Accenture Finds 1 Billion New Online Shoppers Entering the Market
Digital consumers between the ages of six and 26 are emerging out of Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria and the Philippines, according to new research from Accenture. And while these 1.4 billion consumers represent a great opportunity for growth in the next decade, they also signal the need for companies to reinvent their digital commerce strategies.
Accenture’s research finds that the opportunity is of great significance particularly because digital commerce eases some of the traditional barriers to entry in these markets and, notably, digital commerce revenues have quadrupled in these markets since 2017 for a total of $211 billion in 2022. Still, the researchers say, “most multinationals are not set up to serve these digital-first consumers.”
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“These new consumers are relevant to companies that operate in these countries today as well as the multinationals looking to grow their footprint and balance their global portfolios,” said Fabio Vacirca, global commerce lead at Accenture Song. “However, strategies based on the western model of consumerism — the steady evolution from brick-and-mortar to digital commerce models that occurs over decades — won’t work for these consumers. Companies will need to be digital-first, leapfrogging older legacy approach.”
Importantly, Accenture’s research finds that there are key behaviors among these emerging consumers that have the potential to “transcend boundaries and influence purchasing habits more broadly.” Using a consumer survey of more than 3,000 consumers across eight countries, the researchers divided the consumers into four core archetypes including digital native purchasers, digitally savvy Millennials, digital native content creators and digital alpha influencers.
Consumers span across three generations (Gen Alpha, Gen Z and Millennials), which Accenture’s data shows are already spending a significant amount of time online when discovering, considering and making a purchase. Eighty percent of surveyed consumers reported using online channels such as search engines, social media and videos to research products before purchasing. And 76 percent of these consumers said they were influenced by likes and good comments when making buying decisions.
At the same time, 65 percent of consumers reported that they prefer to use online payment methods when shopping, also saying that convenient delivery options like click and collect (73 percent) or free delivery (79 percent) are important drivers for online purchases.
“Commerce is having a big moment right now in the boardroom, with CEOs asking where the next wave of growth in commerce will come from,” Vacirca said. “This moment is similar to the tectonic shift the telecommunications industry had when consumers leapfrogged landlines to mobile or similarly in the movement from the theater to streaming services.”
Ultimately, he said, the companies that will gain first-mover advantage will recognize they need to be as digital on the inside as they are on the outside and reinvent their commerce model to meet the needs of their future consumer.
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