What Matters to the Consumer

New research series shows consumers want consumer products and retail brands to be sustainable, purposeful, and to contribute positively to society.

As the world emerges from the shadow of the pandemic, many of the trends and changes in consumption patterns it sparked are set to stay. To report on and measure these seismic shifts, the Capgemini Research Institute is launching a new annual research series dedicated to the consumer products and retail segments.

In the inaugural installment of this series, What matters to today’s consumer, we surveyed over 10,000 consumers in 10 countries to find out what shoppers are really looking for in products and retailers and what they think about broader trends.

What we found is that consumers are slowly flocking back to physical stores, but online shopping is as popular as ever. In categories such as grocery or health and beauty, efficient delivery and fulfillment services are more important than in-store experience. This is especially true since shoppers are ordering more directly from brands. Finally, consumers’ top priorities are healthy, sustainable living – and they are making purchases that reflect this.

For brands and retailers, these trends require a broad transformation from strategy to product development, digital, analytics, operations, and marketing. But they also offer lucrative opportunities. To capitalize on them, brands and retailers should analyze first-party consumer data to customize new products and services for specific customer segments. In so doing, they should develop an omnichannel strategy that incorporates the roles of in-store, ecommerce, direct to consumer, and marketplaces. Finally, they should position delivery and fulfillment services as a growth driver and set more competitive prices for sustainable products.

To read more about the seismic changes in the consumer products and retail sectors, download the report.