Consumer expectations are shifting all the time, and with the ever-faster digitization of our world, customers want and expect better and different things from companies. Here we look at the top 8 consumer trends for 2022.

1. THE 8 CONSUMER AND
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
TRENDS IN 2022

2. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
THE 8 CONSUMER AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
TRENDS IN 2022
Consumer expectations are shifting all the time, and with the ever-faster
digitization of our world, customers want and expect better and
different things from companies. Here we look at the top 8 consumer
trends for 2022.

3. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Our world is changing rapidly, and so too are consumer expectations.
Therefore, if your business wants to continue to add real value and solve
customers’ problems, you will have to rethink your products and services to
take account of the huge shifts taking place.
Broadly speaking, these shifts can be grouped into eight transformative
consumer trends.

4. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
TREND 1: CHANNEL DIGITIZATION AND EXPANSION
No doubt your business has already embraced digital routes to connect with customers. Most have.
But in the past, this digitization journey has generally treated digital channels – websites, social media,
etc. – as add-ons. Now, the gear has shifted completely, and customers increasingly come to a
business via a digital channel. Digital comes first, in other words.
One McKinsey global survey found that the COVID-19 crisis drastically accelerated the digitization of
customer and supply chain interactions by three to four years – in the space of just a few months. This
means businesses must focus their efforts on building better digital-first interactions with customers.
For me, this means focusing on three specific areas:
 Apps
 A smooth omnichannel experience (where customers can move seamlessly between different
channels and still get a cohesive customer experience)
 New, digital-only products

5. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
TREND 2: THE COGNIFICATION OF PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
There’s no escaping artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things. Both are
inextricably part of our everyday lives now, as demonstrated by the increasing number of
everyday products that are labeled “smart.”
This “cognifying” of products – a phrase coined by Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of
Wired magazine – is being applied to a wide range of products, from fridges and cars to
huge industrial machines in factories. In fact, given the shrinking size and cost of sensors,
pretty much anything can be made smart. But it’s not just products that are becoming
more intelligent – services are also being beefed up with AI capabilities.

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TREND 3: MICRO-MOMENTS AND PERSONALIZATION
In this age of hyper individualization, people want to feel special. They expect brands to
understand and respond to their individual needs. They want something that’s unique to
them, not the mass marketing strategies of the past. To put it another way, your
customers are craving a more meaningful connection with your brand.
And they want it fast. Today’s customers are time-poor and constantly bombarded with
content, so they expect quick solutions. The challenge (and opportunity) for businesses
is to pinpoint those exact moments when customers are looking for a specific thing (be
it a product, information, or whatever) and then quickly give it to them. In fact, the
window to give customers what they're looking for maybe just a few seconds – and this
is what Google refers to as “micro-moments.”

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TREND 4: SUBSCRIPTION AND SERVITIZATION
For me, this is one of the most important future trends. Driven by the increasing
cognification of products and services, organizations of all kinds can now delight their
customers with thoughtful subscription-based services and products.
This trend is all about moving from a traditional business model, where the customer buys
a product or service as and when they need it, to one where they sign up to receive that
product or service on a regular basis. The customer benefits from convenient auto-
renewals and builds a deeper connection with the brands they love. Meanwhile, the
business generates predictable revenue – because, so long as you continue to provide
value for the customer, they will continue to pay for it.

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TREND 5: CUTTING OUT THE MIDDLEMAN
Also known as disintermediation, the direct-to-consumer trend essentially means
bypassing traditional intermediaries in the supply chain – such as retailers,
wholesalers, distributors, advertisers – to connect directly with the end consumer.
Brands across all sectors are now finding new, direct routes to customers via online
channels.
I believe all businesses must consider how they can build new ways to connect
directly with their customers. And for intermediary organizations, such as banks
and retailers, this trend obviously represents a significant challenge. These
intermediaries – who have been quite powerful in the past – are being pushed out
of the equation and will have to rethink their businesses accordingly.

9. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
TREND 6: FROM B2C TO “ALL TO ALL”
The customer-to-customer (C2C) economy – where customers connect with other
customers to communicate or trade goods/services – has given rise to massive
platform businesses, like Uber, Facebook, and Etsy. There is value in facilitating these
interactions and transactions, and those platforms that can create a safe, easy way for
customers to connect have seen enormous growth.
Even if your business isn't a platform business, it's worth paying attention to this trend.
There may be an opportunity to pivot to a platform model or introduce a new
business built around a value-adding platform.

10. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
TREND 7: MORE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES
Thanks to extended reality (XR) technologies like virtual reality (VR) and
augmented reality (AR), brands can now impress their customers with engaging,
immersive experiences. (In fact, I’ve written a whole book, called Extended Reality
in Practice, about the use of XR across a wide range of industries.)
Today’s consumers increasingly prioritize experiences over material goods
(particularly among millennials, where 75 percent say they value experiences over
things). And this means brands that want to stay relevant must turn the customer
journey – whether it is online or offline – into a thoughtful, memorable experience.
XR can help you do this.

11. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
TREND 8: CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION
Driven in part by movements such as the Extinction Rebellion and the work of
environmental activist Greta Thunberg, we've reached a tipping point in environmental
awareness. And with this growing awareness comes a desire for more eco-friendly and
sustainable products. Certainly, in my family, we're regularly asking questions such as,
"Is this fair trade?" and "Was this farmed sustainably?" We're trying to be conscious
consumers, in other words, seeking to understand the wider impact of our purchases
and, wherever possible, choosing more responsible alternatives.

12. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
According to this trend, we’re not alone. Take “flygskam” or “flight shame” as an
example. After the term was coined in Sweden in 2017, plane ticket sales began to fall in
2018, and train ticket sales began to climb. So, rather than gaining status for opting into
conscious consumerism, there is now shame around opting out of it. That’s a clear sign
that conscious consumption is going mainstream.
Reimagining your business to take account of these trends takes courage, especially as it
may involve cannibalizing your existing business model. (Think of how Apple’s focus on
iPhones and Apple Music essentially made iPods obsolete.) And it requires humility, too
– the humility to look at other industries and organizations and identify what they’re
doing better.

13. © 2021 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker,
futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and
companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data
more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as
artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is
a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for
Forbes. Every day Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers
and shares content that reaches millions of readers.

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