consumer sentiment
Let’s face it, a majority of society is faced with a state of distress due to the rapid
acceleration in society and technology. 2024 marks the dawn of the Everything Net, a
circular existence where there are no lines between our physical and digital worlds.
There is great promise in these meta-economies but also a sense of anxiety brought
on by too much change in too short a period of time. This uneasiness has a name:
Future Shock.
Coined by futurist Alvin Toffler and Adelaide Farrell in their 1970 book of the same
name, Future Shock refers to the social and emotional paralysis brought on by the
“shattering stress and disorientation” at the magnitude and velocity of changes we
are going through. Many people are living through the fundamental experience of
Future Shock: feeling disoriented and chronically unprepared.
The pandemic only exacerbated these emotions. We weren’t prepared for a global
pandemic and the shadow effects: home-schooling, remote work or new workplace
guidelines, and being isolated from loved ones. There was a global feeling of trying
to run a marathon without being able to see a finish line. The fundamental need to
feel prepared and grounded has given rise to chronic multitasking which actually
leads to less efficient brain function, interferes with working memory, and may cause
long-term memory loss.
Alessandro Malossi
“In the past, you made a decision and that was it. Now, you make a
decision and you say, ‘What happens next?’ There’s always a next”
Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock
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The multitasking myth
According to Kevin Madore, a neuroscientist at Stanford University in the US, when
people take on a task, several brain networks dealing with attention and cognitive
control are involved. Attempts to multitask can create interference among these
networks and this can lead to slower processing as well as mistakes. The more people
multitask, the higher the switch cost: a loss of accuracy or speed that comes when
shifting between tasks. Switch costs lead to more multitasking, which leads to being
less efficient and creates a chronic circle of stress.
Supertaskers (people who can effectively multitask) do exist, but the majority of
people fare better at monotasking. Research shows that only 2.5% of people are able
to multitask effectively. When we think we are multitasking, we’re actually doing
individual actions in rapid succession.
It is not surprising that multitasking has risen since 2020, especially for those working
remotely. The main culprit that’s driving multitasking? Video meetings.
A 2021 study from Microsoft found that people multitask more frequently in larger and
longer video meetings, and that multitasking happens far more often in recurring
meetings than during ad hoc meetings. Meetings held in the morning have higher rates
of multitasking than at other times of day, and multitasking takes place six times as
often in video meetings lasting more than 80 minutes compared with meetings that take
20 minutes or less.
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However, it’s not just people’s ability (or lack thereof) to manage time driving Future
Shock – it’s the growing sense that time is moving faster than reality.
Time comp res s ion
While 2023 will lead to people grappling with time perception (what day is it?!), in 2024,
our perception of time will be greatly accelerated, a concept magnified by an influx of
blended realities. Time compression, a cognitive effect where time passes more
quickly than one thinks, is starting to emerge with those active in metaverses and
virtual realities.
A 2021 study by cognitive scientists at the University of Santa Cruz, California, held a
time study for five minutes of virtual reality versus traditional gaming. The study found
participants who played a VR game did so for an average of 72.6 seconds longer than
students who played the same game on a computer monitor. In other words, students
played for 28.5% more time than they realised in virtual reality.
Time compression can be useful in some situations – undergoing a medical procedure
or sitting in traffic – but ongoing time compression can lead to dissociation with reality
and may result in anxiety, addictive behaviours and Future Shock.
02. Overstimulated
Consumer sentiment
There has been no shortage of data to evidence that people are increasingly
overstimulated. Not only do people have intense emotional clutter and a different
perception of time but their sensory processing – the ability to respond to stimuli in
the environment – has been affected. According to Mark Smith, a sensory historian,
the pandemic has caused a “sensory revolution” because of the rapid shift in how we
use our senses to navigate the world. The rapid change acceleration further drives
overstimulation.
Smith cites the sensorial changes during the past few years: isolation and changing
work patterns make people more affected by outdoor and street lights; people
speak louder when wearing masks; supply chain issues and new eating habits
changed our normal tastes; and “touch is the obvious sensory casualty in all of this.
Centuries of handshaking habits have evaporated; high fives are gone. Outside of
families, hugs, kisses and nuzzles have all been lost with the fear of infection.”
Alongside the sensorial revolution, people are more connected than ever. Alongside
this rise in digital connectivity is the global spike in social media usage, e-commerce
shopping, entertainment, gaming, and video-streaming technologies. Our states of
mind have evolved into states of time spent connected, and this is leading to a
dramatic decrease in attention spans globally.
“The way we see, hear, taste, touch and smell may never be the
same again... sensory historians like myself, who study the ways in
which people in the past used their senses to understand and
navigate their worlds, find that sensory shifts and perceptions
tended to happen very slowly, measured in decades and
centuries, not in mere weeks and months”
Mark Smith, sensory historian at the University of South Carolina, USA
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@romain_laurent
The great acceleration loop
In recent years, people’s constant need for faster
information, new content and stimulus has accelerated.
According to a 2019 study, global respondents reported
that they previously used to watch a 10- to 30-minute
video, but have now found themselves losing interest in
a matter of minutes. They could feel their patience
running out despite being genuinely interested in the
video.
The same study showed a dramatic decrease in the
attention span of people over time. Researchers from
the Technical University of Denmark pointed out that a
2013 hashtag on average stayed on top for 17.5 hours,
but in 2016, a top hashtag only stayed for an average of
11.9 hours.
In China, the rise of ByteDance (TikTok) has received
backlash from movie streaming platforms which blame
social media for shorter attention spans. According to
South China Morning Post: “Sun Zhonghuai, Tencent’s
vice-president, criticised short video platforms for
pumping out lowbrow content to users. ‘Personalised
distribution of content is too powerful. If you like pig
food, that’s all they’ll feed you.’”
Like it or not, these short-form videos are likely here for
the long haul. In 2021, TikTok overtook Google as the
most-visited domain and superseded Facebook as the
most popular social media domain, according to
Cloudfare.
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For some people, constant connectivity creates an
acceleration loop. According to Eliza Aguhar, a member
of the Canadian based, Knowledge Society “motion
attracts our attention because it helps us survive ... The
more content we’re faced with, the less our attention
span is and the greater our urge to look at new
content.”
Indus tr y acceleration
It is not just a time of social acceleration, the pandemic
meant business had to accelerate to keep up with
consumer demand.
According to McKinsey, in the US alone, e-commerce
saw 10 years’ growth in the space of just three months
(Q1 2020), with 75% of consumers reporting trying
different stores, websites or brands during the Covid-19
crisis. In response, retailers have reportedly upped
their investment in R&D, innovation and technology.
McKinsey also found that in 2020, companies
digitised 20-25 times faster than they had thought
possible, and 51% of executives in North America and
Europe increased their investment in new technologies
in 2020. The exponential growth shows no signs of
slowing down: 60% of executives say their business
plans to increasingly shift to new digital channels that
were accelerated to target new customers through
2024.
Different industries have felt the impacts of the
pandemic differently. The healthcare, construction and
retail industries are the top three industries expected
to see pandemic-related productivity growth through
2024.
S ens or y regulation
As overstimulation grows, so does sensory overload. ​
Sensory overload happens when the brain gets more
input from the five senses than it can process. Multiple
conversations going on in one room, too many
presenters in a video meeting, or vibration notifications
from a phone can produce the symptoms of sensory
overload. While sensory overload is a shadow effect of
the pandemic, parents have been battling it for years.
Some parents even admit to being ‘touched out’ (an
oversaturation of physical touch) at the end of the day.
In 2024, a sensory regulation is the antidote to
overstimulation. Used by occupational therapists for
years, sensory regulation has many forms depending on
the diagnosis, but in a digital era, it is used to recognise
and prevent sensory triggers that may overwhelm. For
example, having a slow-technology morning routine
(only using one device at a time with no overlap) or nosound working sessions (turning off all notifications and
icons).
03. Tragic Optimism
Consumer sentiment
Cultivating a positive mindset is a powerful coping mechanism, especially in dark
times. But positivity needs to be rooted in reality for it to be healthy and helpful.
When people push away difficult emotions and force positivity, it can actually be
more harmful in the long run. This is because practising false cheerfulness (known
as toxic positivity) keeps people from processing their emotions and invalidates the
feelings of others.
Tragic Optimism isn’t toxic positivity. It’s not about being in a constant state of
happiness. This mindset boasts a more realistic framing. First defined by Austrian
psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl in 1985, Tragic Optimism involves
the search for meaning amid the inevitable tragedies of human existence.
Researchers who study post-traumatic growth have found that people can grow in
many ways from difficult times – including having a greater appreciation of one’s life
and relationships, as well as increased compassion, altruism and purpose.
Importantly, it’s not the traumatic event itself that leads to growth, but rather how
the event is processed and the search for meaning that people undertake during and
after it.
Why is Tragic Optimism imperative for 2024? Because for many, they are
overwhelmed by cope culture and fearful of a return to normal.
“​ In the midst of trauma, abandon the search for narratives of
happiness. Research has suggested that people who tend to cope
better in crisis … are not those who focus on finding, or creating,
happiness, but those who cultivate an attitude of tragic optimism”
Anna Gotlib, Letting Go of Familiar Narratives as Tragic Optimism in the Era of Covid19
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@jacquemus
Cop e culture
It’s no secret that we are in deep stages of emotional plurality and the compassion
fatigue levels are seemingly rising. A World Health Organization study found that in
India, more than 200 million Indians were suffering from some form of mental disorder
in 2021, and in South Korea, nearly 30% of turnover from hospital staff is due to
compassion fatigue. The stats are sadly similar for other regions.
FoNo (fear of nor mal)
How is being afraid of normal suddenly the new normal? People across the globe are
afflicted by FoNo, a fear of normal. According to an IPSOS and World Economic Forum
survey which sampled more than 21,000 adults from 27 countries, only 72% of
respondents would prefer their life to change significantly rather than go back to how
it was before the Covid-19 crisis started.
As people seek self-improvement and self-care, one could argue we are living in the
time of peak advice: 16.8 billion people have watched # selfcare videos on TikTok and
there are nearly 60 million # selfcare posts on Instagram. Many people are
overwhelmed with coping, leading to a rise of cope culture.
We’ve been living in a very different world for the past two years. Some people are
used to virtual work and can’t bear the thought of commuting again. Some people got
sober during the pandemic and they don’t want to go back to a life of partying. Others
had career awakenings which are driving the Great Resignation.
In an article about cope culture, Brooklyn-based writer Haley Nahman called for
envisioning a better world rather than simply working around a broken one: “A world
beyond coping. A world where depression and anxiety aren’t always around the corner
because we didn’t read enough articles under the New York Times Mind vertical.”
The great thing about FoNo is that it can be used to describe all of these different
situations, and the underlying feeling of not wanting to regress is something most
people can identify with.
Let’s be clear: self-care and wellness are incredibly important and should be seen as a
personal investment. However, if we are overwhelmed with self-improvement, it
creates a cycle of anxiety and often leads to nihilism.
Mainly, there is a real fear that striving to return to the old normal will ensure that the
mechanism of oppression in both pay, gender inequality, racial disparity and
unsustainability will keep turning. And people are so fearful of the old systems, they
are creating new ones.
In the same IPSOS study, 86% of all adults surveyed agreed that “I want the world to
change significantly and become more sustainable and equitable rather than returning
to how it was before Covid-19”.
8
04. Awe
Consumer sentiment
For many people, it’s difficult to pinpoint the last time they felt awe. The US
University of Michigan psychologist Ethan Kross defines awe as “the wonder we feel
when we encounter something powerful that we can’t easily explain”. Awe is a mix of
both fear and wonder, and likely an emotion that has been shelved during the past
few years. People traded stability, survival and certainty for awe-inspiring moments.
However, in 2024, the need to feel and be awed is at the forefront, and for good
reason: it brings people together, refreshes energy and leaves people inspired.
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have found that
“experiences of awe diminish our sense of self-importance, creating a ‘small self’
perspective that seems to aid us in forming social groups”.
Scientists believe that awe may have helped our evolutionary ancestors survive in
the face of uncertain environments that demanded group cooperation. Awe was
likely a tool for human survival centuries ago and is necessary for future growth,
particularly if we are trying to build back better.
As a collective emotion, awe helps the self shrink and the world expand. People
typically feel small during a sense of awe: watching the sunset, gazing at the night
sky, or seeing a museum exhibition. In 2024, awe will be the great connector in a time
of fragmentation.
@kinfolk
“While we’re feeling small in an awe moment, we are feeling
connected to more people or feeling closer to others. That’s awe’s
purpose, or at least one of its purposes”
Yang Bai, researcher at University of California, Berkeley
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The anxiety antidote
Besides making people more empathetic, awe has been found to reduce anxiety. The
more we seek and create the experience of awe, the lower our anxiety becomes.
Research from neuroscientists in Germany found that a study using functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) evidenced that experiences of awe, such as watching aweinspiring videos (compared to neutral or pleasant videos) decreases activity in the
brain’s default mode network (DMN), which is associated with self-focus and
rumination. The result for respondents was lower levels of stress and brain fog.
Recently, daily ‘awe-experiences’ were found to reduce depression in a study from the
Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab in Milan, Italy. These awe moments can
range from time spent in nature (known as an awe-walk) to listening to new music. The
variety is one of the benefits of using awe for mental health – each experience is
personal and it can be intentionally sought and easily experienced at varying socioeconomic levels. According to one study: “Awe-inducing events may be one of the
fastest and most powerful methods of personal change and growth.”
Awe and time p ercep tion
Another key driver for awe in 2024 ties back to overstimulation and time compression.
The overwhelming sense that there is never enough time or that people are constantly
battling for time.
A study by Stanford University found that the experience of awe slows down people’s
perception of time. It is often why it feels like time stands still during moments of awe
and wonder.
Melanie Rudd, co-author of the Stanford study, says: “Experiencing awe heightens
people’s focus on the present. When you are more conscious of the present moment,
you feel that your experiences are fuller, that more can happen or be accomplished
during a period of time.” While awe won’t actually give people hours back in their
schedules, it allows for people to refocus and be more effective.
But how do we get there? How do we embed awe moments in their day?
As previously mentioned, awe-walks are a great start. For those unable to step away,
research shows that watching videos can stimulate awe. Consider creating an aweplaylist of music, visuals or anything that fills the awe-space for you.
For companies, Harvard Business Review suggests embedding awe moments into
virtual and/or in-person meetings. Encourage team members to share their aweplaylists or share personal photos or experiences that sparked awe.
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Consumer profiles 2024
@kinfolk
@jacquemus
Martin Kuhlmann
Kwame Blue
01. The Regulators
02. The Connectors
03. The Memory Makers
04. The New Sensorialists
Change-averse and datafatigued, this cohort looks to
certainty for comfort
Anti-hustle culture but not lazy,
this cohort is redefining
fractional lifestyles
They’ve swapped perfectionism
quests for the quest of being
present
From social tokens to metaeconomies, meet the creators of
our digital futures
11
Consumer profile 01: The Regulators
Overwhelmed by data-smog (an overwhelming amount of data and information
that clouds the brain’s ability to process) and change-averse, The Regulators
look to frictionless commerce to maintain control and a healthy work-life
balance.
The adage that “The only certainty is uncertainty” doesn’t sit well with The
Regulators. After years of uncertainty and seismic change, this cohort relies on
consistency as a survival mechanism. Research shows that uncertainty is more
stressful than knowing something bad is definitely going to happen. Why? The short
answer is control.
People’s ability to cope with uncertainty is on a spectrum, but to varying degrees,
The Regulators face the same challenge in 2024: how to maintain control of their
lives. Knowing what is ahead (good or bad) helps them to prepare and gain a sense
of control in the chaos.
This is particularly true for Gen X. The generation known for grunge, the Riot Grrrl
movement and general disdain for authority are now ‘control freaks’. It makes sense
as this small but mighty generation is now in control. In their 40s to mid-50s, Gen X
are now the responsible ones, the heads of households and the majority of executive
positions are held by Gen Xers. In 2019, 68% of CEOs in the US – in both Fortune 500
and Inc. 500 companies – were Gen Xers, and it is a safe bet that the stats
have grown in the present day.
This group are no strangers to uncertainty, but as they approach new life stages,
chaos and disruption are no longer motivators – they are detractors from the life The
Regulators want to enjoy.
“Gen Xers are facing their midlife crisis amid an ongoing crisis.
They were already severely stressed about job instability and
struggling to balance the competing demands of their young
children and ageing parents before the pandemic. The so-called
‘slacker generation’ is slammed, and no longer trying to keep up
12
the façade”
Megan McDonough, The pandemic’s negative – and possibly long-term – toll on Gen
X
@babaa
Data s mog
It’s no surprise that data smog – an overwhelming amount of data and information that
clouds the brain’s ability to process – is rising as we push further into the Information
Era.
Just look around: our access to data grows daily. According to the World Economic
Forum, the complete number of global internet users grew by 500 million in 2021, a
roughly 11% jump from 4.5 billion users in 2020. This comes out to an astonishing 950
new users on a per minute basis.
If that isn’t mind-numbing, consider this stat from Next Tech: an incredible 2.5
quintillion bytes of data is being created every day and 90% of the world’s data has
been created in the last two years alone. A staggering figure, it is expected that the
volume of data is to double every two years.
When the brain is overloaded with data smog, people can struggle to absorb, process
and make sense of information, thus leading to data fatigue. Similar to a computer
running slow when there are too many tabs open, too much data causes a lag in the
brain’s processing time.
Data fatigue not only drives decision aversion (“I don’t care, you decide what’s for
dinner!?”) but also change aversion – a growing challenge in the Information Era.
Change fatigue
For The Regulators, change has become a daily constant in the work day. 2020 and 2021
brought a record number of work and industry changes driven by adaptations to the
pandemic. However, people’s brains now have a reduced capacity; a study from
Gartner found that employees’ ability to cope with change is 50% of what it was prepandemic.
“The amount of change that the average employee can absorb without becoming
fatigued is half what it was last year,” said Jessica Knight, vice-president, Gartner.
“Employees’ ability to absorb change has plummeted precisely at the time when more
organisations need change to reset.”
Interestingly, the Gartner study found that smaller changes create more fatigue.
Changes that impact someone’s day-to-day life, such as moving to a new team or getting
a new manager, impact employees 2.5 times more than large changes such as a
merger.
Why? Because a number of small changes depletes the brain’s surge capacity.
A surge capacity is a collection of adaptive systems – mental and physical – that
humans draw on for short-term survival in acutely stressful situations, and it is rapidly
depleted for this cohort.
In so-called normal times, most people can function with a certain amount of change,
even if those changes are disruptive or disastrous. But after years of constant change,
people are weary and want regularity in their daily home and work lives.
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Engagement strategies: The Regulators
Store hailing
In 2024, click-and-collect will adapt to meet new lifestyle shifts. Expect a
hybrid model of click-and-collect meets kerbside delivery. Yes, there will be
robots.
Driven by the rapid success of click-and-collect during the pandemic, this cohort
was a quick adopter of frictionless commerce and the certainty of a scheduled pickup. However, retailers need to adapt to long-term lifestyle shifts: the decline in car
ownership, and the rise of biking, ride sharing and personal mobility units.
In 2024, Regulators will opt for kerbside delivery for items left off an auto-order or
those forgotten family essentials: think toilet paper, coffee, medicine. Speed and
seamless ordering is key.
Cas e s tudies :
Singapore-based Grab expanded its delivery services in over 50 cities across SEA,
offering kerbside delivery and click-and-collect. The app allows users to add
items and change delivery locations in real time
US-based Robomart’s ‘store-hailing’ platform is one to watch. Using the store’s
app, consumers can hail an automated store on wheels and have it arrive at their
location with an average delivery time of nine minutes. Available in select US
cities, the current stock offers groceries (fresh produce, snacks, beverage) and
beauty and healthcare products
Available in over six countries, GoPuff’s ‘daily essentials’ are delivered in 15
minutes or less due to hyper-local micro-fulfilment centres
“By 2024, US click-and-collect sales will reach $140.96bn. Over
that same time period, click-and-collect buyers will increase from
143.8 million people in 2020 to over 160 million in 2024”
Business Insider Market Intelligence
14
Robomart
US-based Robomart offers an app-based kerbside delivery. Customers 'hail' a store via the app
and with an average wait time of less than 10 minutes, the store arrives
Voice commerce dr ives home commerce
Imagine being able to pause a television show, ask what the person is wearing and
having the item shipped the same day? In 2024, this will likely be a reality.
For The Regulators, voice commerce will drive home commerce, an ecosystem
connected by smart home and television technology. What will make home commerce
stick in 2024? The answer is twofold. Firstly, it’s a strong alternative for people who
don’t have the capacity to do online product searches.
According to a 2020 global study by Forrester Research, 43% of users on retail
websites go directly to the search bar. But the frustration involved in the product
search experience results in an unacceptable level of churn and burn: 68% – resulting
in an “I looked, I didn’t find it, I left” shopper mentality.
The other key factor driving home commerce is the need for The Regulators to be
present with their loved ones and stop phubbing (defined as looking at a mobile
phone rather than interacting with the person you are with), which grew during the
pandemic.
According to a study by Vivo, Impact of Smartphones on Human Relationships 2021,
74% of parents confess that their obsessive usage of the smartphone has damaged
their relationship with their children. More so, the study found that “while the time that
we spend with our kids and family has gone up by 57% and 49% respectively, the
quality of time spent has deteriorated”.
15
Other regions show similar findings as smartphone usage soared during Covid-19.
So, what are the innovations in home commerce in 2024? TV commerce will continue to
rise. Experiments with shoppable TV formats are currently in markets, allowing
consumers to link directly to products while they are still watching.
Amazon Prime’s fashion design competition show, Making the Cut, allowed viewers to
purchase winning looks created by contestants in real time, via a Making the Cut
storefront on Amazon.
In 2021, Sky Mobile launched its Shoppable Ads platform, allowing advertisers to add
QR codes to TV spots that viewers could scan that linked directly to a brand’s website.
The pilot aims to capitalise on embedded consumer digital habits and the rise of mcommerce.
There is considerable investment in voice and AI (voice commerce is expected to be a
$40bn industry by 2022). US-based Disruptel is a tech company to watch. Disruptel
provides an AI-powered voice assistant that can understand and interact with screen
content. For example, if a person is watching a movie, they can ask the assistant to
provide information about similar movies, the actor being displayed on the screen, or a
specific item such as the coat the actor is wearing.
S mar t s canning ar r ives
By 2024, smart scanning is likely within the blink of an eye. The next few years will see
companies testing their metaverse investments. While these meta-economies won’t be
for all consumers, the hardware and technology investments in smart glasses will
usher in an era of smart scanning.
The pandemic drove rapid adoption for contactless services such as QR codes (what a
comeback story) and there are multiple ways companies can integrate this into their
retail strategy.
Scanning product information and pricing is critical for time-pressed shoppers.
Scandit is an AR app that enables shoppers to quickly find items on a packed store
shelf. By opening the app and pointing it at the shelf, the items you are looking for will
appear in 3D with product information and pricing.
Scan & Know allows retailers to elevate the contactless shopping experience by
empowering consumers to know more in-store. Shoppers using Scan & Know can scan
any item in the store straight from their phone to instantly learn more about product
details and prices, add items to wish lists and registries, and have products shipped
direct to their door. There are no apps, queueing or additional hardware, which appeals
to shoppers who are dealing with app overload.
16
According to technology consultancy firm Heady, 78% of global shoppers will not
download an app to complete a transaction, and 80% of respondents say they get
frustrated with the retailer if an app download is required.
Extended reality (XR) shopping will become more mainstream, driven by smart
glasses. For current retailers that have AR shopping apps in-store (Marks & Spencer,
Alibaba and CoolHobo), they should begin researching how to transition the
smartphone AR experience into smart glasses.
How will this work for shoppers who don’t want and/or need glasses?
Consumers will also be able to opt for AR contacts. US company InWith’s electronic
contact lenses will offer augmented vision paired with a mobile device. It plans to
obtain FDA clearance in 2022. US-based Mojo Vision has its sights set on fitness as a key
use case for AR contacts, entering strategic partnerships with Trailforks and adidas
Running.
Consumer profile 02: The Connectors
Taking a stance against hustle culture, but not being lazy, this cohort is
exploring fractional lifestyles (co-buying and subscribing, not owning) and
quitting their jobs as they redefine the meaning of success.
We’ve all seen the stats: younger generations are having few children, opting for
roommates over relationships, job-hopping or quitting at record rates. While
Millennials and Gen Z have been blamed for killing numerous industries: everything
from napkins to department stores. Economists, executives and reporters used this
simple statement of fact – Millennials and Gen Z aren’t spending money on this, so
sales are down – transformed into an accusation without any investigation. In reality,
society lies at the intersection of major value shifts and lack of social services, rising
inflation and lack of wages. For The Connectors, it’s a perfect storm. But instead of
clinging to sinking ships, they are swimming to new shores.
Economic crises are periods of ‘creative destruction’, where new ideas and ways of
doing business come to the fore, a phenomenon described by Austrian economist
Joseph Schumpeter in the 1930s.
For The Connectors, this period of creative destruction is resulting in
entrepreneurship: a record 1.4 million business applications were filed in the US in
2021, with the majority coming from people under 40, and in 2021, India leapfrogged
other countries to become the third-largest startup ecosystem behind the US and
China.
However, the new work-life ecosystems created by this cohort will likely have the
largest impact.
“57% of global respondents cited creativity as the most important
quality for an entrepreneur during the pandemic”
Salesforce: Entrepreneurs Started Businesses in Record Numbers During the
Pandemic
17
@clo_stories
Hus tle culture reimagined
Pandemic productivity led to record burnout. While companies adapted new
technologies and processes, the cost of record growth numbers or avoiding
bankruptcies was from some employees’ mental health.
Japan’s youth, known as the satori-sedai (“the enlightened generation”), has grown up
watching previous generations burn themselves out in the pursuit of career
advancement. The satori generation has rebelled by creating a new work-life balance
commonly referred to as: my work/my pace.
For The Connectors, this drove a strong sense of nihilism. Described as a rejection of
purpose and values and a belief in the idea that nothing truly matters, nihilism is
pushing this cohort to question the productivity-obsessed culture they came of age in.
For other regions, the jobs simply aren’t there, leaving many Connectors to fuse
nihilism with disappointment.
Pre-pandemic, being busy was a sign of social standing: the busier one was, the more
‘successful’ or ‘important’ they were. But this cohort doesn’t fantasise about highoctane career paths à la the # girlboss culture, nor do they subscribe to the mentality
“to rise and grind”. It’s quite the opposite.
In China, Gen Z has labelled this desire “lying flat” (tang ping) – a push against the
cultural pressures to succeed at a high cost to your mental wellbeing – including the
‘996’ lifestyle of working 9am-9pm, six days per week. This growing trend involves
earning ‘just enough’ to cover the essentials, rejecting traditional marriage and children
in favour of stepping out of the hamster wheel of life.
18
According to a study by FGV social, 50 million Brazilians between 15 and 29 years old
are disappointed with no prospect of work and dissatisfied with the situation of the
country. If they could, almost half of them (47%) would leave Brazil, the largest
number ever.
In India, four in 10 workers either lost their jobs or were temporarily laid off by their
employer, or had to take a pay cut. For those that kept their jobs, they now average
over 11 hours per week of unpaid overtime.
So, what does this mean for 2024? Look to the rise of fractional lifestyles.
Fractional lifes tyles
We have tracked how Millennials have explored the rental economy since 2016. From
leasing cars to co-living and renting out their wardrobes, the sharing economy
introduced them to a world where they sought access over ownership. As Millennials
age, they are ready for bigger financial commitments, but many still can’t afford these
milestones while also handling student debts, tighter lending criteria and a ballooning
housing market.
Fractional ownership is also being applied to automobiles, RVs and even offices. As
The Connectors shy away from the traditional workforce environments, these ondemand, blended, co-living/co-working spaces are set to rise in 2024.
With fractional ownership, consumers have the opportunity to buy things as part of a
shared group. This trend is especially popular in real estate, as first-home costs
continue to surge. Many have already turned to co-buying on their own, as evidenced
by the 771% increase of home co-buyers with different last names between 2014 and
2021.
As highlighted in the Communal Living report, in central Seoul, convenience is
captivating the residents of Celib Soonra co-living, which comes complete with
housekeeping, prepared meals and cleaning services akin to an all-inclusive resort.
And Outsite’s live/work spaces across the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia are
gaining traction with the digital nomad community, expected to grow to 36.2 million by
2025 in the US alone.
New platforms are formalising the co-buying process, including real estate startup
Pacaso, which sells shares of vacation homes. Unlike a timeshare where buyers stay
according to a fixed schedule, Pacaso acts like a short-term rental service where
owners collectively use a flexible calendar for stay schedules. This balance between
access and ownership may give people the best of both renting and buying
experiences.
19
Based in the US, Landing is an apartment subscription service with properties in every
state. A renter picks the destination, length and type of living space and is paired with
available units. There is a social networking aspect, and potential renters can request
to be housed near people with like-minded careers.
New loyalty lifes tyles
There is a seismic mindset shift between The Connectors and other generations, and
it’s not just about salary hopping.
The Great Resignation continues to rise: more than 24 million people in the US quit
their jobs between April and September 2021. UK volunteer departures between April
and December 2021 were higher than in the same period in 2019. According to
Mercer’s Covid-19 pulse survey, companies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the
Philippines face an uphill task in attracting and retaining talent. This is leading to a
higher-than-usual attrition.
20
How do you retain good employees and drive loyalty? By 2024, companies should offer
flexible working environments (when applicable), prioritise mental health to combat
burnout (offer mental health days), and appeal to the inner polyworker by allowing
working-from-anywhere policies and encouraging personal growth outside of work.
More than half of Millennials (58%) and adult Gen Zers (52%) said success in their
careers depends on updating their life skills frequently. Companies that encourage
education will see retention rise.
Another key strategy to retain talent? Celebrate and reward loyalty. Cisco recently
implemented a global peer-to-peer reward and recognition programme called
Connected Recognition, funded at 1% of the payroll, with a paid day off on birthdays
and work anniversaries.
Engagement strategies: The Connectors
Resale as a service
The resale revolution is key for the Connectors: they are price-conscious but
not obsessive and value sustainability over newness. Resale as a service (RaaS)
helps brands to retain customers in their shopping ecosystem and not lose
sales to second-hand marketplaces.
As resale continues to soar, brands should strategise ways to embed a resale offer
into their service model. From dedicating physical retail space in-store to strategic
partnerships, consider the options below.
Cas e s tudies :
Trove is a leading US resale technology company and marketplace facilitator
helping launch resale programmes for brands including Patagonia, Levi’s,
Lululemon and Eileen Fisher. These retailers have been able to scale their resale
programmes at an affordable cost, while keeping the programmes within their
house channels
US-based thredUP’s RaaS model partners with brands and serves the backend of
customer trade-ins. It provides processing systems, warehouse storage, resale
services and know-how at a more affordable cost than if a retailer were to do it inhouse. Taking resale offline, Macy’s introduced secondhand goods to 40 of its
retail stores, and JCPenney into 30 US stores, both facilitated through thredUP
partnerships
In Spain, department stores Carrefour and Alcampo are dedicating floorspace to
resale. Both unveiled dedicated areas (up to 700 pieces on the floor) to
secondhand merchandise for resale. For both companies, the goal is sustainability
and social impact
“The global secondhand market is set to double by 2025, reaching
$77bn. The resale market is expected to grow 11 times faster than
21
the broader retail clothing sector. The number to watch is the rise
in resellers, which is projected to be 118.8 million future sellers in
2025”
Alcampo
Alcampo incorporated a secondhand clothing corner in its Sant Boi de Llobregat location. The
aim is to promote the reuse of clothing as well as the social inclusion of vulnerable groups in
Spain
2021 Resale Report, thredUP
Rethink labels and hangtags
Sometimes the sales are in the small details. For The Connectors, cost-perwear, sustainability and authentication details on labels and hangtags are
value drivers that result in sales and social shares. Below are a few strategic
examples that will achieve results.
Track-and-trace: while not a new innovation, this technology is going to be a
shopper expectation in 2024. In 2021, the Sustainable Markets Initiative Fashion
Taskforce presented its Digital ID, which can trace a fashion item from production
through sale and even resale. Retailers including Armani, Mulberry and Chloé will
implement the ID in 2022.
Carrefour announced that it would be adopting IBM Food Trust, a blockchainenabled global ecosystem for the food industry. The traceability initiative is
currently being implemented across stores in the United Arab Emirates. Besides
learning about the food’s origin and handling, shoppers can access other valuable
points of information, such as storage advice, expiration dates and whether the
products are certified kosher or halal.
Sus tainability facts label: used as an awareness tool for shoppers and an
accountability tool for brands, this label allows for complete transparency. Look to
US-based Nisolo’s sustainability label. Similar to a food label, the assessments are
divided into 12 categories, including wages, health care, materials and packaging.
Each is listed as a percentage, so if everyone in the item’s supply chain is paid a living
wage – as determined by the Global Living Wage Coalition – the score is 100%; if nine
out of 10 factories provide maternity leave or health care, that score is 90%.
“60% of shoppers in the US, Europe and China want more
transparency about the production journey their clothes have
been on, so they can make ethical purchasing decisions”
Avery Dennison 2021 report
22
Nisolo
Nisolo's clothing tag features 12 categories, including wages, health care, materials and
packaging. The tag provides transparency for the shopper and accountability for the brand
New ownership models
As part of the creative disruption model, The Connectors look to rewrite what they
gain and help achieve when shopping with brands. In 2024, this will lead to a rise in
customer-stakeholders who will expect a say in product design, brand-strategy and
even sourcing.
US-based label Christy Dawn has unveiled the Land Stewardship programme. The
initiative asks customers to support Indian farmers who grow the cotton it uses by
investing directly in their business. Building on a farm-to-closet model, shoppers can
pay £151 ($205, €177) to cover the cost of a farmer transitioning 3,485 sq ft of land from
conventional to regenerative practices.
Cas e s tudies :
As an incentive, they receive store credit equal to the value of the cotton harvested
each season, supporting environmental initiatives while having a stake in the brand and
its future. Throughout the season, those who invested in a plot of land receive updates
from the farm about progress. At the end of the programme, customers can effectively
wear the dress they helped to create.
North American-based Bumped is an app that turns everyday spending into free stock
ownership. For each qualifying transaction, a customer receives a fractional stock
reward in a brand that can range from 1-20% of a single stock, at the retailer’s
discretion.
Is the plan working? When McDonald’s customers were gifted a $5 stock reward in
MCD to get started, they had a 120% increase in spend, even a full year later. After the
initial $5, Bumped users were rewarded 3% of their spend in fractional shares of stock
for their spending with McDonald’s. They visited the company more often and spent an
average $12.37 more monthly.
Additionally, customers given fractional shares in US cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty
increased monthly spend by 67%, according to Bumped.
23
While not exactly granting ownership, Amazon’s Build It scheme is like a Kickstarter for
designers. Amazon shows its favourite concepts and shoppers are invited to pre-order
at a set price. If a concept reaches its threshold within 30 days, it’s created and shipped.
The dawn of DAOs
For some connectors, the concept of ownership is decentralised, meaning the
company is governed by a community, not a singular entity or executive board. It is
collective decision making.
According to the Financial Times: “In practical terms, most DAOs look like chat rooms
with a shared bank account. DAOs are tiny compared with the rest of the corporate
world, with a total of $12.1bn in crypto currency assets in reserves and about 1.6
million members in groups tracked by the data service DeepDAO.”
As highlighted in Future Drivers 2024, decentralised business models are a key
investment and priority for this cohort.
The rise of decentralised brands is being driven mainly by fashion-focused companies,
operating via platforms that provide funding for DAO community creativity, while still
retaining a more traditional centralised core business. However, we expect other
industries are likely to follow in fashion’s footsteps, such as music.
DAOs could act as collective decision-making bodies for the music industry. DAOs
would allow artists, consumers and other stakeholders to interact directly with one
another without the need for third-party intermediaries. DAOs could help to rectify
music industry imbalances, artists can dictate how their work is distributed and
consumed, giving audiences a direct connection to the musicians they support.
24
Essentially, every industry has the power to be impacted by DAOs. As long as there are
dedicated members willing to donate time, money and resources, a DAO is possible.
Cas e s tudies :
CityDAO’s 5,000 members successfully mobilised to purchase a 40-acre plot of land in
Wyoming. Members are still debating what comes next, but goals include widening
access and lowering the costs of property ownership and developing new systems for
public finance.
Global Designer Network is a group of nearly 100 indie fashion designers that was
created by digital fashion design lab Digitalax. There are typically eight to 10 hours of
weekly calls with its members, where they teach each other how to create fashion
pieces for the metaverse and share other skills in 3D design and gaming.
Dav is a decentralised transportation network. The concept focuses on building
autonomous ride sharing, deliveries and public transportation. According to Dr Allen
Messer, former CTO of General Motors and member of Dav: “The most exciting thing I
see is the ability for DAV to be the key enabler of that internet of transport.”
Consumer profile 03: Memory Makers
In 2024, this cohort will transform a quest for perfection to a quest for being
present, declutter their social and work lives and invest in time abundance.
We moved from unprecedented times to trying times to trying to make the most of
time. In between the chaos of uncertainty and trying to adjust to new normals, there
was a time of great reflection. For the Memory Makers, they anchored themselves to
the past because the past didn’t change. It was stable.
For many who visited the past as a respite from the present, feelings of remorse and
guilt came to the forefront. “Perhaps you feel self-conscious about the good things
in your life – or even your own survival – when others have suffered so greatly. Or
maybe you feel responsible for things that are not really your fault, like accidentally
infecting a family member with Covid-19. Or you’re in anguish over your choices, even
when there isn’t a definitive path to follow,” writes Christina Caron in a 2021 New York
Times article on pandemic guilt.
There were also feelings of lockdown remorse as people questioned their life
choices – did they make the right decisions over the years?
The emotional stress of the past is driving this cohort to make new memories to
make up for lost times and even lost memories.
Studies show that stress can affect how memories are formed. When stressed,
people have a more difficult time creating short-term memories and turning those
short-term memories into long-term memories, meaning people often lose these
memories over time.
“The highly distressing, morally difficult, and cumulative nature of
Covid-19-related stressors may be a perfect storm to result in a
guilt and shame response (although the actual prevalence will not
be known for some time)”
A model for treating Covid-19-related guilt, shame, and moral injury
25
AARP
The great relationship declutter ing
During the throes of the pandemic, physical
decluttering rose. Whether people were rage cleaning
because they needed to quickly make a new home
office, or tossing out items in sheer boredom, the
pandemic forced people to look at their stuff and they
were overwhelmed. While this resulted in great gains
for thrift and consignment shops, the recession
increased the number of customers as the pandemic
increased the number of suppliers – the decluttering of
spaces helped to keep the mind focused.
A majority of people cut off other toxic relationships:
friendships, family members and work associates.
In 2024, this need to declutter is transitioning from
people’s physical spaces to their personal lives.
Families redefined
For some people, the pandemic shed a bright light on
the dark disconnect with their families and drove a
wider societal shift that WGSN has been tracking since
2015.
There was a rise in pandemic divorces, with record
breaking numbers in the US and the UK. British law firm
Stewarts logged a 122% increase in enquiries between
July and October of 2020 compared with the same
period the previous year. Charity Citizen’s Advice
reported a spike in searches for online advice on ending
a relationship. In the US, a major legal contract creation
site recently announced a 34% rise in sales of its basic
divorce agreement, with newlyweds who’d got married
in the previous five months making up 20% of sales.
Brazil recorded 43,859 divorces in the final six months of
2020, up 15% compared with the same period in 2019,
and the highest total since record-keeping began in
2007.
But it wasn’t just divorce in the time of Covid.
26
As people re-entered the world, they had more of an
idea which relationships they wanted to invest in and
which ones they wanted to let go. As people cut out
these toxic relationships (“toxic friend” was Googled in
Singapore more times during the pandemic than during
the past 15 years), this allowed them to have more time
with people that truly matter and invest in new
friendships. We don’t need filler relationships any more,
we need fulfilment.
The concept of family is being rewritten and new nonrelated family structures are providing economies of
care, love and support. In 2024, a family is truly what
you create and not what you were born into.
As highlighted in Future Drivers 2024, the caring
economy is rising and, with it, new ecosystems of care
driven by the rise of singles and couples without
children, which is likely to place greater importance on
friend circles and community care.
In the US, Pew Research Center’s analysis of census
data found that 38% of adults between the ages of 25
and 54 were unpartnered (neither married nor living
with a partner) in 2019 – a significant jump from 1990,
when the rate was 29%.
Singles rates are also rising in APAC and Western
Europe, as is the baby bust. The US Census Bureau
shows that 15.2 million adults aged 55 and older (nearly
one in six of this demographic) are childless, and the
level of childlessness among older adults is expected
to increase. These stats are similar in England and
Wales, where the Office for National Statistics reported
that in 2020 the fertility rate fell to the lowest level
since records began in 1938.
Another factor in the new family dynamic? Ageing
LGBTQ communities that lack family support. While
researchers in the US don’t know the size of the LGBTQ
seniors population with precision, a 2016 paper by
Professor Karen Fredriksen Goldsen at the University of
Washington estimates there are 2.7 million adults ages
50 and older who self-identify as LGBT in the country,
and that is expected to exceed five million by 2060. In
Canada, there are approximately 335,000 self-reported
LGBTQ seniors, and in 2013, Xinhua news, the official
state-run press in mainland China, estimated that the
population of LGBT people in China was approximately
30 million.
LGBT seniors are four times more likely than their
straight counterparts to live alone and they typically
lack familial support.
As people come to rely on peers for support in later
life, products and services will need to reflect these
new family values.
Teamwork can make the team over work
Memory Makers are also rethinking work values. During the first 24 months of the
pandemic, people added work activities to keep them connected to their teams: virtual
happy hours, multiple team meetings, workshops to drive collaborative culture.
However, according to Harvard Business Review, collaborative work – time spent on
email, IM, phone and video calls – has risen 50% or more over the past decade to
consume 85% or more of most people’s work weeks.
27
Harvard Business review found that cognitive psychologists have shown that the act of
simply responding to a text can impose as much as a 64-second recovery time to get
back on track. As Gloria Mark, professor of informatics at the University of California,
Irvine, has shown in her research, it can take us as many as 23 minutes to get fully back
on task after a slightly longer interruption.
What does this mean for 2024? In short, the brain needs time to think. For team
meetings, it’s not just about an agenda, it’s identifying whether the team is having a
discussion or making a decision. This helps to avoid having to reschedule for more
time. Also, focus on an OHIO (Only Handle it Once) method – people share their input,
give their information and move on to the next task. Most importantly, make thinking a
KPI: book strategic review and planning meetings for the individuals to reflect,
brainstorm and ideate solo (awe-walk, anyone?).
Engagement strategies: Memory Makers
Ageing-well products
For the Memory Makers, ageing well is not about vanity but extending their
lifespans to enjoy their time living. Whether it’s spending time with loved ones,
investing in new hobbies or simply finding moments to daydream, products that
allow them to ‘age well’ will be prioritised.
Indus tr y inves tments
Highlighted in Big Ideas 2023: Beauty, senolytics are rising. This product category
ranging from supplements to creams tackles ageing at a cellular level. Look to
OneSkin (US and LATAM), which develops its products based on skin-specific
epigenetic DNA markers. OneSkin has a dedicated team of researchers, scientists
and product developers creating a no-silo, all-science design approach.
For F+D industries, there is a real win for ingredients and age-targeted superfoods.
Medical studies show that a protein found in grape seed extract (procyanidin C1)
destroys ageing cells. Investment into grape supplements as well as beauty and
haircare products will rise.
Ageing well isn’t a one size approach and there are real whitespace opportunities for
personalised nutrition. As highlighted in Big Ideas 2024: Food, Nutrisure (UK)
launched what it claims is the first over-50s superfood, designed to meet age-specific
needs with three powders to support immunity, digestion and energy.
For consumer tech, there is no shortage of R+D investments, from assisted reading
devices (a handheld device with a smart camera that reads aloud text from printed or
digital screens) to simplified computers: Norwegian startup No Isolation has
developed a one-button computer, Komp, which aims to simplify the online
experience.
“We’re seeing that the longevity space is growing; people will listen
and learn more about what longevity is, expanding your health
span and the importance of being healthier”
28 Alessandra Zonari, co-founder and chief scientific officer, OneSkin
OneSkin
OneSkin's team of scientists uses data-backed claims to target the skin on a molecular, not
surface, level
Conscious convenience
As the Memory Makers focus on their physical and mental health, they
prioritise a curated product offering and shopping experience. Turned off by
cluttered stores, streamlined, peaceful and soothing pharmacy and drug stores
will attract footfall and spend.
Cas e s tudies :
Take cues from Mini-Mart located inside of a Colorado Hospital. The cashierless
store filled with organic groceries and pre-packaged food also sells daily
necessities aimed at on-the-go healthcare workers and students. According to
Mike Fogarty, CEO of Choice, the company looks to franchise Mini-Mart for nontraditional retail spaces such as hospitals, airports and campuses, and is driven by
the expertise of both partners in food, tech and hospitality
Located in Lisbon, Members Club is designed to promote physical and mental
health. In addition to a small convenience store and cafe, the wellness centre has
a co-working space, gym, and a private lounge for paying members
Canada-based Sukoshi Mart is a hybrid convenience store designed for Gen Z but
attracting Memory Makers. In addition to retailing small snacks and beverages,
the store boasts a curated selection of K-beauty and J-beauty products that are
hard to find in Toronto. The frictionless commerce is also a plus – shoppers can
pay at a till or through an app depending on how much time they have
For hospitality and interiors brands, look to our Soothing Well-Care Spaces report
for more industry-specific analysis
“In a survey of roughly 7,500 consumers in six countries, 79% of
the respondents said they believe that wellness is important, and
42% consider it a top priority. [McKinsey estimates] the global
wellness market at more than $1.5 trillion, with annual growth of 5–
10%”
McKinsey: Feeling good: The future of the $1.5 trillion wellness market
29
Members Club
Located in Lisbon, Members Club is a hybrid cafe, gym, lounge and pharmacy setting the bar
high for conscious convenience
Reflection as a s er vice
Memory Makers are focused on time wealth where
accruing moments is the ultimate luxury. Brands should
focus on products and services that allow for reflection
(being with the present) and prospection (positively
thinking of the future).
Cas e s tudies :
US-based NoWatch (whose website landing page asks
to “Please take this moment to notice how you feel”) is
an ‘awearable’ – a device that harnesses technology to
improve your mindset. In lieu of a screen, there are
assorted surfaces with wood, metal or ‘prehistoric
stone’ inlays. The lack of a screen is the point, as the
company says disconnecting from tech encourages
mindfulness. The watch’s sensors monitor temperature,
heart rate and SpO2 levels to track the body’s signals
for mood. The app then nudges the wearer to pause
and reflect.
Inves t in the care economy
The stress of the last few years may lead to future
physical ailments. Chronic stress is directly related to
physical deregulation, which could lead to a spike in
stroke and heart disease.
Bank on the group buying boom
The ‘power of the pack’ group savings was a key
strategy for Future Consumer 2022, but for 2024 the
shopping behaviour will be mass and more
personalised.
As highlighted in the Shopper Forecast 2022, emerging
companies are reaching shoppers looking for niche
marketplaces inclusive of their needs. While disruptor
brands are entering the market, this is a prime
opportunity for established brands to strategise what
they can implement by 2024.
Driven by the rise of new family dynamics and
multigenerational households, Memory Makers view
this retail strategy as way to gain household input and
save money.
Cas e s tudies :
The C-List in the UK is the first beauty platform aimed at
people with cancer, centred around advice and
products with ingredients verified by oncologists and
dermatologists as safe for those undergoing treatment.
Its online library of resources includes suggested
routines, ingredients to avoid and nutrition advice.
Israel-based Reflect’s Orb is a handheld meditation aid
that uses biofeedback (heart rate variability,
electrodermal activity) to guide people through
their emotional states in real time.
Coa, the US-based ‘mental health gym’, invites people
to exercise through therapist-led emotional fitness
classes. The aim is to heal both physical and mental
illness.
Major hotel brands are investing in mental wellness as
an added-value amenity, and by 2024, a key competitive
driver for bookings. The Four Seasons Hotel in New
York has employed specialist wellness practitioners,
including a clinical hypnotherapist, astrologist and
clairvoyant, who are permanently on-site to support
guests’ emotional needs.
US-based The Dinner Party is a platform for people
who are grieving to share meals with those undergoing
similar losses. The dinner parties host around 12-15
diners and during the meals, guests are encouraged to
have candid conversations to transform hard topics and
isolating experiences into community. The platform has
already connected 13,000 members and 2,400 virtually
since the start of the pandemic.
30
Cas e s tudies :
In the Japan-based LINE app, branded messages arrive
alongside messages from friends and family in the same
interface, which increases engagement compared to
traditional digital advertising. Friends and family can
look at the same discounts while talking about the
product. Akin to having a sales associate with you, the
group can ask product questions, see more images
and/or decide to purchase and how to pay.
Southeast Asia’s e-commerce giant Shopee introduced
group buying options on its site in January 2021.
Shoppers can invite friends and family members to buy
together simply by sharing links in WhatsApp group
chats and enjoy savings once everyone has paid.
Facebook is dipping its toe in the group buying service.
In December 2021, the company began testing Split
Payments in the US. The concept is designed for
“shared household expenses or even the monthly rent”.
The payment is done through Messenger and the
amounts can be scheduled for monthly bills or one-offs
such as dinner.
Consumer profile 04: The New Sensorialists
This quintessential hybrid consumer wants the best of both worlds – digital
wallets for real-life purchases, VR moments that they can feel in real life – and
are driving virality in-store and online. Get ready for the New Sensorialists’
energy in 2024.
While some cohorts are taking a balanced approach to the Everything Net, the New
Sensorialists are flocking to it faster than a TikTok reel. Why? Similar to the dot.com
boom, they are attracted to the rush of these new digital frontiers. Don’t be
mistaken, these tech optimists aren’t living life behind a VR headset. Quite the
opposite.
The New Sensorialists are the quintessential hybrid consumer. They’ll pay with
crypto while dining in-person. They’ll unlock meta rewards to be used for real-life
product. They’ll invest in NFT artwork to be displayed in their homes. They’re not
fearful of tech, but hopeful.
Being afraid of technology is not a new phenomenon: people literally hid from
electricity. In the 1890s, people were so worried about the bicycle’s impact on
society they made up a medical condition to deter women from cycling. As we enter
these new technological worlds, it’s important to remember that they are valuable.
Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson and his colleagues have created a new
measure to capture the contribution of digital goods. Called GDP-B (B is for
benefits), the data is calculated by using online surveys to ask people how much
they value various digital services. The calculations suggest that US consumers have
gained some $225bn in uncounted value from Facebook alone since 2004. Wikipedia
added $42bn.
“Web3 symbolises a massive societal shift, infused with innovation
and supercharged with values. I dove headfirst into the space
when I understood that we’re in the midst of a cultural revolution
enabled by technology – not the other way around”
Lior Messika, founder and managing partner, Eden Block
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Swype Cosmetics
Welcome to Web 3.0
What will help drive these new opportunities for the New Sensorialists? As society
pushes further into the metaverse, as crypto becomes more widely accepted, and
more people embrace their digital twin, there is a growing demand towards Web 3.0.
Web 3.0 – owning the web. In Web 3.0, data will be connected in a decentralised way,
unlike generation 2.0 of the internet in which data is primarily stored in centralised
storage locations. It is ownership for all and no walled gardens. It is a user-friendly,
more secure, more private and better-connected internet.
Web 3.0 is not an entirely new concept. What is considered to be Web 3.0 today was
originally coined the Semantic Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of World Wide
Web. His vision was for a smarter internet that was more autonomous and open.
For the New Sensoralists, Web 3.0 is critical for a fair and equitable metaverse. To
make web 3.0 sites permissionless and trustless, peer-to-peer networks or
blockchains (or both) will be used to create decentralised applications (dApps). A fair
metaverse, with digital data ownership through NFTs, is only (currently) possible on
Web 3.0.
For those scratching their heads, the next version of the web is decentralised. Web 3.0
also rebalances power dynamics between users and platforms, putting users in
control of their data, privacy and internet experience.
Still scratching your head? Think of it as this:
Web 1.0 (1989–2005) – r eading the web. Early webpages were static, not adaptive
and mostly for consuming and sharing information. Besides early chat rooms, there
was little interaction.
Web 2.0 (2005 to p res ent) – interacting with the web. Under this stage, the internet
became social. Internet users have been encouraged to connect with each other
through social networking services, blogs, vlogs and chat groups, which has been
leading to the creation of massive volumes of data and content.
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Decentralis ed ever ything
It’s early stages, but Web 3.0 could mean a larger societal shift to decentralisation.
DAOs are entering the market. DeFi (decentralised finance) is having ups and downs
but still advancing the crypto-market, and development of decentralised social media
platforms will be something to keep an eye on. Without the need to encourage
endless scrolling (for gathering data), social media could actually benefit humanity
rather than sap its attention. Instead of exploiting user participation, Web 3.0 could
reward it, financially or otherwise.
Decentralisation won’t happen overnight (and some economists say it never will), but
the New Sensorialists are advocates.
Embracing the pandemoment
The New Sensorialists have a sense of optimism and are energised. As highlighted in
Future Innovations 2024, an outburst of accumulated energy will see the 2020s
emulate the roaring 1920s, but with a more inclusive focus. Expect a surge in counterculture and hedonism as this cohort embraces the pandemoment. The neologism is a
play on the word “pandemonium”, which means chaos. Pandemoment, however, means
turning that chaos into something fabulous.
The equitable creator economy
This creative renaissance is redefining the creator economy. The New Sensorialists are
either part of the creator economy or laser-focused on supporting it. While it is
becoming a booming industry (a telling sign was in 2021, when the The New York Times
moved its creator economy coverage from the Style section to Business), this cohort is
about equitable access in terms of paying creators for their art, giving credit to the
originators and being inclusive to all.
This will lead to more poly-creatives and collaborations. As digital design grows, so
does the relationship between technology workers and product design which is
helping push NFT collaborations.
In July 2021, global Black creators, who have led the charge in creating viral dances on
TikTok, went on strike against the lack of recognition they have received for their work
to set trends on the app. # BlackTikTokStrike was an attempt to gain more credit for the
Black creators to secure the recognition – and compensation – they deserve. To help
Black TikTok dance creators achieve ownership over the viral trends they create,
hologram startup Jadu launched NFT holograms available on OpenSea. These pieces
of content featured TikTok creators Jalaiah Harmon, Cookie Kawaii and Blanco Brown
performing their routines, which offered them ownership and the ability to prove it.
But the poly-creatives won’t stop there. According to Imogene Snell: “Fashion
designers will continue to take on other roles more publicly [as] filmmakers, graphic
designers, artists, poets. There is a new space for them to express themselves beyond
clothes, and audiences are here for it. Multitasking creatively will become even more
normal.”
Music will undergo a transformation as well. Jon Vlassopulos, global head of music at
Roblox, similarly predicts: “Millions of music artists will spend their time creating and
expressing themselves beyond the limitations of ‘songs’. They will expand their
creativity to become filmmakers, game creators, and TV producers, building closer
connections than ever before with their fans.”
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Founded by teenager Emily Flores, Cripple Media is an online creative platform that
gives space to young, disabled people to share their own personal experiences
through lifestyle tips, cultural analysis and essays.
Engagement strategies: The New Sensorialists
Meta loyalty rewards
Driven by the rise of the direct-to-fan economy, play-to-earn rewards and
digital wallets, companies need to capture this crypto cohort. If digital
monetisation isn’t on the table, consider ways to strategically partner through
NFTs, in-game sponsorship and ads/events in meta malls.
The Mastercard New Payments Index 2021 found that four in 10 people across North
America, LATAM, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and APAC plan to use
cryptocurrency in the coming year (2021/22). By 2024, this usage is likely to be higher.
Here are a few ways brands play in this space.
Digital s ouvenirs : proof of attendance protocol tokens (POAPs) are popular for
virtual event holders and in Web 3.0 communities. The free NFT ‘badges’ are housed
on the xDai chain, a greener Ethereum sidechain. For retailers, they can be utilised as
a gift-with-purchase for special-edition product releases or gifted to attendees of
virtual and IRL events, such as sales, conferences, concerts, activations and in-store
events. Also, digital tokens link to a database, create brand loyalty and capture data
points.
Tokens with p urchas e and NFT VIPs : Superplastic, the animated collectable
disruptor brand, plans to offer extra retail perks for special Superplastic NFT
owners (it reportedly sold $7m in digital collectibles in 2021). Perks include VIP
access to online and physical stores and restaurants. It’s also rolling out new brickand-mortar retail experience stores that will offer specially merchandised sections
for its NFT owners.
Click here for detailed analysis of crypto-rewards and the metaverse.
“93% of people will consider using at least one emerging payment
method, such as cryptocurrency, biometrics, contactless, or QR
code, in the next year [2021/22]”
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Mastercard New Payments Index 2021, conducted across 18 markets globally
Alcampo
Akin to the 'picture to prove it' mentality, proof of attendance protocol tokens (POAPs) are the
Web 3.0 equivalents to attending a virtual event, gathering, hangout, concert, etc
Feeling the metaverse
This cohort will gravitate to tech that lets them feel the metaverse, from haptic
technology to smell. WGSN has been tracking haptic technology since 2013 and
there is exponential room for growth.
Cas e s tudies :
Look to gaming products for design cues. Spanish company OWO’s vest has 10
muscle areas with 30 different sensations to feel video games. Sony announced
the PlayStation VR2, a VR headset paired with VR2 Sense controllers that act as
adaptive triggers.
Actronika in France is designing vests for the metaverse. Skinetic makes VR “feel
more immersive by bringing touch-like experiences to areas of the body when
paired with a compatible headset”. Other aspects include temperature controls to
feel the digital environment
Under the tagline “All day comfort. All-in immersion”, the Enki Pro HyperSense
chair is fitted with 65,000 haptic variations, has the tactile feedback of +/- 1 G-force
and can create 1.5 inches of tilt.
While haptics are ripe for fashion and interiors, don’t discount the food industry.
Japanese scientist Homei Miyashita is bringing his lickable TV to life. A prototype
has been unveiled, delivering a multisensory experience. Taste the TV (TTTV)
uses a carousel of 10 flavour canisters that spray in combination to create the taste
of a particular food. That sample is delivered on hygienic film over a flat TV
screen.
“Few players are beginning to add the sense of touch into VR.
However, the tactile illusions are still very flat. We decided to take
this technology from black and white to full colour.”
Gilles Meyer, CEO of Actronika
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Gali May Lucas
A Taste the TV sample is delivered on hygienic film over a flat TV screen. A commercial version
would cost around 100,000 yen (£640) to make, and it hopes to make a platform in the future
where tastes from all around the world can be downloaded
#Viral-to-VM
Now more than ever, brands must commit to social
listening and remain agile enough to adapt to virality.
An Ad Week + Morning Consult survey found that 49% of
global TikTok users claim they have purchased a
product or service from a brand after seeing it
advertised, promoted, or reviewed on the platform.
# TikTokMadeMeBuyIt now boasts 7.3 billion views and
features a stream of creators promoting hero products
across categories.
The success of some TikTok products has inspired
entrepreneurs to open new physical retail shops that
exclusively sell viral items. Look to Viral Trends NY,
run by a 15-year-old entrepreneur named Marc Willams,
which stocks viral TikTok products. After finding TikTok
fame, creators-turned-entrepreneurs Emma Rogue and
Matt Choon both opened thrift shops in the same
Downtown Manhattan neighbourhood, prompting the
location to be known as TikTok Block.
Some retailers are utilising social listening to their
advantage by dedicating either physical retail or
internet landing pages to gain sales with this cohort.
Cas e s tudies :
US book store Barnes & Noble boasts a dedicated
# booktok section on its site and in-store, featuring titles
that have recently gone viral on the app (# booktok
boasts 36.4 billion views on the platform).
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Amazon unveiled its Internet Famous Storefront in late
2021. Using social listening tools from Instagram,
TikTok and other social media channels, the page is
updated with the top viral products being viewed.
Target is also staying ahead of the viral curve for beauty
products, with a dedicated Viral Beauty Products
section on its website. Target is upping the ante by
offering BOGO offers and select sales for viral beauty
products.
While some retailers may think social listening is a low
ROI investment, there is growing proof that the strategy
does drive sales. As highlighted in the Gen Z: Decoding
Social Media Aesthetics white paper, social listening
helps brands stay ahead of the accelerating trend
cycle.
Netflix’s Bridgerton premiere quickly inspired a new
subculture, boasting 17.1 million views on
# regencycore. Key items such as corsets, empire waists
and gloves enamoured viewers, with Lyst seeing 123%
search growth for corsets and 93% for empire cuts. Etsy
saw a 744% increase in searches for lace gloves and a
110% spike in tea sets.
By knowing the key hashtags with sustained growth,
retailers and brands can merchandise their home
pages, social platforms, in-store end caps and shelves
accordingly.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) indus tr y expans ion
Cautious of inflation and unexpected economic strain,
the Sensorialists are adopters of BNPL. They still want
to experience life but have reservations about financial
futures. This finance plan has been around for decades,
but the pandemic has accelerated post-purchase
payment plans to mass, as shoppers increasingly seek
affordability, convenience and immediacy.
Why not just use traditional credit cards? BNPL is
typically split into four to six interest-free payments and
void of the fees often associated with a credit card.
Additionally, if a shopper accidentally slips into the
danger zone by missing a payment by the due date, this
fact is recorded in their credit history, potentially
damaging their credit score.
Fashion platforms including Klarna have seen
tremendous growth (counting nearly 90 million users
across 17 countries), but in 2024, the BNPL finance plan
will expand to other industries.
Eat now, pay later (ENPL) is rising in Australia, driven
largely by ENPL app Payo. Users can book at a list of
low-cost to high-cost restaurants and split the payment
four ways.
In India, the DineOut app offered BNPL for certain
restaurants to help cities recover from lockdown
measures.
Fly Now Pay Later allows travellers in the UK, EU and
the US to spread trip costs across 12 monthly payments
through travel partnerships with select airlines.
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Action points
Community commerce is here
to stay
Invest in the care economy
Make the metaverse work for
you, not against you
Accelerate at pace and scale
From the continued growth of the
resale market to the early stages of
DAOs, consumer stakeholders can’t be
ignored. Companies need to evolve to
include ownership or consumer buy-in
to retain loyal customers
Whether it’s creating reflective
shopping moments or supporting
customers through challenging
circumstances (illness, mental fatigue,
grief), people are decluttering toxic
things from their lives – don’t let your
company be thrown into this mix
Not everyone will be winners in the
meta-economy, but everyone can
participate. Whether it’s enabling digital
souvenirs as part of a loyalty
programme, creating digital products
for online avatars, or investing in haptic
technology, by 2024, brands should
have a solid meta-strategy in place
The Great Acceleration has proven
lucrative for businesses, but too much
innovation too soon may hurt in the long
run. Test social strategies, define the
right product categories to expand into
and ensure your workforce has space to
rest and reflect. Despite the economic
headlines, post-pandemic recovery is a
marathon, not a race
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Research matrix: Consumer sentiments
Cons umer s entiment 1: Future Shock
Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary
multitasking ability
Memory failure predicted by attention
lapsing and media multitasking
Microsoft: Large Scale Analysis of
Multitasking Behaviour During Remote
Meetings
Time Compression in Virtual Reality
Cons umer s entiment 2:
Overs timulated
Cons umer s entiment 3: Tragic
Op timis m
Welcome to your sensory revolution,
thanks to the pandemic
Letting Go of Familiar Narratives as
Tragic Optimism in the Era of COVID-19
Accelerating dynamics of collective
attention
Relationships between compassion
fatigue, burnout, and turnover intention
in Korean hospital nurses
TikTok owner ByteDance blasts Tencent
over comments on ‘pig feed’ short
videos as feud heats up again
In 2021, the Internet went for TikTok,
space and beyond
McKinsey: Will productivity and growth
return after the COVID-19 crisis?
Abundance of information narrows our
collective attention span
‘Compassion Fatigue,’ The New Normal
During Covid Times And Why We Don’t
Cry Anymore!
There’s a Name for the Blah You’re
Feeling: It’s Called Languishing
IPSOS: Around the world, people yearn
for significant change rather than a
return to a “pre-COVID normal”
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Cons umer s entiment 4: Awe
Awe, the diminished self, and collective
engagement: Universals and cultural
variations in the small self
Awe Expands People’s Perception of
Time and Enhances Well-Being
From Visual Perception to Aesthetic
Appeal: Brain Responses to
Aesthetically Appealing Natural
Landscape Movies
The Potential Role of Awe for
Depression: Reassembling the Puzzle
Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and
aesthetic emotion
Consumer Profile
The Regulators
The Connectors
The Memor y Makers
The New S ens or ialis ts
Why Gen X suddenly matters more for
brands
BUSINESS FORMATION STATISTICS,
DECEMBER 2021
Love in the time of COVID-19? 'No
thanks' say Brazil's divorcing couples
Mastercard New Payments Index
World Economic Forum: From Amazon
to Zoom: this is what happens on the
internet every minute
India becomes third largest startup
ecosystem in the world
Why have divorce rates increased during
the Covid-19 pandemic?
How much Data is Produced every Day
2021?
Lacking A Positive Outlook for The
Future, Half of Young People Want to
Leave Brazil
US Divorce Rates Soar During COVID-19
Crisis
Gartner: How to Reduce the Risk of
Employee Change Fatigue
People at Work 2021: A Global
Workforce View
Forrester: Must-Have E-Commerce
Features
Millennials Team Up to Fulfill the
Dream of Homeownership
An Eye-Opener For All Smartphone
Users
Toxic Culture is Driving The Great
Resignation
Voice shopping estimated to hit $40+
billion across U.S. and U.K. by 2022
Future Workforce Report 2021: How
Remote Work is Changing Businesses
Forever
Market Study: Mobile Customer
Experience Issues Highlight Use Cases
for iOS App Clips
Gen Zers and Millennials More Likely
Than Older Generations to Embrace
Continuous Learning; Also Feel More
Stressed by Pressure to Learn New
Skills
ThredUP: 2021 Resale Report
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Pew Research Center: Rising Share of
U.S. Adults Are Living Without a Spouse
or Partner
US Census Bureau: First-Ever Census
Bureau Report Highlights Growing
Childless Older Adult Population
Office for National Statistics: Births in
England and Wales
Collaboration Overload is Sinking
Productivity
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
Aging
LGBTQ elderly issues and initiatives
LGBT Older Adults at a Crossroads in
Mainland China: The Intersections of
Stigma, Cultural Values, and Structural
Changes Within a Shifting Context
Nearly Half of TikTokers are Buying
Stuff from Brands They See on the
Platform
The WGSN trend matrix 2024
Connecting the dots between our STEPIC foundational research, the six Future Drivers
and 12 Future Innovations that will shape the Future Consumer of 2024.
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