The Future of Consumption

This open access book presents three future consumption trends—technology, sustainability, and wellbeing—and discusses what impact those trends will have on the ways we shop. 

What will be important to the consumers of the future? And how will their retail experiences look and feel? Will technology, sustainability, and wellbeing trends fundamentally change how we consume? And how should retail managers respond to these trends in order to provide the customer experiences of the future? Blending academic perspectives with reflections from innovative retailers, this book explores all these questions and more.  

Essential reading for retail managers who want to know how future consumption trends will affect the industry, this book also benefits students and researchers of retail and consumption who want to better understand how these interdependent fields are linked. 

“Historically, the retail industry has been a turnover-driven industry where the business transaction money for goods has been central. But this anthology questions such logic by drawing on the strong forces around technology, sustainability, and well-being. It is clear that future retailers will need to develop their offers and services to attract prospective customers. It is also clear that the experiential dimension of retail will be essential in the future, but that experiences will take on different expressions compared to today. How no one knows. But after reading this book, we are introduced to the new mindsets and behaviours of consumers and retail actors and are prepared for tomorrow's retail experience. These new thoughts and behaviours radically shift retail logic and present a new way of thinking that builds the future of retail and consumers on co-creation, exchange of ideas, networks, and resilience.” (Professor Malin Sundström, University West, Sweden)  

“I really must recommend this book, which is an insightful and topical book for all practitioners and scholars seeking answers and new perspectives on future challenges within retail and marketing. Never has the retail industry been challenged from so many different directions and it is important to be prepared for the changes that are coming. This book goes through the major trends in the retail industry: the development of technology, sustainability challenges and, finally, the future customer’s demands for better experiences. So be prepared, be updated. Read the book and you will have a huge competitive advantage for the future.” (Martin Moström, CEO, Retail House, Sweden) 

“The Future of Consumption” provides an in-depth understanding of three major areas influencing customer behavior. Enriched with expert perspectives and practical insights, this book serves as an invaluable resource for individuals who are eager to stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of retail and consumption.” (Sofia Norén, Chief Business Development Officer, Storekey, Sweden) 

“This book is absolutely a must-have (and should be also a must-read) for any scholar in retail and consumer behaviour. It embraces new approaches to the study of consumer behaviour (in both physical and online settings), with rigor, clarity, and effectiveness. Moreover, the topics touched, the fluency of the narrative, and the easy to read make the book much relevant also for practitioners and young researchers. Indeed, topics span from digital retail to sustainability, social media, wellbeing, and metaverse.  Reading the chapters would certainly lead the readers to a deep exploitation of the actual context. Finally, the useful tools and frameworks provided will strongly help the reader understanding the future of retailing and consumption.” (Dr. Eleonora Pantano, University of Bristol, United Kingdom) 

“This book is a valuable collection of chapters by leading researchers and practitioners from a variety of fields and perspectives, exploring a range of phenomena that are likely to transform the future of consumption. It is both multifaceted and clearly structured to reflect the three key trends of technology, sustainability and well-being. These trends cover phenomena ranging from more established technologies such as digital signage to those with more uncertain trajectories such as the metaverse, from the prospects of seaweed to the challenges of reducing food waste, and from individual consumer wellbeing to digital mental health ecosystems. The book shows how each of these major trends, individually and in combination, is contributing to shape consumer experiences and retailing. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the future of consumption and is therefore highly recommended.” (Professor Johan Hagberg, University of Gothenburg, Sweden) 

“Too often we take retailing and consumption for granted. It is only when things go wrong (ranging from pandemics to global economic and geopolitical challenges) that we see how central these multi-faceted activities have become to the functioning and evolution of society. In this book, authors drawn from a wide range of backgrounds provide fascinating contemporary perspectives on the nexus between retailing and consumption. The rich variety of topics is compelling, and the insights and implications presented will prove instructive to students, academics and practitioners alike.” (Jonathan Reynolds, Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK)  

“The core purpose of retailing is to satisfy the needs and desires of consumers.  It is therefore essential that retailers keep abreast of the evolving values, expectations and behaviours of contemporary consumers.  We are in a phase of significant change in the socio-economic environment, so the need to look forward and explore new relationships and interactions between retailers and consumers is more critical than ever.”

This edited anthology brings together an important set of insights relevant to the future of consumption and retailing.  The core to successful retailing remains the delivery of an excellent customer experience.  The need for retailing to deliver not just the ‘traditional’ values associated with products and services but to respond to important emergent themes around sustainability and wellbeing, and to consider how technology contributors to (or detracts from) delivering customer experiences based on these values will shape retailer-consumer relationships in the years ahead. (Steve Burt, Professor of Retail Marketing, Institute for Retail Studies, University of Stirling, UK) 

“The retail industry is constantly evolving, always with the fast-changing needs of the customers at heart. This book gives a great overview of how future trends within technology, sustainability and well-being can impact the development of retail. No matter if you’re a retailer or a student, it’s an interesting read with inspiring examples and best-practises that can inspire to action – both for businesses and consumers.” (Jesper Brodin, CEO Ingka Group I IKEA, Sweden)

Kristina Bäckström is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Service Studies & Centre for Retail Research, Lund University.

Carys Egan-Wyer is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Business Administration & Centre for Retail Research, Lund University.

Emma Samsioe is an Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Service Studies & Centre for Retail Research, Lund University.