The Retail Institute Symposium Keynote delivered for The Retail Institute on the new shape of retail, global trends and the future of consumption.

1. Globalisation and
Consumerism in Urban
Retail
The Retail Institute Symposium
Andy Lima
12th October 2106

2. Urbanisation and Consumerism
“…the distinctions between physical and online are quickly vanishing
turning the world into a showroom without walls” – Jolfsson B and
Rahman (2013)

3. The Challenge of Mega-cities
two-thirds of the world’s
population will live in
cities.
World Population
now lives in Cities
Cities such as: Tokyo, Jakarta,
New Delhi, New York, Beijing,
Shanghai, Sao Paulo, London,
55%
2030
Rise of Mega
Cities
29 mega-cities boast 10m or
more people, accounting for
7.2pc of humanity.
People currently living in our planet,
the World’s Population is
Expected to raise to 8 Billion by 2025
7.2
Billion

4. “Who are these people?”
adults in the
UK 20 to 34
living with
parents
Global increase in number
of people living alone
between
1996-2011
The idea of families being based around a married
couple does not hold true in Europe which has the
highest rates of cohabiting family groups.
80%
What is a normal Family?
The average age of a
mother giving birth
in England and Wales
in 2012 was 29.8
years the highest.
2013
3.3 million
Family sizes and fertility rates are
decreasing globally. EU average
was 2.3 in 2013 down from 2.4 in
2010

5. Two Key questions:
 Today’s urban consumers are more empowered than ever before – How is
likely to affect retailers customer engagement strategy?
 How can retailers better target audiences using new social technologies to
build lasting remarkable experiences that seamlessly respond to customers
needs across all channels? (Doing so sustainably)
Social Technologies Interplaying with Urbanism

6. Social Technologies Interplaying with Urbanism
 “I want it all, I want it now…” – Queen.
 “Selfie” and “Snap” moment culture.
 It feeds the current hedonistic consumption life-style.
 Fast pace life - adapt or die – Digital Darwinism.
 Social Technology is becoming an extension of mankind whereas the
smartphone is the operational system and communication interface.
 66% are more likely to look up a store if they see a friend check in on
social media.

7. The “Urbanites”
“TOP DEFINITION
urbanite
A person who inhabits one of the major cities in the world, aged between 17 and 44. An urbanite is
an affluent consumer with an optimistic outlook on life that is very different from those who live in
"small town" or rural areas.
Urbanites are both a subculture and a contemporary lifestyle. They have 6 key characteristics:
Time-poor, city-proud, media-literate, brand-centric, trend-sensitive and culturally-aware.
Metro newspaper has listed the 10 "Great expectations" that above all else motivate and drive
Urbanites:
01. Expecting to live a meaningful and experience-rich urban life.
02. Expecting to succeed in multiple areas of life (not just career).
03. Expecting to get substantial fulfilment from work (not just cash).
04. Expecting to be at the hub of a large friendship network.
05. Expecting the traditional ideal of "true love" in the modern world.
06. Expecting to have to "make time" in order to have and enjoy time.
07. Expecting to use debt to have what they want, and have it now.
08. Expecting to have a progressive government that delivers results.
09. Expecting to live in a pleasant "urban village" area of their city.
10. Expecting to live a responsible life as an urban consumer.”

8. Developments in Urban Retailing
Underpinning the current “state of things”

9. The Changing Face of Retail
Subscription Online Vending Drones
Click & CollectPop-UpConvenience Mobile

10. “Humans have shorter attention span than goldfish,
thanks to smartphones” – The Telegraph
 Reshape and redistribution of wealth – new socio-economical and
geographical focus.
 1billion emerging-market consumers joining the middle classes by 2025.
 Decline in ‘High Street’ and the rise of a ‘global’ connected consumer.
 Urban consumers want total control, simple processes while still having
multiple options.
 Growth on all online platforms influencing purchase behaviour.
 Smartphones Changing Cities – stress relief from modern urban living.
 Customer Experience Design is influencing everything from
communication channels to retail spaces, distribution and packaging.
 Urban dwellers have extremely low attention span – too much to filter!

11. Developments in Urban Retail: Physical
 The Retail space is not the destination is only part of the journey.
 Stores are becoming disruptive challenging old conventions.
 Urban retail is personal it engages with the shopper in a 1-2-1
conversation.
 Caters for instant gratification and a ‘micro-moment’ culture.
 Build (in-store) collaboration.
 Embraces local while keeping a global outlook.
 Promotes social shopping (moving beyond transaction) – immersive
shopping.
 Spatial must also become conversational (story-telling: Content –
Context – Intent.
 The whole experience should be made into an epic story.

12. Burberry
 Strong multi-channel strategy, integrating
online and offline to enhance brand experience
across all touch points
 Strong multi-channel strategy, integrating online and
offline to enhance brand experience across all touch
points. 60% of marketing budget into digital strategy.
 ‘Bespoke’ platform launched
 ArtoftheTrench.com launched
 Continued investment in flagship markets –
strengthening position in 25 cities that account for
majority of retail sales.

13. DS / Citroën
 First phase of their campaign reached over 36 million impressions and
nearly eight million video views and had a 20% engagement rate.
 Citroën adopted the “The DS Writer” concept which built on a five-episode
web-based film series plus an exclusive novel written primarily for DS
Automobiles by novelist Joël Dicker.
• Retail promotion through highly interactive pop-ups stores
in partnerships with major shopping centres.
• Prospective clients are encourage to take pictures and post
straight away in their Facebook page or onto their Twitter
account.
 DS has been positioned almost exclusively an urban brand.
 Facebook as the optimal channel to drive awareness and promote their launch event
across 39 countries.

14. Trends shaping urban consumption
Urban retailers are consuming content and experiences, products and
services are but part or the journey not the end of it.

15. Consumers behaviours and opportunities for
Businesses
• Ingredient selectivity on the rise – in 2015, 35% of consumers avoided at least five separate
ingredients or food attributes. In 2016, this number increased to 53%.
• ‘Green’ self-centred motivations – willingness to pay extra for natural and organic products
that they see as having direct benefits to themselves and their families.
• Mobile will continue to dominate consumer technologies activities – in the past 12 months
consumers have dramatically increased their daily reliance on smartphones; 58% of consumers
in 2016 turn to their phones for at least five separate activities each day, compared with 34% in
2015. (i.e. – BMW mobile app)
• ‘Free-up time’ offers will drive consumer choices – Tech-enabled time-saving habits are fast
developing and savvy brands are developing offers to enable consumers to save more time.
• Virtual and Augmented Reality – out-of-store applications would have the consumer virtually
engage with the retailer at home, from another physical location, or even from a distance.

16. Consumers behaviours and opportunities for
Businesses
• Glocalisation – Google, Facebook and others internet giants are investing in the ‘local’ area –
Possum update, Facebook marketplace, urban champions such as Uber and Deliveroo delivering
new innovative urban solutions.
• Rise of the iCustomer – a group defined by a digital, mobile, real-time, always-on lifestyle. (1)
Mobile consumers look at their phones on average 1,500 times each week and they spend 177
minutes on their phone each day.
• Multi-screening for multi-tasking – according to (2)Mobify, 90% of consumers will use multiple
screens to accomplish their goal.
• Attention Arbitrage – attention, not money, are becoming the most sought after commodity as
well as the most difficult to gain and keep.
• In short, micro-moments open windows of “in-the-moment” opportunities when someone
searches for something top-of-mind using the closest device to them.
• Urbanites are loyal to the brands addressing their in-the-moment of ‘need’ or ‘want’. (Google AI
Assistant)
• Circular economy - Upgrading can lead to downgrading - As technology becomes cheaper,
consumers will upgrade their products more often and throw out the old ones.

17. What does
the
future
hold…
a work in
progress!

18. Thank you!
"Any urban trend that doesn't contribute towards a sustainable future will
lead to our demise, and eventual obliteration.“ – Andy Lima

19. Contact
Andy Lima - Digital Strategist
Enterprise and Training Associate
Associate Researcher at TRI
t. +44 (0)113 812 4793
e. a.lima@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
m. +44 (0) 0773 209 503
tw. @andylimauk

20. References
• Euromonitor International (2016) Report Extract: Lifestyles 2016: New Survey Insights And System
Refresher.
• Knox, P. and Pinch, S. (2013). Urban Social Geography: An Introduction. 6th Edition. Routledge. London.
• Yarrow, K. (2014). Decoding the New Consumer Mind. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco.
• Solis, B (2013). What’s the Future of business? Wiley. New Jersey.
• Solis, B. (2015). X: The Experience When Business Meets Design. Wiley. New Jersey.
• Vaynerchuk, G. (2015). Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. Harper Business. New York.
• Prudential Investment Management (2015). The Wealth of Cities: The Investment Implications of Urban
Expansion. Prudential Financial, Inc.
• Saha, I (2008). Walking the Walk. Campaign Promotion. Agency Republic. 27th June 2008.
• Claessen, S. (2015). Channelling Customer Loyalty. Chain Store Age.
• Verhoefa P. C., Kannanb P. K., Inman J. (2015). From multi-channel retailing to omni-channel retailing
introduction to the special issue on multi-channel retailing. Journal of Retailing 91 (2) pg. 174–181.
Elsevier.

21. References
• Peterson L., Doerschlag C. (2015). Stores: what now, How Do We Keep Physical Stores Relevant In The
Digital Age? WD Partners. Chain Store Age.
• Berthiaume D. (2014). Predictions. Chain Store Age.
• Consumer Lab Ericsson (2014). Smart Citizens: How the internet facilitates smart choices in city life.
Ericsson.
• Rigby, D. (2011). The Future of Shopping. Harvard Business Review pg. 65-76. Harvard Business
Publishing. Rachel Serpa, “Repaving the customer journey: preparing for the future of multichannel,” June
23, 2014, E-consultancy Blog.
• Stacey MacNaught,“Tecmark Survey Finds Average User Picks up Their Smartphone 221 Times a Day,”
Tecmark, 2014.
• Solis, B (2016). Mobile is eating the world: Four ways to rethink customer experiences as mobile-first and
mobile-only. Sitecore.
• The Economist (2015) The Conscious Urban Consumer. http://safecities.economist.com/articles/the-
conscious-urban-consumer/
• Harvard Business Review (2016) Virtual and Augmented Reality will reshape retail.
https://hbr.org/2016/09/virtual-and-augmented-reality-will-reshape-retail.
• Urban Dictionary. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=urbanite&defid=2112693