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and Partner at Absolunet. Retail models that engage a great societal equalizer, and it's enabled companies to
consumers at the pre-purchase, purchase and post- reach new geographies and new consumers with their
purchase stages, deliver convenience and offer goods and offerings," said Boumphrey, who considers data pivotal in
services supportive of changing consumer values and the endeavor to build one-to-one relationships that meet
lifestyles will be better positioned to capture these elusive consumer expectations.
shoppers.
Converting raw data into actionable intelligence means
Megatrend: Enhanced experiences that artificial intelligence and machine learning will

A shift in consumer values toward enhanced experiences is continue to forge ahead. "Merchants have tons of customer
expected to lift spending on travel, leisure and food service data, and you're going to see programs that try and glean
to $8 trillion globally by 2030, according to Euromonitor. things that are not obvious out of that data, and then
For frontline retailers, the real challenge will be to deliver provide either value-added services or product offers," said
consistent, effortless online and in-store experiences Scott Hess, Vice President of User Experience, Consulting
throughout the customer journey. "Experience more is and Innovation at Fiserv Inc.
putting the consumer at the heart of the customer journey,
and not looking at everything through a transactional With the capacity to process data at the periphery of the
lens," said Caroline Bremner, Head of Travel Research at network, edge computing will resolve data processing
Euromonitor. "The experience economy is touching every speed issues for certain industries. However, because
aspect of consumers' lives from leisure, retail, banking, it opens a larger network area to potential cyberattacks,
healthcare and education." closer scrutiny of security protocols will be an essential
piece in these distributed information technology
Bremner noted that even the most mundane products frameworks.
and services are undergoing experiential makeovers,
embracing brand attributes that are difficult to replicate. "The most notable industry to benefit will be the
Such attributes include authenticity, local, immersive, automotive sector," said Sam Barker, Senior Analyst
sensory, real, shareable, curated, customized, diverse, at Juniper Research Ltd. "With each connected vehicle
choice, practical, convenient, helpful and timely. generating large amounts of data, edge computing will
enable networks to process this information at the edge of
Desjardins agreed, adding that consumers are craving the network and reduce strain on operators' networks to
community-oriented experiences that are shareable. "With enable a faster delivery of in-vehicle services, and in the
social media influencers assisting with brand placement, future, an autonomous vehicle ecosystem."
a big emphasis is now on how brands and retailers are
assisting with that storytelling," he said. Voice commerce, driven by further penetration of voice-
controlled devices, such as Amazon Echo and Alexa, will
Desjardins also pointed out that customers respond increase demand for seamless order fulfillment. "Part of
positively to fun, authentic and innovative in-person Amazon's strategy is to embed artificial intelligence and
interactions. For example, Canadian parka brand Kanuk voice recognition into pretty much everything that it
offers a cold room (-13 degrees Fahrenheit) for testing produces," Hess said. "We're working with Amazon and
jackets in-store. The Home Depot Inc. conducts in-store Google to leverage their technology rather than build it
DIY workshops to educate customers and encourage in- ourselves" for Fiserv's 60 million users.
store spending on home projects.
Ian Bell, Global Lead-Home Care Research at Euromonitor,
Brehmer said brands need to consider what consumers mentioned trust as a key metric in an era when the ability
experience from the point of discovery and guidance to collect, process and make sense of vast amounts of
on options, to interactions in-store and at checkout, and human generated data will rise exponentially. Companies
after checkout, where relationship building continues, that score well in this category will have endless potential
frequently through loyalty programs and special offers. to connect with consumers in meaningful ways.
"Experience happens on this spectrum horizontally at all Megatrends: Healthy and ethical living
touch points within the customer journey," Brehmer said.
Euromonitor estimates that spending on general wellbe-
Megatrend: Connected consumers ing in key markets will reach $64 billion by 2021, bolstered
Euromonitor estimates that by 2030, three-quarters of by steady revenue growth in nutrition/drink products,
the global population will have Internet access. IDC herbal/traditional remedies, and affiliated small applianc-
predicted 30 billion devices will be Internet-connected es, equipment and services. "Health has become a lifestyle
within the next two years. Advancing this megatrend, choice," Boumphrey said. "Technology is obviously at the
Mastercard recently partnered with the U.S. Agency for forefront of this shift. We're seeing healthy tracking diag-
International Development in launching a public-private nosis. It's also facilitating general health awareness and
coalition to transform refugee settlements into digitally personalized prevention." Standout companies will be the
connected communities. "Digital connectivity has been ones that tap into consumer empowerment through self-
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