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The Future of the Consumer Industry

Buying into Better™

Think the world has changed over the last decade? Just wait.
Prepare to lead in the future of the consumer industry.

The future is fast approaching, and the consumer industry is on the precipice of dramatic change that will significantly impact the markets, models, and mechanics of consumer companies over the next decade. With all this uncertainty, one thing is clear: The strategies that led you to today likely won’t get you to the future.

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The coming years of change

Change is a staple of humanity. And nowhere is the velocity of change more evident than in the future of the consumer industry. The industry is currently facing a once-in-a-century economic, social, and technological transition.

To add complexity, this is happening against a backdrop of significant challenges, such as accelerated climate change, growing economic inequality, declining trust, increasing polarization, and worsening global financial conditions. Not only do companies need to navigate this once-in-a-century transition, but they should do it with an eye toward addressing critical issues for society and the planet more broadly.

Markets

What is sold, who it’s sold to, which goods and services are valued, and how the industry creates value.

  • From mass to micro: The market has shifted form supply-driven to demand-driven
  • Digital and hybrid tsunami: The growth of digital goods and services outsize and displace spending on traditional physical categories
  • Responsibility as a requisite: Ecological damage continues to accelerate, and the impact on the economy and the individuals becomes more visible. In the near future, consumer industry trust, privacy, equity, and advocacy will also become essential to the changing value proposition.

Models

How businesses organize and configure, how materials and capabilities are sources, and what new models create value.

  • Industries converge: Continued acceleration and collision of infotech and biotech create a massive market opportunity
  • Seismic supply shift: Geopolitical, economic, and market forces are converging to require a significant reshaping of supply chains
  • Radical industry reconfiguration: The growth of capability-as-a-service in the market is driving significant reconfiguration of the industry

Mechanics

How businesses organize and configure, how materials and capabilities are sources, and what new models create value.

  • Industries converge: Continued acceleration and collision of infotech and biotech create a massive market opportunity
  • Seismic supply shift: Geopolitical, economic, and market forces are converging to require a significant reshaping of supply chains
  • Radical industry reconfiguration: The growth of capability-as-a-service in the market is driving significant reconfiguration of the industry

The agency to harness change and build a better tomorrow

The future isn’t preordained. Instead, we construct our future one choice at a time. We have the influence, agency, and power to choose where we are going, and to shape the future of the consumer industry - and the world - for the better. What future do we want, and more importantly, what future do we have the courage to engineer? To navigate this ever-changing landscape, current - and future - consumer industry leaders need to recognize, monitor, and assess the six forces for effective scenario planning. The future will require companies to understand the implications of their decisions - and create a new approach to markets, models, and mechanics - as they chart their paths to buying into better.

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"We believe the future isn’t something to be predicted, but instead created. Forward-thinking consumer organizations should take on bold decisions concerning markets, models, and mechanics to be a valued brand of tomorrow. Ultimately, we will all need to buy into better."

Dominique van Seggelen - Futurist Consumer Industry NL

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The Future of Consumer Industry

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