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CONSUMER TRENDS
New study examines top five global digital consumer trends for 2024
By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024
Euromonitor unpacks emerging trends in digital consumers’ evolving values and how their behaviour is redefining their shopping motivations.
Global market research company Euromonitor International has released its ‘Top Five Digital Consumer Trends in 2024’ report.
It reveals emerging trends in digital consumers’ evolving values and explores how their behaviour is redefining their shopping motivations. The study also examines the technological advances that will continue to reshape consumer behaviour.
Euromonitor’s Top Five Digital Consumer Trends in 2024 are:
Intuitive E-Commerce
The rising influence of digital channels among consumers is putting pressure on companies to improve the online experience.
Advances in AR, IoT and Gen AI have the potential to transform the online shopping experience, leading to one that is more intuitive.
Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels
The TikTok Economy
Digital consumers are flocking to TikTok and brands are striving to promote their products and services on the platform.
But some of the viral trends that are doing the most to boost brand sales are emerging organically from users on those platforms, without any direct brand involvement.
Outsmart Online
Against a backdrop of mounting macro-economic uncertainty and increasing digitalisation, consumers are seeking out online platforms dedicated to rooting out the best deals.
More and more consumers are using these platforms in ways that brands do not intend – and disapprove of.
Re-commerce 2.0
Re-commerce (the selling of previously owned items through online marketplaces) is surging globally, driven by environmentally conscious, thrifty and tech-savvy younger consumers.
Brands and retailers recognise the potential of the market and are adopting strategies to enter it – mirroring the convenience of e-commerce, and making re-commerce more widely accessible across product categories.
Revamped Returns
Consumers have long wanted hassle-free returns, but delivering on that expectation has not been without challenges.
Converging trends like the rise of e-commerce, store closures and more sustainable strategies – plus new technologies and partnerships – are paving the way to a happier return experience for shoppers.
How consumption patterns are changing
“Cautious and conscious consumption is growing. The cost of a purchase, whether that cost is monetary or environmental, was top of mind for digital consumers in 2023 and will continue to be in 2024,” says Michelle Evans, Global Lead of Retail and Digital Insights at Euromonitor International.
“Saving money is playing out in how consumers are seeking to outsmart brands online or joining the resale movement.
“Consumers are also seeking more power in their relationships with brands. This is prevalent in both the TikTok Economy and Outsmart Online trends, which at their roots are about how consumers are using social media to give them a greater voice in the consumer-brand relationship.”
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