It’s nothing short of a revolution, and the stakes have never been higher for retailers and consumer goods companies. Our Total Retail survey results, together with 2015 fourth-quarter retail results around the world, point to 2016 as a watershed for many of the trends that have been percolating over the past few years. From the unmistakable desire to be a member of a specialized retail community to buying more on their mobile phones, from becoming more reliant on social media to demanding a more service-focused and knowledgeable store employee, global consumers are pushing the boundaries of what shopping means.

Key findings

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To understand future global shopping behavior, look to China. Our historical data shows that what China was doing several years ago, today’s consumers across the globe are doing.

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We may live in the age of value—but price is still king. Years of slow global economic growth have resulted in a value dynamic, and affordability is important in every income bracket, in virtually every country, across every age group.

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Store traffic doesn’t matter as much as overall customer conversion across channels. Customers are voting with their feet as they shop more online, and for multi-channel retailers that means the need for an increasingly focused, curated and engaging brick-and-mortar store experience that creates maximum conversion—no matter what channel ultimately records the purchase.

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