RETAIL

Trend Forecaster WGSN Paints a Picture of the Future Consumer

In 2020, consumers will increasingly be doing business by smartphone while retailers will depend more on artificial intelligence and virtual reality to produce retail experiences. Young consumers will be more likely to support businesses imbued with a sense of activism, such as Patagonia.

That was the prediction by the trend forecaster WGSN, which issued a research paper called “Future Consumer 2020.”

The paper notes that demographics in North America and Europe will change, with younger consumers more likely to be a member of a minority group. WGSN suggested that businesses look for ways to sell to people with Latino and Muslim backgrounds.

Carla Buzasi, WGSN’s managing director, said the forecaster’s staff traveled to 95 countries in the past 12 months to do interviews with consumers from every age group. They also did independent market research and culled information from research papers from outside groups on a number of subjects ranging from technology, economics, demographics to studies on new markets such as cannabis and cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies will matter in a world where consumers have more choices. “Consumers are growing ever more distrustful of large institutions—government, banks and large corporations— because they haven’t fixed the things they promised. Businesses that succeed in the future world will have to stand for something. Our future consumers are more than happy to take their money elsewhere if they don’t share the ideals of the brand they’re buying from. So businesses need to think long and hard about where they stand on big issues. It’s not about storytelling anymore. It’s about action,” she said.

The paper had an optimistic outlook for technology. It forecast that Fifth Generation wireless systems, known as 5G, will revolutionize business and the use of smartphones. The networks are predicted to be faster, stronger and more nimble than what most U.S. consumers are currently using. More reliance on technology, WGSN said, will create more jobs.

Changing demographics is a hot topic right now. On March 13, the U.S. Census Bureau forecast that older people will probably outnumber children in America by 2030. By that time, all baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—will be older than 65. By that time, one out of every five residents will be of retirement age.